DETAILED ACTION
Claim(s) 1-30 have been examined and 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 .
Status of Claims as of Non-Final Rejection mailed February 13, 2026:
In light of the prior art of record, claim(s) 1, 8, 15, 19, 22, were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20110019602 A1 ) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1). Claim(s) 16 was rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20110019602 A1 ) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) in view of BABAEI (US 20230389120 A1). Claim(s) 2, 3, and 17 were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20110019602 A1 ) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) in view of Ji (US 20090279466 A1). Claim(s) 7 was rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20110019602 A1 ) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) in view of NTT DOCOMO (3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #120, R2-2212792, “Assistance Information for NW DTX/DRX”). Claim(s) 9 and 23, were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20110019602 A1 ) in view of ZHOU A (US 20230371113 A1) in view of ZHOU B (US 20250081103 A1). Claim(s) 11, 12, 14, 25, 26, and 28, were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20110019602 A1 ) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) in view of JEON (US 20240237133 A1). Claim(s) 11, 13, 25, and 27,were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20110019602 A1 ) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) in view of MOON (US 20240267985 A1). Claim(s) 4-6, 10, 18, 20-21, 24, 29, and 30, were objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Responsive to the Prior Art Rejections of claims in the Non-Final Rejection, Applicants presented arguments in order to overcome the prior art rejections. Applicants’ arguments focus on subject matter of independent claim(s) 1, 8, 15, and 22. Specifically, the arguments focus on claim 1, and the limitation, “…transmitting an end of transmit (TX) traffic indicator indicating no TX traffic to be transmitted…” as arranged with the remaining elements of claim 1. Accordingly, the response to the arguments will focus on the same. Additionally, with respect to the MADEA reference cited in the Non-Final Rejection, it was mistakenly cited as (US 20110019602 A1 ), the correct application number is MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ), which was cited on the PTO-892 (Notice of References Cited) mailed May 22, 2025.
Response to Arguments made in response to the rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 103
In the Non-Final Rejection, claim 1 was rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20110019602 A1 ) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1). Applicants disagree with this rejection, arguing that MAEDA in view of ZHOU fails to render obvious a feature for, “…transmitting an end of transmit (TX) traffic indicator indicating no TX traffic to be transmitted…” as recited in claim 1. Applicants first point to MAEDA, which was relied upon to at least teach, “…transmitting an end of transmit (TX) traffic indicator…”, MAEDA’s sleep request signal being regarded as analogous to the claimed end of TX traffic indicator, See [Non-Final Rejection, Page 4], reproduced below:
“In regards to claim 1, MAEDA (US 20110019602 A1 ) teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
transmitting an end of transmit (TX) traffic indicator indicating no TX traffic to be transmitted ([Fig. 4, ST2] teaches a UE, mobile terminal, transmitting an end of TX traffic indicator, sleep request signal)…”
Applicants disagree with the characterization of MAEDA’s sleep request signal as being analogous to the claimed end of TX traffic indicator. Applicants appear to argue that the sleep request signal does not qualify as the claimed end-of-TX traffic indicator because the mobile terminal transmits the sleep request signal in order to initiate a transition to a DTX state, as opposed to the sleep request signal resulting in, by virtue of receiving an early termination indicator responsive to the sleep request signal, a termination of a “previously scheduled active monitoring window”. See [Remarks, Page 9]
“Maeda's Sleep Request Signal is not an end-of-TX-traffic indicator. The Sleep Request Signal is a mode-transition request - it signals that the mobile terminal wishes to enter a DRX/DTX operation period during Active. See Maeda at IT [0235]-[0241]. The Office Action's mapping of Maeda's step ST6 ("Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX Operation Period during Active") to the claimed "scheduled network-side cell DRX active time" conflates the initiation of a DRX period with the early termination of a pre-scheduled active monitoring window. In Maeda, the base station is authorizing the mobile terminal to enter a DRX/DTX period for the first time.”
In response to this argument that MAEDA it is agreed is silent on the early termination of a pre-scheduled active monitoring window. However, the claim language doesn’t require the early termination of a pre-scheduled active monitoring window. The language of claim 1, recites, “receiving an early termination indicator associated with a scheduled network-side cell discontinuous reception (DRX) active time based on transmitting the end of TX traffic indicator”, which doesn’t necessarily require the termination of a pre-scheduled active monitoring window (i.e. scheduled network-side cell (DRX) active time). Thus, the argument that MAEDA fails to teach an end of TX traffic indicator because MAEDA is silent on the early termination of a pre-scheduled active monitoring window is not persuasive. Applicants are reminded with respect to the feature (i.e. an early termination of a pre-scheduled active monitoring window), which is not recited in the claim, that the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
However, upon further consideration of the arguments (i.e. state transitions with respect to DRX/DTX of UE and BS) with respect to claim 1, MAEDA nor ZHOU appear to teach “refraining from transmitting data traffic during at a least a remainder of the scheduled network-side cell DRX active time”. Accordingly, the prior art rejections of 1-3,7-9,11-17,19,22-23 and 25-28 are withdrawn and a new ground of rejection has been made in view of MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) in order to address the feature in question. Further responsive to the arguments, claim(s) 2 and 17 have been objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ).
In regards to claim 15, MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1) teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a network entity, the method comprising: receiving one or more end of transmit (TX) traffic indicators indicating that no TX to be transmitted (MADEA teaches a network entity, base station, receiving one or more end of TX traffic indicators, sleep request signals, in [Fig. 4, ST 3]); and transmitting an early termination indicator associated with a scheduled network-side cell discontinuous reception (DRX) active time based on receipt of the one or more end of TX traffic indicators (MADEA teaches transmitting an early terminator indicator, transmit the result of the judgment of transition to a DRX Operation Period during Active, in [Fig. 4, ST7], Also see [Fig. 4, ST6] where the early termination indicator is associated with a scheduled network-side cell DRX active time, “ST6 Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX operation period during active…” ).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 3, and 19, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ) in view of MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1).
