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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 15, 18, 29, and 30 filed 12/15/2025 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.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 1/23/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 15, 18, 29, and 30 have been amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-2, 10-19, 27, and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ioffe et al. (US 2024/0031933), hereinafter Ioffe, Iwamura et al. (US 2017/0048918), hereinafter Iwamura, and Jin et al. (US 2024/0089857), hereinafter Jin.
Regarding Claim 1, Ioffe teaches: A method for wireless communication, comprising: receiving, via a first receiver of a user equipment, first signaling, wherein the first signaling comprises periodic signaling corresponding to a power saving mode of the user equipment: “the base station 104 transmits an initialization request for activation of the wake-up signal receiver 56 with periodic wake configuration to the wake-up signal node 108. As with the initialization request in process block 196 of FIG. 9, the base station 104 may transmit this request because it determines that the receiver 54 of the user equipment 10 should enter a power saving mode (e.g., a low power mode, a deactivation mode, a sleep mode, and so on)” (Ioffe ¶ 0064).
Ioffe does not teach: transmitting, from the user equipment, a first wake-up signal, for a network entity, based at least in part on information associated with a channel, wherein the information is determined based at least in part on receiving the first signaling comprising the periodic signaling; receiving a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block; communicating, via a second receiver of the user equipment, second signaling with the network entity based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal.
Regarding Claim 1, Iwamura teaches: transmitting, from the user equipment, a first wake-up signal, for a network entity, based at least in part on information associated with a channel: “The signal sent out by the user equipment may be any kind of signal that can be received and processed by the sleeping small cell for starting the activation process in the small cell. Such a signal which causes a small cell base station to resume operation/leave the inactive or sleeping state may be referred to as “activation signal” or a “wake up signal”. In the following, the signal shall be referred to as “wake up signal”. The wake up signal may have various formats, for example, it may be a preamble (bit pattern) sequence in the physical layer (similar to RACH—random-access channel)” (Iwamura ¶ 0067), wherein the information is determined based at least in part on receiving the first signaling comprising the periodic signaling: “using a timer at a small cell for automatic sleep mode is advantageous in situations where multiple small cells are present in the vicinity of the UE that meet the wake up signal criteria. In other words, the wake up signal configuration received at the user equipment 112 causes the user equipment 112 to generate a wake up signal 202 that will wake up multiple small cells in the vicinity of the UE meeting the wake up signal criteria” (Iwamura ¶ 0076); communicating, via a second receiver of the user equipment, second signaling with the network entity based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal: “once the targeted small cells 104.sub.2 and 104.sub.2′ receive the wake up signal, the user equipment is detected by these small cells and a small cell activation process will be started so that the components of the respective small cells, for example the hardware and software components, are transitioned from the inactive or low energy consumption state to an active which allows serving a user equipment for a data transmission in the network. As is shown at 206, the activated sleeping small cells start transmitting pilot signals which are received at the user equipment 112 which carries out small cell measurements, as is indicated at block 208” (Iwamura ¶ 0073), receiving the second signaling from two network entities would require two receivers.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Iwamura does not teach: receiving a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block.
Regarding Claim 1, Jin teaches: receiving a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block: “after the terminal device senses the first cell based on the reference signal, the terminal device sends the wake-up signal to the first cell, where the wake-up signal is used to wake up the first cell to send the SSB and/or the SI. In this case, the first cell can enable broadcasting of the SSB and the SI in a timely manner, so that the terminal device quickly accesses the first cell” (Jin ¶ 0033), though the means to receive the reference signal require the configuration information [first signaling] for the periodic reference signal: “he terminal device receives configuration information from the second cell, where the configuration information is configuration information of the reference signal” (Jin ¶ 0079).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Iwamura with Jin for the purpose of reducing the delay of accessing a cell and improving communication performance. According to Jin: “This reduces a delay of accessing the cell by the terminal device, and improves communication performance” (Jin ¶ 0033).
Regarding Claim 10, Ioffe and Iwamura teach: The method of Claim 1.
Ioffe and Iwamura do not teach: communicating the second signaling with the network entity based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal comprises: communicating, with the network entity, random access signaling as part of a random access procedure, wherein the random access signaling is communicated based at least in part on the information associated with the channel.
Regarding Claim 10, Jin teaches: communicating the second signaling with the network entity based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal comprises: communicating, with the network entity, random access signaling as part of a random access procedure, wherein the random access signaling is communicated based at least in part on the information associated with the channel: “The terminal device camps on the first cell based on the SSB and/or the SI, or the terminal device initiates random access in the first cell based on the SSB and/or the SI, or the terminal device performs synchronization in the first cell based on the SSB and/or the SI” (Jin ¶ 0026).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Iwamura with Jin for the purpose of reducing the delay of accessing a cell and improving communication performance. According to Jin: “This reduces a delay of accessing the cell by the terminal device, and improves communication performance” (Jin ¶ 0033).
Regarding Claim 2, Ioffe and Jin teach: The method of claim 1.
Ioffe and Jin do not teach: monitoring one or more channels, during a duration, for one or more signals based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal.