In regards to claim 1, MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1) teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
transmitting an end of transmit (TX) traffic indicatormobile terminal, transmitting an end of TX traffic indicator, sleep request signal);
receiving an early termination indicator associated with a scheduled network-side cell discontinuous reception (DRX) active time based on transmitting the end of TX traffic indicator([Fig. 4] teaches the mobile terminal receiving an early termination indicator, receive the result of judgement of transition to a DRX Operation during Active, associated with a scheduled network-side DRX active time, “…ST8 Receive the Result of the Judgement of transition to a DRX Operation Period during Active, and the DRX Cycle and the DTX Cycle...ST9 Does the Mobile Terminal Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX Operation Period during Active..Yes...ST10 Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX Operation period during Active...”, Also see [Fig. 4, ST6] where the early termination indicator is associated with a scheduled network-side cell DRX active time, “ST6 Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX operation period during active…” ); and
refraining from transmitting data trafficMADEA teaches refraining transmitting data traffic, [Fig. 4, ST12] Perform a DTX Operation, [Fig. 4, ST11] Perform a DRX Operation and a DTX Operation, “[0271] After the control unit 23 of the mobile terminal 3 causes the state of the mobile terminal 3 to make a transition to a DRX/DTX operation period during Active (the state 2-B of FIG. 13), the control unit 23 causes the mobile terminal to perform a DRX operation and a DTX operation (step ST11). [0272] More specifically, the control unit 23 temporarily stops the supply of the electric power to the data transmission processing units (e.g., the encoder unit 14 and the modulating unit 15) in the cycle indicated by the DTX cycle information stored in the DTX cycle storage unit 21.”).
The power saving feature of MAEDA differs from that of claim 1, in that MAEDA is silent on refraining from transmitting data traffic during at least a remainder of the scheduled network-side cell DRX active time. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a communication network.
MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) teaches where a UE, refrains or skips, transmitting, during at least a remainder of an active time of a scheduled DRX cycle, in order to conserve power/energy (“[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates example scenarios 201 and 202 under schemes in accordance with implementations of the present disclosure. Scenarios 201 and 202 involve a UE and a network node, which may be a part of a wireless communication network (e.g., an LTE network, an LTE-Advanced network, an LTE-Advanced Pro network, a 5G network, an NR network, an IoT network, an NB-IoT network or an IIoT network). Scenarios 201 and 202 illustrate the indication mechanism of power saving information proposed in the present disclosure. In scenarios 201, when the power saving information is present, the UE may be configured to cancel the wake-up for the on duration or active time. Specifically, the UE may be configured to enter into a power saving mode. The UE may monitor a downlink control information (DCI) format while in the power saving mode. The UE may determine whether the DCI format is detected/received. In an event that the DCI format is detected/received, the UE may determine not to wake up from the power saving mode. After receiving the DCI format, the UE may keep staying in the power saving mode.”)
Thus, based upon MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify power-saving feature of MAEDA by applying MEDLES’s refraining/skipping of performing transmissions during at least a remainder of an active time of a scheduled DRX cycle to the ACTIVE DRX/DTX Operation of the Base Station of MAEDA, to arrive at refraining from transmitting data traffic during at least a remainder of the scheduled network-side cell DRX active time, and to further arrive at claim 1. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such a modification in order to take advantage of power-saving yielded by having a UE refrain from performing transmissions while in a sleep state.
In regards to claim 3, MAEDA is silent on the method of claim 1, wherein the early termination indicator indicates termination of network-side cell DRX active time for a particular time period (MADEA teaches refraining transmitting data traffic [Fig. 4, ST12] Perform a DTX Operation, [Fig. 4, ST11] Perform a DRX Operation and a DTX Operation, “[0271] After the control unit 23 of the mobile terminal 3 causes the state of the mobile terminal 3 to make a transition to a DRX/DTX operation period during Active (the state 2-B of FIG. 13), the control unit 23 causes the mobile terminal to perform a DRX operation and a DTX operation (step ST11). [0272] More specifically, the control unit 23 temporarily stops the supply of the electric power to the data transmission processing units (e.g., the encoder unit 14 and the modulating unit 15) in the cycle indicated by the DTX cycle information stored in the DTX cycle storage unit 21. [0273] Furthermore, the control unit 23 temporarily stops the supply of the electric power to the data reception processing units (e.g., the demodulating unit 17 and the decoder unit 18) in the cycle indicated by the DRX cycle information stored in the DRX cycle storage unit 22. ”). Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a communication network.
MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) teaches where a UE, refrains or skips, transmitting, during at least a remainder of an active time of a scheduled DRX cycle, in order to conserve power/energy (“[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates example scenarios 201 and 202 under schemes in accordance with implementations of the present disclosure. Scenarios 201 and 202 involve a UE and a network node, which may be a part of a wireless communication network (e.g., an LTE network, an LTE-Advanced network, an LTE-Advanced Pro network, a 5G network, an NR network, an IoT network, an NB-IoT network or an IIoT network). Scenarios 201 and 202 illustrate the indication mechanism of power saving information proposed in the present disclosure. In scenarios 201, when the power saving information is present, the UE may be configured to cancel the wake-up for the on duration or active time. Specifically, the UE may be configured to enter into a power saving mode. The UE may monitor a downlink control information (DCI) format while in the power saving mode. The UE may determine whether the DCI format is detected/received. In an event that the DCI format is detected/received, the UE may determine not to wake up from the power saving mode. After receiving the DCI format, the UE may keep staying in the power saving mode.”)