Regarding Claim 2, Iwamura teaches: monitoring one or more channels, during a duration, for one or more signals based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal: “the configurable discovery timer at the user equipment is used. The purpose of this timer is to trade off reliable discovery and connection setup time in a way that ensures that the connection setup time is bounded. The timer in the user equipment can be configured so that it is guaranteed that the user equipment provides enough measurement feedback, for example to the macro base station, after a certain time. The duration of the timer is not fixed but can be adjusted, for example a longer timer will allow potentially more reliable measurements while increasing the delay in the connection procedure. The timer may be started upon reception of the wake up configuration signal 200, or upon transmission of the wake up signal 202” (Iwamura ¶ 0075), wherein communicating the second signaling with the network entity is based at least in part on successfully receiving the one or more signals via the one or more channels during the duration: “performing, at the user equipment, measurements of the detected pilot signals; transmitting the measurement results from the user equipment to the macro base station” (Iwamura ¶ 0018).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Jin with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Regarding Claim 11, Ioffe and Jin teach: The method of claim 1.
Ioffe and Jin do not teach: transmitting the first wake-up signal comprises: transmitting, within the first wake-up signal, channel configuration information associated with a downlink channel based at least in part on performing one or more measurements associated with the downlink channel, the one or more measurements performed based at least in part on receiving third signaling comprising downlink signaling, wherein the method further comprises: receiving one or more reference signals based at least in part on transmitting the channel configuration information.
Regarding Claim 11, Iwamura teaches: transmitting the first wake-up signal comprises: transmitting, within the first wake-up signal, channel configuration information associated with a downlink channel based at least in part on performing one or more measurements associated with the downlink channel, the one or more measurements performed based at least in part on receiving third signaling comprising downlink signaling, wherein the method further comprises: receiving one or more reference signals based at least in part on transmitting the channel configuration information: “a wake up signal configured in accordance with the received wake up signal configuration is transmitted by the user equipment” (Iwamura abstract) and “the macro base station 100 provides a configuration of the WU signal, for example it indicates which frequency resources to use, for example frequencies f.sub.1, f.sub.2, f.sub.3 or all frequencies. Also, it indicates, in accordance with embodiments, the nature of the signal, for example to wake up all small cells, to wake up only small cells with a bandwidth of x MHz, to wake up only CSG cells 104.sub.2 or the like. Also additional information may be contained, for example the sending duration of the wake up signal, the uplink resource allocation and the like. Once the user equipment 112 receives the wake up signal configuration it configures or generates the wake up signal to be transmitted on the basis of the received wake up signal configuration and, as is shown at 202, sends out the wake up signal” (Iwamura ¶ 0069, noted: measurements associated with waking up signal and activation signal, paragraph 017, 0020, 0074-0075).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Jin with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Regarding Claim 12, Ioffe and Jin teach: The method of claim 11.
Ioffe and Jin do not teach: transmitting the channel configuration information comprises: selecting a channel configuration based at least in part on performing the one or more measurements associated with the downlink channel.
Regarding Claim 12, Iwamura teaches: transmitting the channel configuration information comprises: selecting a channel configuration based at least in part on performing the one or more measurements associated with the downlink channel: “the macro base station 100 provides a configuration of the WU signal, for example it indicates which frequency resources to use, for example frequencies f.sub.1, f.sub.2, f.sub.3 or all frequencies. Also, it indicates, in accordance with embodiments, the nature of the signal, for example to wake up all small cells, to wake up only small cells with a bandwidth of x MHz, to wake up only CSG cells 104.sub.2 or the like. Also additional information may be contained, for example the sending duration of the wake up signal, the uplink resource allocation and the like. Once the user equipment 112 receives the wake up signal configuration it configures or generates the wake up signal to be transmitted on the basis of the received wake up signal configuration and, as is shown at 202, sends out the wake up signal” (Iwamura ¶ 0069, noted: measurements associated with waking up signal and activation signal, paragraph 017, 0020, 0074-0075); and transmitting an indication of the selected channel configuration: “In other words, the wake up signal configuration received at the user equipment 112 causes the user equipment 112 to generate a wake up signal 202 that will wake up multiple small cells in the vicinity of the UE meeting the wake up signal criteria” (Iwamura ¶ 0076).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Jin with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Regarding Claim 16. Ioffe and Jin teach: The method of claim 1.
Ioffe and Jin do not teach: the information associated with the channel comprises time resource information, frequency resource information, spatial resource information, path loss information, a transmit power, an uplink spatial filter, or any combination thereof, associated with the channel.
Regarding Claim 16, Iwamura teaches: the information associated with the channel comprises time resource information, frequency resource information, spatial resource information, path loss information, a transmit power, an uplink spatial filter, or any combination thereof, associated with the channel: “The signal sent out by the user equipment may be any kind of signal that can be received and processed by the sleeping small cell for starting the activation process in the small cell. Such a signal which causes a small cell base station to resume operation/leave the inactive or sleeping state may be referred to as “activation signal” or a “wake up signal”. In the following, the signal shall be referred to as “wake up signal”. The wake up signal may have various formats, for example, it may be a preamble (bit pattern) sequence in the physical layer (similar to RACH—random-access channel). In another embodiment, it may be the MAC (media access control) controlled PDU (protocol description unit). Alternatively, it may be an RRC (radio resource control) message that may include, for example, the user equipment identity and the like” (Iwamura ¶ 0067).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Jin with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Regarding Claim 17 Ioffe and Jin teach: the method of claim 1.
Ioffe and Jin do not teach: the first signaling comprises a wake-up signal, a synchronization signal, or both.
Regarding Claim 17, Iwamura teaches: the first signaling comprises a wake-up signal, a synchronization signal, or both: “a macro-assisted wake up (WU) signal configuration is proposed in accordance with which the macro cell base station 100 indicates when a UE can transmit the WU signal. As is shown at 200, the macro base station 100 provides a configuration of the WU signal, for example it indicates which frequency resources to use, for example frequencies f.sub.1, f.sub.2, f.sub.3 or all frequencies. Also, it indicates, in accordance with embodiments, the nature of the signal, for example to wake up all small cells, to wake up only small cells with a bandwidth of x MHz, to wake up only CSG cells 104.sub.2 or the like. Also additional information may be contained, for example the sending duration of the wake up signal, the uplink resource allocation and the like” (Iwamura ¶ 0069).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Jin with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Regarding Claim 18, Ioffe teaches: A method for wireless communication, comprising: transmitting first signaling to a user equipment, wherein the first signaling comprises periodic signaling corresponding to a power saving mode of the user equipment: “the base station 104 transmits an initialization request for activation of the wake-up signal receiver 56 with periodic wake configuration to the wake-up signal node 108. As with the initialization request in process block 196 of FIG. 9, the base station 104 may transmit this request because it determines that the receiver 54 of the user equipment 10 should enter a power saving mode (e.g., a low power mode, a deactivation mode, a sleep mode, and so on)” (Ioffe ¶ 0064).
Ioffe does not teach: receiving, from the user equipment, a first wake-up signal for a network entity based at least in part on information associated with a channel, wherein the information is determined based at least in part on receiving the first signaling comprising the periodic signaling; transmitting a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block; and communicating second signaling with the user equipment based at least in part on receiving the first wake-up signal.
Regarding Claim 18, Iwamura teaches: receiving, from the user equipment, a first wake-up signal for a network entity based at least in part on information associated with a channel: “The signal sent out by the user equipment may be any kind of signal that can be received and processed by the sleeping small cell for starting the activation process in the small cell. Such a signal which causes a small cell base station to resume operation/leave the inactive or sleeping state may be referred to as “activation signal” or a “wake up signal”. In the following, the signal shall be referred to as “wake up signal”. The wake up signal may have various formats, for example, it may be a preamble (bit pattern) sequence in the physical layer (similar to RACH—random-access channel)” (Iwamura ¶ 0067), wherein the information is determined based at least in part on receiving the first signaling comprising the periodic signaling: “using a timer at a small cell for automatic sleep mode is advantageous in situations where multiple small cells are present in the vicinity of the UE that meet the wake up signal criteria. In other words, the wake up signal configuration received at the user equipment 112 causes the user equipment 112 to generate a wake up signal 202 that will wake up multiple small cells in the vicinity of the UE meeting the wake up signal criteria” (Iwamura ¶ 0076); communicating second signaling with the user equipment based at least in part on receiving the first wake-up signal: “once the targeted small cells 104.sub.2 and 104.sub.2′ receive the wake up signal, the user equipment is detected by these small cells and a small cell activation process will be started so that the components of the respective small cells, for example the hardware and software components, are transitioned from the inactive or low energy consumption state to an active which allows serving a user equipment for a data transmission in the network. As is shown at 206, the activated sleeping small cells start transmitting pilot signals which are received at the user equipment 112 which carries out small cell measurements, as is indicated at block 208” (Iwamura ¶ 0073), receiving the second signaling from two network entities would require two receivers.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Iwamura does not teach: transmitting a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block.
Regarding Claim 18, Jin teaches: transmitting a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block: “after the terminal device senses the first cell based on the reference signal, the terminal device sends the wake-up signal to the first cell, where the wake-up signal is used to wake up the first cell to send the SSB and/or the SI. In this case, the first cell can enable broadcasting of the SSB and the SI in a timely manner, so that the terminal device quickly accesses the first cell” (Jin ¶ 0033), though the means to receive the reference signal require the configuration information [first signaling] for the periodic reference signal: “he terminal device receives configuration information from the second cell, where the configuration information is configuration information of the reference signal” (Jin ¶ 0079).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Iwamura with Jin for the purpose of reducing the delay of accessing a cell and improving communication performance. According to Jin: “This reduces a delay of accessing the cell by the terminal device, and improves communication performance” (Jin ¶ 0033).
Regarding Claim 19, Ioffe and Jin teach: The method of Claim 18.
Ioffe and Jin do not teach: transmitting one or more signals via one or more channels during a duration wherein communicating the second signaling with the user equipment is based at least in part on transmitting the one or more signals.
Regarding Claim 19, Iwamura teaches: transmitting one or more signals via one or more channels during a duration: “the configurable discovery timer at the user equipment is used. The purpose of this timer is to trade off reliable discovery and connection setup time in a way that ensures that the connection setup time is bounded. The timer in the user equipment can be configured so that it is guaranteed that the user equipment provides enough measurement feedback, for example to the macro base station, after a certain time. The duration of the timer is not fixed but can be adjusted, for example a longer timer will allow potentially more reliable measurements while increasing the delay in the connection procedure. The timer may be started upon reception of the wake up configuration signal 200, or upon transmission of the wake up signal 202” (Iwamura ¶ 0075), wherein communicating the second signaling with the user equipment is based at least in part on transmitting the one or more signals: “performing, at the user equipment, measurements of the detected pilot signals; transmitting the measurement results from the user equipment to the macro base station” (Iwamura ¶ 0018).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Jin with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Regarding Claim 27, Ioffe and Iwamura teach: The method of claim 18.