Thus, based upon MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify power-saving feature of MAEDA by applying MEDLES’s refraining/skipping of performing transmissions during at least a remainder of an active time of a scheduled DRX cycle to the ACTIVE DRX/DTX Operation of the Base Station of MAEDA, to arrive at the method of claim 1, wherein the early termination indicator indicates termination of network-side cell DRX active time for a particular time period. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such a modification in order to take advantage of power-saving yielded by having a UE refrain from performing transmissions while in a sleep state.
In regards to claim 19, MAEDA is silent on the method of claim 15, wherein the early termination indicator indicates termination of network-side cell DRX active time for a particular time period (MADEA teaches refraining transmitting data traffic [Fig. 4, ST12] Perform a DTX Operation, [Fig. 4, ST11] Perform a DRX Operation and a DTX Operation, “[0271] After the control unit 23 of the mobile terminal 3 causes the state of the mobile terminal 3 to make a transition to a DRX/DTX operation period during Active (the state 2-B of FIG. 13), the control unit 23 causes the mobile terminal to perform a DRX operation and a DTX operation (step ST11). [0272] More specifically, the control unit 23 temporarily stops the supply of the electric power to the data transmission processing units (e.g., the encoder unit 14 and the modulating unit 15) in the cycle indicated by the DTX cycle information stored in the DTX cycle storage unit 21. [0273] Furthermore, the control unit 23 temporarily stops the supply of the electric power to the data reception processing units (e.g., the demodulating unit 17 and the decoder unit 18) in the cycle indicated by the DRX cycle information stored in the DRX cycle storage unit 22. ”). Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a communication network.
MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) teaches where a UE, refrains or skips, transmitting, during at least a remainder of an active time of a scheduled DRX cycle, in order to conserve power/energy (“[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates example scenarios 201 and 202 under schemes in accordance with implementations of the present disclosure. Scenarios 201 and 202 involve a UE and a network node, which may be a part of a wireless communication network (e.g., an LTE network, an LTE-Advanced network, an LTE-Advanced Pro network, a 5G network, an NR network, an IoT network, an NB-IoT network or an IIoT network). Scenarios 201 and 202 illustrate the indication mechanism of power saving information proposed in the present disclosure. In scenarios 201, when the power saving information is present, the UE may be configured to cancel the wake-up for the on duration or active time. Specifically, the UE may be configured to enter into a power saving mode. The UE may monitor a downlink control information (DCI) format while in the power saving mode. The UE may determine whether the DCI format is detected/received. In an event that the DCI format is detected/received, the UE may determine not to wake up from the power saving mode. After receiving the DCI format, the UE may keep staying in the power saving mode.”)
Thus, based upon MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify power-saving feature of MAEDA by applying MEDLES’s refraining/skipping of performing transmissions during at least a remainder of an active time of a scheduled DRX cycle to the ACTIVE DRX/DTX Operation of the Base Station of MAEDA, to arrive at the method of claim 15, wherein the early termination indicator indicates termination of network-side cell DRX active time for a particular time period. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such a modification in order to take advantage of power-saving yielded by having a UE refrain from performing transmissions while in a sleep state.
Claim(s) 22-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20090180414 in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1).
In regards to claim 22, MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1) teaches a network entity comprising:
receive one or more end of transmit (TX) traffic indicators (MADEA teaches a network entity, base station, receiving one or more end of TX traffic indicators, sleep request signals, in [Fig. 4, ST 3]); and
initiate transmission of an early termination indicator associated with a scheduled network-side cell discontinuous reception (DRX) active time based on receipt of the one or more end of TX traffic indicators (MADEA in [Fig. 4] teaches transmitting an early terminator indicator, transmit the result of the judgment of transition to a DRX Operation Period during Active, Also see [Fig. 4, ST6] where the early termination indicator is associated with a scheduled network-side cell DRX active time, “ST6 Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX operation period during active…”).
MAEDA’s feature for DTX/DRX differs from that of claim 22, in that MAEDA is silent on the network entity comprising: (i.e the DTX/DRX features ) of claim 22.
Regarding, the network entity comprising: a memory storing processor-readable code; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to perform energy saving features (i.e the DTX/DRX features ) of claim 22, similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a communication network. ZHOU for example teaches a network entity, gNB/base station, comprising: a memory storing processor-readable code; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to perform energy saving features (“[0071] FIG. 3b illustrates an example gNB 102 according to the present disclosure. The embodiment of gNB 102 shown in FIG. 3b is for illustration only, and other gNBs of FIG. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, a gNB has various configurations, and FIG. 3b does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific implementation of a gNB. It should be noted that gNB 101 and gNB 103 can include the same or similar structures as gNB 102. [0072] As shown in FIG. 3b, gNB 102 includes a plurality of antennas 370a-370n, a plurality of RF transceivers 372a-372n, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 374, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 376. In certain embodiments, one or more of the plurality of antennas 370a-370n include a 2D antenna array. gNB 102 also includes a controller/processor 378, a memory 380, and a backhaul or network interface 382.… [0192] Computer program instructions representing the block diagrams and/or flowcharts herein may be loaded onto a computer, a programmable data processing device, or a processing device, so that a series of operations performed thereon produce computer-implemented processes. A computer program (i.e., computer control logic) is stored in the main memory and/or the auxiliary memory. A computer program may also be received via a communication interface. Such computer programs, when executed, enable a computer system to perform the features of the embodiments discussed herein. In particular, the computer program, when executed, enables the processor and/or the multi-core processor to perform features of the computer system. This computer program represents the controller of a computer system. A computer program product includes a tangible storage medium readable by a computer system and stores instructions executed by the computer system for performing the method of one or more embodiments.”). ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) also teaches where a UE, where when in a sleep state, stops transmitting in order to conserve power/energy (“[0132] In this embodiment, after the first node obtains the DTX configuration and determines the first and/or second time range, it can also perform at least one of the following according to the actual transmission conditions: [0133] Entering a sleep state in a first time range or a subset thereof and stopping uplink transmitting, downlink reception, Sidelink transmitting and reception; [0134] And staying awake in the second time range or a subset thereof and normally carry out Sidelink communication and/or uplink and downlink communication.”)