Ioffee and Iwamura do not teach: communicating the second signaling with the network entity based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal comprises: communicating, with the network entity, random access signaling as part of a random access procedure, wherein the random access signaling is communicated based at least in part on the information associated with the channel.
Regarding Claim 27, Jin teaches: communicating the second signaling with the network entity based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal comprises: communicating, with the network entity, random access signaling as part of a random access procedure, wherein the random access signaling is communicated based at least in part on the information associated with the channel: “The terminal device camps on the first cell based on the SSB and/or the SI, or the terminal device initiates random access in the first cell based on the SSB and/or the SI, or the terminal device performs synchronization in the first cell based on the SSB and/or the SI” (Jin ¶ 0026).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Iwamura with Jin for the purpose of reducing the delay of accessing a cell and improving communication performance. According to Jin: “This reduces a delay of accessing the cell by the terminal device, and improves communication performance” (Jin ¶ 0033).
Regarding Claim 29, Ioffe teaches: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising; a processor; memory coupled with the processor, instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor: “The user equipment 10 may include, among other things, one or more processors 12 (collectively referred to herein as a single processor for convenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry), memory 14, nonvolatile storage 16, a display 18, input structures 22, an input/output (I/O) interface 24, a network interface 26, and a power source 29” (Ioffe ¶ 0030) to cause the apparatus to: receive, via a first receiver of a user equipment, first signaling, wherein the first signaling comprises periodic signaling corresponding to a power saving mode of the user equipment: “the base station 104 transmits an initialization request for activation of the wake-up signal receiver 56 with periodic wake configuration to the wake-up signal node 108. As with the initialization request in process block 196 of FIG. 9, the base station 104 may transmit this request because it determines that the receiver 54 of the user equipment 10 should enter a power saving mode (e.g., a low power mode, a deactivation mode, a sleep mode, and so on)” (Ioffe ¶ 0064).
Ioffe does not teach: transmit, from the user equipment, a first wake-up signal, for a network entity, based at least in part on information associated with a channel, wherein the information is determined based at least in part on receiving the first signaling comprising the periodic signaling; receive a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block; and communicate, via a second receiver of the user equipment, second signaling with the network entity based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal.
Regarding Claim 29, Iwamura teaches: transmit, from the user equipment, a first wake-up signal, for a network entity, based at least in part on information associated with a channel: “The signal sent out by the user equipment may be any kind of signal that can be received and processed by the sleeping small cell for starting the activation process in the small cell. Such a signal which causes a small cell base station to resume operation/leave the inactive or sleeping state may be referred to as “activation signal” or a “wake up signal”. In the following, the signal shall be referred to as “wake up signal”. The wake up signal may have various formats, for example, it may be a preamble (bit pattern) sequence in the physical layer (similar to RACH—random-access channel)” (Iwamura ¶ 0067), wherein the information is determined based at least in part on receiving the first signaling comprising the periodic signaling: “using a timer at a small cell for automatic sleep mode is advantageous in situations where multiple small cells are present in the vicinity of the UE that meet the wake up signal criteria. In other words, the wake up signal configuration received at the user equipment 112 causes the user equipment 112 to generate a wake up signal 202 that will wake up multiple small cells in the vicinity of the UE meeting the wake up signal criteria” (Iwamura ¶ 0076); communicate, via a second receiver of the user equipment, second signaling with the network entity based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal: “once the targeted small cells 104.sub.2 and 104.sub.2′ receive the wake up signal, the user equipment is detected by these small cells and a small cell activation process will be started so that the components of the respective small cells, for example the hardware and software components, are transitioned from the inactive or low energy consumption state to an active which allows serving a user equipment for a data transmission in the network. As is shown at 206, the activated sleeping small cells start transmitting pilot signals which are received at the user equipment 112 which carries out small cell measurements, as is indicated at block 208” (Iwamura ¶ 0073), receiving the second signaling from two network entities would require two receivers.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Iwamura does not teach: receive a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block.
Regarding Claim 29, Jin teaches: receive a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block: “after the terminal device senses the first cell based on the reference signal, the terminal device sends the wake-up signal to the first cell, where the wake-up signal is used to wake up the first cell to send the SSB and/or the SI. In this case, the first cell can enable broadcasting of the SSB and the SI in a timely manner, so that the terminal device quickly accesses the first cell” (Jin ¶ 0033), though the means to receive the reference signal require the configuration information [first signaling] for the periodic reference signal: “he terminal device receives configuration information from the second cell, where the configuration information is configuration information of the reference signal” (Jin ¶ 0079).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Iwamura with Jin for the purpose of reducing the delay of accessing a cell and improving communication performance. According to Jin: “This reduces a delay of accessing the cell by the terminal device, and improves communication performance” (Jin ¶ 0033).
Regarding Claim 30, Ioffe teaches: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processors; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus: “The user equipment 10 may include, among other things, one or more processors 12 (collectively referred to herein as a single processor for convenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry), memory 14, nonvolatile storage 16, a display 18, input structures 22, an input/output (I/O) interface 24, a network interface 26, and a power source 29” (Ioffe ¶ 0030) to transmit first signaling to a user equipment, wherein the first signaling comprises periodic signaling corresponding to a power saving mode of the user equipment: “the base station 104 transmits an initialization request for activation of the wake-up signal receiver 56 with periodic wake configuration to the wake-up signal node 108. As with the initialization request in process block 196 of FIG. 9, the base station 104 may transmit this request because it determines that the receiver 54 of the user equipment 10 should enter a power saving mode (e.g., a low power mode, a deactivation mode, a sleep mode, and so on)” (Ioffe ¶ 0064).