Thus, based upon ZHOU’s teaching of a network entity’s structure and ZHOU teaching of a UE’s sleep state involving that the UE stop performing data transmissions, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify power-saving feature (i.e. sleep state) of MAEDA, to adopt the structure seen in the network entity of ZHOU, to thus arrive at claim 22. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such a modification in order to take advantage of power-saving yielded by having a UE refrain from performing transmissions while in a sleep state.
In regards to claim 23, MAEDA in view of ZHOU teaches the network entity of claim 22, wherein the one or more end of TX traffic indicators comprise zero buffer indicators received after receipt of a last data packet of a corresponding TX traffic burst (See MAEDA where “[0188] A DTX judging unit 19 checks to see, for example, whether or not data to be transmitted to a base station 2 are stored in the transmission data buffer unit 13, and, when no data to be transmitted to a base station 2 are stored, judges whether or not the mobile terminal is able to make a transition to a DTX operation period during Active which is a temporary transmission stop period during which transmission of data is temporarily stopped. The DTX judging unit 19 constructs a transition judging means. [0189] When the judgment result of the DTX judging unit 19 shows that the mobile terminal is able to make a transition to a DTX operation period during Active, the Sleep request signal generating unit 20 carries out a process of generating a Sleep request signal according to an instruction from the protocol processing unit 11, and outputting, as control data, the Sleep request signal to the transmission data buffer unit 13.”).
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ) in view of MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1).
In regards to claim 8, MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1) teaches a user equipment (UE) comprising: (MADEA teaches a UE, mobile terminal, comprising a memory, ): initiate transmission of an end of transmit (TX) traffic indicator indicating no TX traffic to be transmitted ([Fig. 4, ST2] teaches a UE, mobile terminal, transmitting an end of TX traffic indicator, sleep request signal); receive an early termination indicator associated with a scheduled network-side cell discontinuous reception (DRX) active time based on transmitting the end of TX traffic ([Fig. 4] teaches the mobile terminal receiving an early termination indicator, receive the result of judgement of transition to a DRX Operation during Active, associated with a scheduled network-side DRX active time, “…ST8 Receive the Result of the Judgement of transition to a DRX Operation Period during Active, and the DRX Cycle and the DTX Cycle...ST9 Does the Mobile Terminal Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX Operation Period during Active..Yes...ST10 Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX Operation period during Active...” Also see [Fig. 4, ST6] where the early termination indicator is associated with a scheduled network-side cell DRX active time, “ST6 Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX operation period during active…” ); and refrain from transmitting data traffic during at leastMAEDA teaches refraining transmitting data traffic, [Fig. 4, ST12] Perform a DTX Operation, [Fig. 4, ST11] Perform a DRX Operation and a DTX Operation, “[0271] After the control unit 23 of the mobile terminal 3 causes the state of the mobile terminal 3 to make a transition to a DRX/DTX operation period during Active (the state 2-B of FIG. 13), the control unit 23 causes the mobile terminal to perform a DRX operation and a DTX operation (step ST11). [0272] More specifically, the control unit 23 temporarily stops the supply of the electric power to the data transmission processing units (e.g., the encoder unit 14 and the modulating unit 15) in the cycle indicated by the DTX cycle information stored in the DTX cycle storage unit 21.”).
MAEDA’s feature for DTX/DRX differs from that of claim 8, in that MAEDA is silent on the user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory storing processor-readable code; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to perform energy saving features (i.e the DTX/DRX features ) of claim 8. MAEDA further differs from claim 8, in that MAEDA is silent on refraining from transmitting data traffic during at least a remainder of the scheduled network-side cell DRX active time. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a communication network.
MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) teaches where a UE, refrains or skips, transmitting, during at least a remainder of an active time of a scheduled DRX cycle, in order to conserve power/energy (“[0031] FIG. 2 illustrates example scenarios 201 and 202 under schemes in accordance with implementations of the present disclosure. Scenarios 201 and 202 involve a UE and a network node, which may be a part of a wireless communication network (e.g., an LTE network, an LTE-Advanced network, an LTE-Advanced Pro network, a 5G network, an NR network, an IoT network, an NB-IoT network or an IIoT network). Scenarios 201 and 202 illustrate the indication mechanism of power saving information proposed in the present disclosure. In scenarios 201, when the power saving information is present, the UE may be configured to cancel the wake-up for the on duration or active time. Specifically, the UE may be configured to enter into a power saving mode. The UE may monitor a downlink control information (DCI) format while in the power saving mode. The UE may determine whether the DCI format is detected/received. In an event that the DCI format is detected/received, the UE may determine not to wake up from the power saving mode. After receiving the DCI format, the UE may keep staying in the power saving mode.”)
Thus, based upon MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify power-saving feature of MAEDA by applying MEDLES’s refraining/skipping of performing transmissions during at least a remainder of an active time of a scheduled DRX cycle to the ACTIVE DRX/DTX Operation of the Base Station of MAEDA, to arrive at refraining from transmitting data traffic during at least a remainder of the scheduled network-side cell DRX active time. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such a modification in order to take advantage of power-saving yielded by having a UE refrain from performing transmissions while in a sleep state.