Ioffe does not teach: receive, from the user equipment, a first wake-up signal for a network entity based at least in part on information associated with a channel, wherein the information is determined based at least in part on receiving the first signaling comprising the periodic signaling; transmit a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block; and communicate second signaling with the user equipment based at least in part on receiving the first wake-up signal.
Regarding Claim 30, Iwamura teaches: receive, from the user equipment, a first wake-up signal for a network entity based at least in part on information associated with a channel: “The signal sent out by the user equipment may be any kind of signal that can be received and processed by the sleeping small cell for starting the activation process in the small cell. Such a signal which causes a small cell base station to resume operation/leave the inactive or sleeping state may be referred to as “activation signal” or a “wake up signal”. In the following, the signal shall be referred to as “wake up signal”. The wake up signal may have various formats, for example, it may be a preamble (bit pattern) sequence in the physical layer (similar to RACH—random-access channel)” (Iwamura ¶ 0067), wherein the information is determined based at least in part on receiving the first signaling comprising the periodic signaling: “using a timer at a small cell for automatic sleep mode is advantageous in situations where multiple small cells are present in the vicinity of the UE that meet the wake up signal criteria. In other words, the wake up signal configuration received at the user equipment 112 causes the user equipment 112 to generate a wake up signal 202 that will wake up multiple small cells in the vicinity of the UE meeting the wake up signal criteria” (Iwamura ¶ 0076); communicate second signaling with the user equipment based at least in part on receiving the first wake-up signal: “once the targeted small cells 104.sub.2 and 104.sub.2′ receive the wake up signal, the user equipment is detected by these small cells and a small cell activation process will be started so that the components of the respective small cells, for example the hardware and software components, are transitioned from the inactive or low energy consumption state to an active which allows serving a user equipment for a data transmission in the network. As is shown at 206, the activated sleeping small cells start transmitting pilot signals which are received at the user equipment 112 which carries out small cell measurements, as is indicated at block 208” (Iwamura ¶ 0073), receiving the second signaling from two network entities would require two receivers.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe with Iwamura for the purpose of providing a reliable and fast small cell connection set up. According to Iwamura: “the inventive approach provides for a highly configurable small cell connection procedure that is offered by the wake up signal customization features. In accordance with embodiments, a further advantage is that a reliable and fast small cell connection set up is provided due to the provision of a UE timer which forces (reliable) measurement feedback after a configurable time period” (Iwamura ¶ 0058).
Iwamura does not teach: transmit a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block.
Regarding Claim 30, Jin teaches: transmit a synchronization signal block after receiving the first signaling, wherein the first wake-up signal for the network entity is transmitted based at least in part on the first signaling being received before the synchronization signal block: “after the terminal device senses the first cell based on the reference signal, the terminal device sends the wake-up signal to the first cell, where the wake-up signal is used to wake up the first cell to send the SSB and/or the SI. In this case, the first cell can enable broadcasting of the SSB and the SI in a timely manner, so that the terminal device quickly accesses the first cell” (Jin ¶ 0033), though the means to receive the reference signal require the configuration information [first signaling] for the periodic reference signal: “he terminal device receives configuration information from the second cell, where the configuration information is configuration information of the reference signal” (Jin ¶ 0079).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Ioffe and Iwamura with Jin for the purpose of reducing the delay of accessing a cell and improving communication performance. According to Jin: “This reduces a delay of accessing the cell by the terminal device, and improves communication performance” (Jin ¶ 0033).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Subrahmanya et al. (US 2023/0146267), hereinafter Subrahmanya.
Regarding Claim 15, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 1.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: receiving the first signaling via the first receiver comprises: receiving the first signaling via the first receiver, wherein the first receiver uses a power below a second power associated with the second receiver.
Regarding Claim 15, Subrahmanya teaches: receiving the first signaling via the first receiver comprises: receiving the first signaling via the first receiver, wherein the first receiver uses a power below a second power associated with the second receiver: “the user equipment may include a wake-up or low power receiver that may consume less power than the cellular receiver as it is lower in complexity (e.g., may not demodulate a received signal, may not amplify a received signal, may not filter a received signal, or so on). If the user equipment is not actively receiving a wireless signal, or not receiving a wireless signal for a threshold period of time, the user equipment may cause the receiver to enter a sleep or power-saving mode, or be deactivated (e.g., powered off), and activate the wake-up signal receiver. The wake-up signal receiver may then periodically scan for a wireless wake-up signal sent from a wireless (e.g., cellular) network” (Subrahmanya ¶ 0041).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Subrahmanya to achieve the predictable result of improving coverage and capacity of a network. According to Subrahmanya: “This disclosure relates to systems, apparatuses, and techniques to enable user equipment to cooperate with adjacent user equipment to improve coverage and capacity” (Subrahmanya ¶ 0024).
Claims 3-4, 6-7, 14, 20-21, 23-24, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin as applied to claims 1 and 18 above, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2020/0137685), hereinafter Kim.
Regarding Claim 3, Iwamura teaches: The method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring one or more channels, during a duration, for one or more signals based at least in part on transmitting the first wake-up signal: “the configurable discovery timer at the user equipment is used. The purpose of this timer is to trade off reliable discovery and connection setup time in a way that ensures that the connection setup time is bounded. The timer in the user equipment can be configured so that it is guaranteed that the user equipment provides enough measurement feedback, for example to the macro base station, after a certain time. The duration of the timer is not fixed but can be adjusted, for example a longer timer will allow potentially more reliable measurements while increasing the delay in the connection procedure. The timer may be started upon reception of the wake up configuration signal 200, or upon transmission of the wake up signal 202” (Iwamura ¶ 0075).
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: transmitting a second wake-up signal after the duration based at least in part on failing to receive the one or more signals via the one or more channels during the duration, wherein communicating the second signaling with the network entity is based at least in part on transmitting the second wake-up signal after the duration.
Regarding Claim 3, Kim teaches: transmitting a second wake-up signal after the duration based at least in part on failing to receive the one or more signals via the one or more channels during the duration: “transmitting a second wake-up signal to all APs within the coverage of the network entity if a response for the first wake-up signal is not received before a first timer expires” (Kim Abstract), wherein communicating the second signaling with the network entity is based at least in part on transmitting the second wake-up signal after the duration: “and transmitting, to a base station, a response message including control information indicating whether the specific terminal exists, wherein the control information indicates that the specific terminal exists when the response for the second wake-up signal is received before a second timer expires” (Kim ¶ 0009).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Kim to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion. According to Kim: “an objective of this specification is to provide a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion” (Kim ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 4, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 3.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the duration comprises: a time window, wherein transmitting the second wake-up signal is based at least in part on failing to receive the one or more signals within one or more symbols of the time window; or an expiration of a timer, wherein transmitting the second wake-up signal is based at least in part on failing to receive the one or more signals before the expiration of the timer.
Regarding Claim 4, Kim teaches: the duration comprises: a time window, wherein transmitting the second wake-up signal is based at least in part on failing to receive the one or more signals within one or more symbols of the time window: “One sub-frame, which is 1.0 ms. in length, consists of several symbols. The particular symbol(s) of the sub-frame, such as the first symbol of the sub-frame, can be used for downlink control channel(PDCCH). PDCCHs carries dynamic allocated resources, such as PRBs and MCS” (Kim ¶ 0118 and Fig. 4 below); or an expiration of a timer, wherein transmitting the second wake-up signal is based at least in part on failing to receive the one or more signals before the expiration of the timer: “transmitting a second wake-up signal to all APs within the coverage of the network entity if a response for the first wake-up signal is not received before a first timer expires” (Kim Abstract).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Kim to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion. According to Kim: “an objective of this specification is to provide a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion” (Kim ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 6, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 3.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the second wake-up signal is transmitted based at least in part on the information associated with the channel.
Regarding Claim 6, Kim teaches: the second wake-up signal is transmitted based at least in part on the information associated with the channel: “transmitting a second wake-up signal to all APs within the coverage of the network entity if a response for the first wake-up signal is not received before a first timer expires” (Kim ¶ 0009) i.e. Kim transmit the second wake-up signal to Aps within the coverage (including the channel) of the original target network entity.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Kim to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion. According to Kim: “an objective of this specification is to provide a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion” (Kim ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 7, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 3.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the second wake-up signal is transmitted based at least in part on second information different from the information.
Regarding Claim 7, Kim teaches: the second wake-up signal is transmitted based at least in part on second information different from the information: “First, a network entity transmits a first wake-up signal for waking up a specific UE to a specific AP (S1510) . . . Then, the WT transmits a second wake-up signal to all APs within the coverage of the WT when the WT does not receive a response to the first wake-up signal before a first timer expires (S1520)” (Kim ¶ 0371-0373).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion. According to Kim: “an objective of this specification is to provide a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion” (Kim ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 14, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 11.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the first wake-up signal comprising the channel configuration information is based at least in part on one or more first coding sequences, one or more first preambles, one or more first resource occasions, or any combination thereof, associated with indicating the channel configuration information and different from one or more one or more second coding sequences, one or more second preambles, or one or more second resource occasions associated with a wake-up procedure
Regarding Claim 14, Kim teaches: the first wake-up signal comprising the channel configuration information is based at least in part on one or more first coding sequences, one or more first preambles, one or more first resource occasions, or any combination thereof, associated with indicating the channel configuration information: “the WT transmits a wake-up request including at least one of the UE ID, WUR device power save mode (category) information and reference time for the corresponding category to the APs” (Kim ¶ 0269) and different from one or more one or more second coding sequences, one or more second preambles, or one or more second resource occasions associated with a wake-up procedure: “transmitting a second wake-up signal to all APs within the coverage of the network entity if a response for the first wake-up signal is not received before a first timer expires” (Kim ¶ 0373); wherein transmitting the second wake-up signal to all APs within coverage would require a different resource occasion than transmitting to a single AP, as Kim states the first wake-up signal does.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Kim to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion. According to Kim: “an objective of this specification is to provide a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion” (Kim ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 20, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 18.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: receiving a second wake-up signal after a duration; and transmitting one or more signals via one or more channels based at least in part on receiving the second wake-up signal after the duration, wherein communicating the second signaling with the user equipment is based at least in part on transmitting the one or more signals via the one or more channels.