Regarding, the user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory storing processor-readable code; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to perform energy saving features (i.e the DTX/DRX features ) of claim 8. Similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a communication network. ZHOU for example teaches a user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory storing processor-readable code; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to perform energy saving features (“[0064] UE 116 includes an antenna 305, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 310, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 315, a microphone 320, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 325. UE 116 also includes a speaker 330, a processor/controller 340, an input/output (I/O) interface 345, an input device(s) 350, a display 355, and a memory 360. The memory 360 includes an operating system (OS) 361 and one or more applications 362… [0189] As those skilled in the art know, according to the structure, the above example structure can be implemented in various ways, such as program instructions executed by a processor, software modules, microcode, computer program products on a computer readable medium, analog/logic circuits, application specific integrated circuits, firmware, consumer electronic devices, AV devices, wireless/wired transmitters, wireless/wired receivers, networks, multimedia devices, and the like. Furthermore, embodiments of the structure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment containing elements of both hardware and software… [0192] Computer program instructions representing the block diagrams and/or flowcharts herein may be loaded onto a computer, a programmable data processing device, or a processing device, so that a series of operations performed thereon produce computer-implemented processes. A computer program (i.e., computer control logic) is stored in the main memory and/or the auxiliary memory. A computer program may also be received via a communication interface. Such computer programs, when executed, enable a computer system to perform the features of the embodiments discussed herein. In particular, the computer program, when executed, enables the processor and/or the multi-core processor to perform features of the computer system. This computer program represents the controller of a computer system. A computer program product includes a tangible storage medium readable by a computer system and stores instructions executed by the computer system for performing the method of one or more embodiments.”). ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) also teaches where a UE, where when in a sleep state, stops transmitting in order to conserve power/energy (“[0132] In this embodiment, after the first node obtains the DTX configuration and determines the first and/or second time range, it can also perform at least one of the following according to the actual transmission conditions: [0133] Entering a sleep state in a first time range or a subset thereof and stopping uplink transmitting, downlink reception, Sidelink transmitting and reception; [0134] And staying awake in the second time range or a subset thereof and normally carry out Sidelink communication and/or uplink and downlink communication.”)
Thus, based upon ZHOU’s teaching of a UE’s structure it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify power-saving feature of MAEDA in view of MEDLES, to thus arrive at claim 8. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such a modification in order to take advantage of power-saving yielded by having a UE refrain from performing transmissions while in a sleep state.
In regards to claim 9, MAEDA in view of ZHOU suggests the UE of claim 8, wherein the end of TX traffic indicator comprises a zero buffer indicator transmitted after a TX buffer is empty (See MAEDA where “[0188] A DTX judging unit 19 checks to see, for example, whether or not data to be transmitted to a base station 2 are stored in the transmission data buffer unit 13, and, when no data to be transmitted to a base station 2 are stored, judges whether or not the mobile terminal is able to make a transition to a DTX operation period during Active which is a temporary transmission stop period during which transmission of data is temporarily stopped. The DTX judging unit 19 constructs a transition judging means. [0189] When the judgment result of the DTX judging unit 19 shows that the mobile terminal is able to make a transition to a DTX operation period during Active, the Sleep request signal generating unit 20 carries out a process of generating a Sleep request signal according to an instruction from the protocol processing unit 11, and outputting, as control data, the Sleep request signal to the transmission data buffer unit 13.”).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ) in view of BABAEI (US 20230389120 A1).
In regards to claim 16, MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1) is silent on method of claim 15, further comprising transitioning to a low power mode during at least a remainder of the scheduled network-side cell DRX active time.
Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving network-side power saving features. BABAEI (US 20230389120 A1) teaches a network saving feature where a network entity transitions a lower power mode, during a network energy saving state ([0288] In example embodiments, a network energy saving cell and/or a cell that is in a network energy saving state and/or operates according to network energy saving processes in the network or the wireless device may have reduced/lower energy consumption (e.g., lower/reduced energy consumption at the base station/network side). For example, a first periodicity that a signal and/or a channel is received or transmitted via a network energy saving cell or via a cell that is in a network energy saving state may be larger than a second periodicity that the signal and/or the channel is transmitted or received via a non-energy saving cell or a cell that is not in a network energy saving state. For example, one or more signals and/or channels may not be transmitted or received during a time window/duration via a cell that is a network energy saving cell or is in a network energy saving state (e.g., not transmitted or received during a time window/duration that the cell is in a network energy saving state).).
Thus based upon the teachings of BABAEI it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify, MAEDA by transitioning to a low power mode during an energy save state, such as when the base station of MAEDA enters the DTX/DRX operation, to thus arrive at claim 16, in order to take advantage of benefit of saving energy in the base station.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ) in view of MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) in view of NTT DOCOMO (3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #120, R2-2212792, “Assistance Information for NW DTX/DRX”).
In regards to claim 7, MAEDA in view of MEDLES is silent on the method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the end of TX indicator from a higher layer application executed at the UE. However similar features have been seen in other prior involving network-side cell DTX/DRX. NTT DOCOMO (3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #120, R2-2212792, “Assistance Information for NW DTX/DRX”) suggests receiving an end of TX indicator, preferred DTX/DRX periodicity with a larger value, from a higher layer application executed at a UE, in section 2 (“Therefore, by defining DRX/DTX pattern according to user traffic, both User experience and NES gain can be achieved. For this purpose, it is useful for UEs which operate applications to send a request to the NW about the preferred NW DTX/DRX pattern (i.e., DTX periodicity and DRX periodicity) as UEAssistanceInformation. Based on the notified preferred DTX/DRX pattern, the NW can consider which DTX/DRX pattern to apply to the cell where the UE is camped. When multiple UEs in a cell send requests for the preferred DTX/DRX pattern, the NW can configure or modify the DTX/DRX pattern to satisfy all of them, thus enabling the NES without compromising the UE experience.”)
Thus, based upon the teachings of NTT DOCOMO it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the network-side cell DTX/DRX feature of MAEDA in view of MEDLES to arrive the method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the end of TX indicator from a higher layer application executed at the UE, in order to provide a benefit of a more effectively way to determining a network side cell DTX/DRX configuration.
Claim(s) 11, 12, and 14, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ) in view of MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) in view of JEON (US 20240237133 A1).
In regards to claim 11, MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU is silent on the UE of claim 8, wherein the early termination indicator is included in a downlink control information (DCI) message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art concerned with power-saving in wireless networks. JEON (US 20240237133 A1) teaches a power saving feature such as DRX/DTX, where a DCI message is use to configure a power saving state (“[0098] A UE (e.g., UE 116) can be configured with a network operation state, incorporating the adaptation from cell DTX/DRX, spatial domain solution, and power domain solution, as well as other energy saving enhancements in the future. The followings are examples of possible network operation state configuration: Example 1: A network operation state can be associated with an active/non-active period of cell DTX/DRX, applied power offset, and/or active spatial elements; Example 2: A network operation state can be associated with a set of configurations for cell DTX/DRX, within multiple sets of configurations; Example 3: A network operation state can be associated with either activation or deactivation of cell DTX/DRX. [0099] In diagram 900 implemented as a method, a UE is provided from a serving cell via higher layer signaling, e.g., RRC, one or multiple network operation states and receives DCI triggering state transition. For example, there can be 3 DTX states (together with the ‘ON’ state), each corresponding to a value for {on-duration, offset, maybe Inactivity Timer}−DCI format 2_9 has 2 bits to indicate 1 of the 3 DTX states (or the ‘ON’ state). In another example, there can be an active and inactive states of a DTX configuration—DCI format 2_9 has one bit to indicate. The DRX state can be similarly indicated in the DCI format 2_9.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of JEON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power saving feature of MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU, by adopting use of the DCI message to carry information for indicating and/or controlling DTX/DRX state (i.e. early termination indicator), to thus arrive at claim 11, in order to provide a benefit of a reliable method to deliver the early termination indicator.
In regards to claim 14, MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU is silent on The UE of claim 8, wherein the early termination indicator is included in a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) or a radio resource control (RRC) message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art concerned with power-saving in wireless networks. JEON (US 20240237133 A1) teaches a power saving feature such as DRX/DTX, where a RRC message is use to configure a power saving state (“[0098] A UE (e.g., UE 116) can be configured with a network operation state, incorporating the adaptation from cell DTX/DRX, spatial domain solution, and power domain solution, as well as other energy saving enhancements in the future. The followings are examples of possible network operation state configuration: Example 1: A network operation state can be associated with an active/non-active period of cell DTX/DRX, applied power offset, and/or active spatial elements; Example 2: A network operation state can be associated with a set of configurations for cell DTX/DRX, within multiple sets of configurations; Example 3: A network operation state can be associated with either activation or deactivation of cell DTX/DRX. [0099] In diagram 900 implemented as a method, a UE is provided from a serving cell via higher layer signaling, e.g., RRC, one or multiple network operation states and receives DCI triggering state transition. For example, there can be 3 DTX states (together with the ‘ON’ state), each corresponding to a value for {on-duration, offset, maybe Inactivity Timer}−DCI format 2_9 has 2 bits to indicate 1 of the 3 DTX states (or the ‘ON’ state). In another example, there can be an active and inactive states of a DTX configuration—DCI format 2_9 has one bit to indicate. The DRX state can be similarly indicated in the DCI format 2_9.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of JEON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power saving feature of MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU, by adopting use of the RRC message to carry information for indicating and/or controlling DTX/DRX state (i.e. early termination indicator), to thus arrive at claim 14, in order to provide a benefit of a reliable method to deliver the early termination indicator.
In regards to claim 12, MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU is silent on the UE of claim 11, wherein the DCI message further includes an early termination indicator associated with a scheduled UE-side cell DRX active time. However, MAEDA does teach where the early termination indicator is associated with a scheduled UE-side cell DRX active time ([Fig. 4] teaches the mobile terminal receiving an early termination indicator, receive the result of judgement of transition to a DRX Operation during Active, associated with a scheduled UE-side cell DRX active time, “…ST8 Receive the Result of the Judgement of transition to a DRX Operation Period during Active, and the DRX Cycle and the DTX Cycle...ST9 Does the Mobile Terminal Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX Operation Period during Active..Yes...ST10 Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX Operation period during Active...” ). Furthermore, JEON (US 20240237133 A1) who teaches features concerning power saving for wireless networks, teaches a power saving feature, DRX/DTX, where a DCI message is use to configure a power saving state (“[0098] A UE (e.g., UE 116) can be configured with a network operation state, incorporating the adaptation from cell DTX/DRX, spatial domain solution, and power domain solution, as well as other energy saving enhancements in the future. The followings are examples of possible network operation state configuration: Example 1: A network operation state can be associated with an active/non-active period of cell DTX/DRX, applied power offset, and/or active spatial elements; Example 2: A network operation state can be associated with a set of configurations for cell DTX/DRX, within multiple sets of configurations; Example 3: A network operation state can be associated with either activation or deactivation of cell DTX/DRX. [0099] In diagram 900 implemented as a method, a UE is provided from a serving cell via higher layer signaling, e.g., RRC, one or multiple network operation states and receives DCI triggering state transition. For example, there can be 3 DTX states (together with the ‘ON’ state), each corresponding to a value for {on-duration, offset, maybe Inactivity Timer}−DCI format 2_9 has 2 bits to indicate 1 of the 3 DTX states (or the ‘ON’ state). In another example, there can be an active and inactive states of a DTX configuration—DCI format 2_9 has one bit to indicate. The DRX state can be similarly indicated in the DCI format 2_9.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of JEON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power saving feature of MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU, by adopting use of the DCI message to carry information for indicating and/or controlling DTX/DRX state (i.e. early termination indicator), to thus arrive at claim 12, in order to provide a benefit of a reliable method to deliver the early termination indicator.