Regarding Claim 20, Kim teaches: receiving a second wake-up signal after a duration; and transmitting one or more signals via one or more channels based at least in part on receiving the second wake-up signal after the duration: “transmitting a second wake-up signal to all APs within the coverage of the network entity if a response for the first wake-up signal is not received before a first timer expires” (Kim Abstract), wherein communicating the second signaling with the user equipment is based at least in part on transmitting the one or more signals via the one or more channels: “and transmitting, to a base station, a response message including control information indicating whether the specific terminal exists, wherein the control information indicates that the specific terminal exists when the response for the second wake-up signal is received before a second timer expires” (Kim ¶ 0009).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Kim to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion. According to Kim: “an objective of this specification is to provide a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion” (Kim ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 21, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 20.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the duration comprises a time window or an expiration of a timer, wherein the one or more signals are transmitted after one or more symbols of the time window or after the expiration of the timer.
Regarding Claim 21, Kim teaches: the duration comprises a time window or an expiration of a timer, wherein the one or more signals are transmitted after one or more symbols of the time window or after the expiration of the timer: “One sub-frame, which is 1.0 ms. in length, consists of several symbols. The particular symbol(s) of the sub-frame, such as the first symbol of the sub-frame, can be used for downlink control channel(PDCCH). PDCCHs carries dynamic allocated resources, such as PRBs and MCS” (Kim ¶ 0118 and Fig. 4 above) and “transmitting a second wake-up signal to all APs within the coverage of the network entity if a response for the first wake-up signal is not received before a first timer expires” (Kim Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Kim to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion. According to Kim: “an objective of this specification is to provide a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion” (Kim ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 23, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 20.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the second wake-up signal is received based at least in part on the information associated with the channel.
Regarding Claim 23, Kim teaches: the second wake-up signal is received based at least in part on the information associated with the channel: “transmitting a second wake-up signal to all APs within the coverage of the network entity if a response for the first wake-up signal is not received before a first timer expires” (Kim ¶ 0009) i.e. Kim transmit the second wake-up signal to Aps within the coverage (including the channel) of the original target network entity.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Kim to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion. According to Kim: “an objective of this specification is to provide a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion” (Kim ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 24, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 20.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the second wake-up signal is received based at least in part on second information different from the information.
Regarding Claim 24, Kim teaches: the second wake-up signal is received based at least in part on second information different from the information: “First, a network entity transmits a first wake-up signal for waking up a specific UE to a specific AP (S1510) . . . Then, the WT transmits a second wake-up signal to all APs within the coverage of the WT when the WT does not receive a response to the first wake-up signal before a first timer expires (S1520)” (Kim ¶ 0371-0373).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Kim to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion. According to Kim: “an objective of this specification is to provide a method of allocating a category related to a power save mode to a UE on the basis of a specific criterion” (Kim ¶ 0005).
Claims 5, 8, 22, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim as applied to claims 4 and 21 above, and further in view of Zhou et al. (US 2023/0199659), hereinafter Zhou.
Regarding Claim 5, Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim teach: The method of claim 4.
Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim does not teach: the time window, the timer, or both, is associated with a first subcarrier spacing, the first subcarrier spacing being associated with the first wake-up signal, the one or more signals, a predefined value, or any combination thereof.
Regarding Claim 5, Zhou teaches: the time window, the timer, or both, is associated with a first subcarrier spacing: “The parameter searchSpaceSwitchTimer may indicate a time duration for monitoring PDCCH in the active downlink BWP of the serving cell before moving to a default search space group (e.g., search space group 0). The timer value may be based on SCS” (Zhou ¶ 0293), the first subcarrier spacing being associated with the first wake-up signal, the one or more signals, a predefined value, or any combination thereof: “The wireless device may wake up to monitor PDCCHs in a DRX active time (e.g., comprising DRX ON duration) of a next DRX cycle according to the DRX configuration,” (Zhou ¶ 0283).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim with Zhou to achieve the predictable result of reducing signaling overhead. According to Zhou: “Use of dynamic control signaling, which have low resource utilization, for modifying burst signaling parameters may provide advantages such as reduced resource overhead and/or more efficient wireless communications” (Zhou ¶ 0004).
Regarding Claim 8, Kim teaches: The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more channels comprise a physical broadcast channel, a physical downlink shared channel, or both: “Downlink transport channel types include a Broadcast Channel (BCH), a Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH), a Paging Channel (PCH) and a Multicast Channel (MCH). The BCH is used for transmitting system information” (Kim ¶ 0121).
Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim do not teach: the one or more signals comprise at least the synchronization signal block, a signal comprising a system information block, or both, and wherein the one or more channels comprise a physical broadcast channel, a physical downlink shared channel, or both.
Regarding Claim 8, Zhou teaches: the one or more signals comprise at least the synchronization signal block, a signal comprising a system information block, or both: “A base station may send/transmit one or more SSBs (e.g., periodically) to a wireless device or a plurality of wireless devices. The wireless device (in RRC idle state, RRC inactive state, or RRC connected state) may use the one or more SSBs for time and frequency synchronization with a cell of the base station” (Zhou ¶ 0325).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim with Zhou to achieve the predictable result of reducing signaling overhead. According to Zhou: “Use of dynamic control signaling, which have low resource utilization, for modifying burst signaling parameters may provide advantages such as reduced resource overhead and/or more efficient wireless communications” (Zhou ¶ 0004).
Regarding Claim 22, Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim teach: The method of claim 21.
Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim do not teach: the time window, the timer, or both, is associated with a first subcarrier spacing, the first subcarrier spacing being associated with the first wake-up signal, with the one or more signals, with a predefined value, or any combination thereof.