Claim(s) 25, 26, and 28, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) in view of JEON (US 20240237133 A1).
In regards to claim 28, MAEDA in view of ZHOU is silent on the network entity of claim 22, wherein the early termination indicator is included in a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) or a radio resource control (RRC) message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art concerned with power-saving in wireless networks. JEON (US 20240237133 A1) teaches a power saving feature such as DRX/DTX, where a RRC message is use to configure a power saving state (“[0098] A UE (e.g., UE 116) can be configured with a network operation state, incorporating the adaptation from cell DTX/DRX, spatial domain solution, and power domain solution, as well as other energy saving enhancements in the future. The followings are examples of possible network operation state configuration: Example 1: A network operation state can be associated with an active/non-active period of cell DTX/DRX, applied power offset, and/or active spatial elements; Example 2: A network operation state can be associated with a set of configurations for cell DTX/DRX, within multiple sets of configurations; Example 3: A network operation state can be associated with either activation or deactivation of cell DTX/DRX. [0099] In diagram 900 implemented as a method, a UE is provided from a serving cell via higher layer signaling, e.g., RRC, one or multiple network operation states and receives DCI triggering state transition. For example, there can be 3 DTX states (together with the ‘ON’ state), each corresponding to a value for {on-duration, offset, maybe Inactivity Timer}−DCI format 2_9 has 2 bits to indicate 1 of the 3 DTX states (or the ‘ON’ state). In another example, there can be an active and inactive states of a DTX configuration—DCI format 2_9 has one bit to indicate. The DRX state can be similarly indicated in the DCI format 2_9.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of JEON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power saving feature of MAEDA in view of ZHOU, by adopting use of the RRC message to carry information for indicating and/or controlling DTX/DRX state (i.e. early termination indicator), to thus arrive at claim 28, in order to provide a benefit of a reliable method to deliver the early termination indicator.
In regards to claim 25, MAEDA in view of ZHOU is silent on the network entity of claim 22, wherein the early termination indicator is included in a downlink control information (DCI) message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art concerned with power-saving in wireless networks. JEON (US 20240237133 A1) teaches a power saving feature such as DRX/DTX, where a DCI message is use to configure a power saving state (“[0098] A UE (e.g., UE 116) can be configured with a network operation state, incorporating the adaptation from cell DTX/DRX, spatial domain solution, and power domain solution, as well as other energy saving enhancements in the future. The followings are examples of possible network operation state configuration: Example 1: A network operation state can be associated with an active/non-active period of cell DTX/DRX, applied power offset, and/or active spatial elements; Example 2: A network operation state can be associated with a set of configurations for cell DTX/DRX, within multiple sets of configurations; Example 3: A network operation state can be associated with either activation or deactivation of cell DTX/DRX. [0099] In diagram 900 implemented as a method, a UE is provided from a serving cell via higher layer signaling, e.g., RRC, one or multiple network operation states and receives DCI triggering state transition. For example, there can be 3 DTX states (together with the ‘ON’ state), each corresponding to a value for {on-duration, offset, maybe Inactivity Timer}−DCI format 2_9 has 2 bits to indicate 1 of the 3 DTX states (or the ‘ON’ state). In another example, there can be an active and inactive states of a DTX configuration—DCI format 2_9 has one bit to indicate. The DRX state can be similarly indicated in the DCI format 2_9.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of JEON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power saving feature of MAEDA in view of ZHOU, by adopting use of the DCI message to carry information for indicating and/or controlling DTX/DRX state (i.e. early termination indicator), to thus arrive at claim 25, in order to provide a benefit of a reliable method to deliver the early termination indicator.
In regards to claim 26, MAEDA in view of ZHOU is silent on the network entity of claim 25, wherein the DCI message further includes an early termination indicator associated with a scheduled UE-side cell DRX active time. However, MAEDA does teach where the early termination indicator is associated with a scheduled UE-side cell DRX active time ([Fig. 4] teaches the mobile terminal receiving an early termination indicator, receive the result of judgement of transition to a DRX Operation during Active, associated with a scheduled UE-side cell DRX active time, “…ST8 Receive the Result of the Judgement of transition to a DRX Operation Period during Active, and the DRX Cycle and the DTX Cycle...ST9 Does the Mobile Terminal Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX Operation Period during Active..Yes...ST10 Make a Transition to a DRX/DTX Operation period during Active...” ). Furthermore, JEON (US 20240237133 A1) who teaches features concerning power saving for wireless networks, teaches a power saving feature, DRX/DTX, where a DCI message is use to configure a power saving state (“[0098] A UE (e.g., UE 116) can be configured with a network operation state, incorporating the adaptation from cell DTX/DRX, spatial domain solution, and power domain solution, as well as other energy saving enhancements in the future. The followings are examples of possible network operation state configuration: Example 1: A network operation state can be associated with an active/non-active period of cell DTX/DRX, applied power offset, and/or active spatial elements; Example 2: A network operation state can be associated with a set of configurations for cell DTX/DRX, within multiple sets of configurations; Example 3: A network operation state can be associated with either activation or deactivation of cell DTX/DRX. [0099] In diagram 900 implemented as a method, a UE is provided from a serving cell via higher layer signaling, e.g., RRC, one or multiple network operation states and receives DCI triggering state transition. For example, there can be 3 DTX states (together with the ‘ON’ state), each corresponding to a value for {on-duration, offset, maybe Inactivity Timer}−DCI format 2_9 has 2 bits to indicate 1 of the 3 DTX states (or the ‘ON’ state). In another example, there can be an active and inactive states of a DTX configuration—DCI format 2_9 has one bit to indicate. The DRX state can be similarly indicated in the DCI format 2_9.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of JEON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power saving feature of MAEDA in view of ZHOU, by adopting use of the DCI message to carry information for indicating and/or controlling DTX/DRX state (i.e. early termination indicator), to thus arrive at claim 26, in order to provide a benefit of a reliable method to deliver the early termination indicator.