Regarding Claim 22, Zhou teaches: the time window, the timer, or both, is associated with a first subcarrier spacing: “The parameter searchSpaceSwitchTimer may indicate a time duration for monitoring PDCCH in the active downlink BWP of the serving cell before moving to a default search space group (e.g., search space group 0). The timer value may be based on SCS” (Zhou ¶ 0293), the first subcarrier spacing being associated with the first wake-up signal, with the one or more signals, with a predefined value, or any combination thereof: “The wireless device may wake up to monitor PDCCHs in a DRX active time (e.g., comprising DRX ON duration) of a next DRX cycle according to the DRX configuration,” (Zhou ¶ 0283).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim with Zhou to achieve the predictable result of reducing signaling overhead. According to Zhou: “Use of dynamic control signaling, which have low resource utilization, for modifying burst signaling parameters may provide advantages such as reduced resource overhead and/or more efficient wireless communications” (Zhou ¶ 0004).
Regarding Claim 25, Kim teaches: The method of claim 20, wherein the one or more channels comprise a physical broadcast channel, a physical downlink shared channel, or both: “Downlink transport channel types include a Broadcast Channel (BCH), a Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH), a Paging Channel (PCH) and a Multicast Channel (MCH). The BCH is used for transmitting system information” (Kim ¶ 0121).
Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim do not teach: the one or more signals comprise at least the synchronization signal block and transmitting the one or more signals comprises transmitting the synchronization signal block, a signal comprising a system information block, or both.
Regarding Claim 25, Zhou teaches: the one or more signals comprise at least the synchronization signal block and transmitting the one or more signals comprises transmitting the synchronization signal block, a signal comprising a system information block, or both: “A base station may send/transmit one or more SSBs (e.g., periodically) to a wireless device or a plurality of wireless devices. The wireless device (in RRC idle state, RRC inactive state, or RRC connected state) may use the one or more SSBs for time and frequency synchronization with a cell of the base station” (Zhou ¶ 0325).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, Jin, and Kim with Zhou to achieve the predictable result of reducing signaling overhead. According to Zhou: “Use of dynamic control signaling, which have low resource utilization, for modifying burst signaling parameters may provide advantages such as reduced resource overhead and/or more efficient wireless communications” (Zhou ¶ 0004).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin Kim as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2018/0013477), hereinafter Kim’477.
Regarding Claim 13, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 11.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the channel configuration information comprises at least one of an antenna port configuration, an updated downlink power, or both, and wherein the downlink channel comprises a physical downlink shared channel.
Regarding Claim 13, Kim’477 teaches: the channel configuration information comprises at least one of an antenna port configuration, an updated downlink power, or both, and wherein the downlink channel comprises a physical downlink shared channel: “For example, the channel measurement configuration information may include a number of antenna ports for channel measurement based on cell-specific Reference Signal (RS) or UE-specific RS, RS pattern, RS subframe structure and period, and RS subframe offset. The channel measurement configuration information may include CSI-RS. The channel measurement configuration information may be transmitted through a downlink control channel such as the MIB of PBCH or a downlink data channel such as a SIB of PDSCH or an RRC message” (Kim’477 ¶ 0157).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Kim’477 to achieve the predictable result of improving throughput. According to Kim’477: “The present invention is advantageous in terms of improving the overall throughput by protecting against downward standardization caused by symbols transmitted through antennas” (Kim’477 ¶ 0029).
Claims 9 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin as applied to claims 3 and 20 above, and further in view of Yao et al. (US 2020/0053649), hereinafter Yao.
Regarding Claim 9, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 3.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the second wake-up signal comprises a retransmission of the first wake-up signal.
Regarding Claim 9, Yao teaches: the second wake-up signal comprises a retransmission of the first wake-up signal: “In an embodiment, when the first station fails to receive expected information within predetermined time, the communication unit 71 may further be configured to: when the first station is a serving access point of the second station, resend the wake-up signal” (Yao ¶ 0204).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Yao to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of saving power during periods of time when a terminal is not actively transmitting. According to Yao: “In order to further improve the power saving performance of the terminal device, it is necessary to propose a mechanism in which the terminal does not need to wake up periodically when no communication needs to be performed. One way is to add a low-power-consumption module to the original communication system (hereinafter referred to as the primary module)” (Yao ¶ 0007).
Regarding Claim 26, Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin teach: The method of claim 20.
Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin do not teach: the second wake-up signal comprises a retransmission of the first wake-up signal.
Regarding Claim 26, Yao teaches: the second wake-up signal comprises a retransmission of the first wake-up signal: “In an embodiment, when the first station fails to receive expected information within predetermined time, the communication unit 71 may further be configured to: when the first station is a serving access point of the second station, resend the wake-up signal” (Yao ¶ 0204).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosures of Ioffe, Iwamura, and Jin with Yao to achieve the predictable result of providing a method of saving power during periods of time when a terminal is not actively transmitting. According to Yao: “In order to further improve the power saving performance of the terminal device, it is necessary to propose a mechanism in which the terminal does not need to wake up periodically when no communication needs to be performed. One way is to add a low-power-consumption module to the original communication system (hereinafter referred to as the primary module)” (Yao ¶ 0007).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADLEY DAVIS LYTLE whose telephone number is (703)756-4593. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM EST.
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/B.D.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2473
/BRADLEY D LYTLE JR./Examiner, Art Unit 2473
/KWANG B YAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2473