Claim(s) 11 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ) in view of MEDLES (US 20200213943 A1) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) in view of MOON (US 20240267985 A1).
In regards to claim 11, MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU is silent on the UE of claim 8, wherein the early termination indicator is included in a downlink control information (DCI) message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a wireless network. MOON (US 20240267985 A1) teaches a feature where a DCI message is a group DCI message, comprising configuration information indicating a power-saving state using a single bit of the group DCI message (“[0169] The terminal may receive the activation or inactivation indication for the cell DTX operation and/or cell DRX operation through the DCI. For example, a group common DCI may include information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and/or information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal. The information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and the information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal may each be expressed as 1 bit, and the information may be included in a DCI payload of the DCI. The indication for activation or inactivation of the cell DTX/DRX operation may be performed on a serving cell basis. The DCI may be referred to as ‘network energy saving (NES) DCI’.).”)
Thus, based upon the teachings of MOON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to adopt use of a DCI message to carry to power-saving state information, such as the early termination indicator of MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU to thus arrive at claim 11, in order to provide a benefit of an efficient means to deliver the early termination indication information to a group of terminal devices.
In regards to claim 13, MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU is silent on The UE of claim 11, wherein the DCI message is a group DCI message, and wherein the early termination indicator comprises a single bit of the group DCI message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a wireless network. MOON (US 20240267985 A1) teaches a feature where a DCI message is a group DCI message, comprising configuration information indicating a power-saving state using a single bit of the group DCI message (“[0169] The terminal may receive the activation or inactivation indication for the cell DTX operation and/or cell DRX operation through the DCI. For example, a group common DCI may include information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and/or information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal. The information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and the information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal may each be expressed as 1 bit, and the information may be included in a DCI payload of the DCI. The indication for activation or inactivation of the cell DTX/DRX operation may be performed on a serving cell basis. The DCI may be referred to as ‘network energy saving (NES) DCI’.).”)
Thus, based upon the teachings of MOON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to adopt use of a group DCI message to carry to power-saving state information, such as the early termination indicator of MAEDA in view of MEDLES in view of ZHOU in a single bit to thus arrive at claim 13, in order to provide a benefit of an efficient means to deliver the early termination indication information to a group of terminal devices.
Claim(s) 25, and 27, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MAEDA (US 20090180414 A1 ) in view of ZHOU (US 20230371113 A1) in view of MOON (US 20240267985 A1).
In regards to claim 11, MAEDA in view of ZHOU is silent on the UE of claim 8, wherein the early termination indicator is included in a downlink control information (DCI) message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a wireless network. MOON (US 20240267985 A1) teaches a feature where a DCI message is a group DCI message, comprising configuration information indicating a power-saving state using a single bit of the group DCI message (“[0169] The terminal may receive the activation or inactivation indication for the cell DTX operation and/or cell DRX operation through the DCI. For example, a group common DCI may include information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and/or information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal. The information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and the information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal may each be expressed as 1 bit, and the information may be included in a DCI payload of the DCI. The indication for activation or inactivation of the cell DTX/DRX operation may be performed on a serving cell basis. The DCI may be referred to as ‘network energy saving (NES) DCI’.).”)
Thus, based upon the teachings of MOON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to adopt use of a DCI message to carry to power-saving state information, such as the early termination indicator of MAEDA to thus arrive at claim 11, in order to provide a benefit of an efficient means to deliver the early termination indication information to a group of terminal devices.
In regards to claim 13, MAEDA in view of ZHOU is silent on The UE of claim 11, wherein the DCI message is a group DCI message, and wherein the early termination indicator comprises a single bit of the group DCI message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving power-saving in a wireless network. MOON (US 20240267985 A1) teaches a feature where a DCI message is a group DCI message, comprising configuration information indicating a power-saving state using a single bit of the group DCI message (“[0169] The terminal may receive the activation or inactivation indication for the cell DTX operation and/or cell DRX operation through the DCI. For example, a group common DCI may include information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and/or information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal. The information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and the information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal may each be expressed as 1 bit, and the information may be included in a DCI payload of the DCI. The indication for activation or inactivation of the cell DTX/DRX operation may be performed on a serving cell basis. The DCI may be referred to as ‘network energy saving (NES) DCI’.).”)
Thus, based upon the teachings of MOON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to adopt use of a group DCI message to carry to power-saving state information, such as the early termination indicator of MAEDA in a single bit to thus arrive at claim 13, in order to provide a benefit of an efficient means to deliver the early termination indication information to a group of terminal devices.
In regards to claim 25, MAEDA in view of ZHOU is silent on the network entity of claim 22, wherein the early termination indicator is included in a downlink control information (DCI) message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art concerned with power-saving in wireless networks. MOON teaches a power saving feature such as DRX/DTX, where a group DCI message is use to configure a power saving state (“[0169] The terminal may receive the activation or inactivation indication for the cell DTX operation and/or cell DRX operation through the DCI. For example, a group common DCI may include information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and/or information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal. The information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and the information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal may each be expressed as 1 bit, and the information may be included in a DCI payload of the DCI. The indication for activation or inactivation of the cell DTX/DRX operation may be performed on a serving cell basis. The DCI may be referred to as ‘network energy saving (NES) DCI’.).”)
Thus, based upon the teachings of MOON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power saving feature of MAEDA, to adopt use of a group DCI message to carry to power-saving state information, such as the early termination indicator of MAEDA to thus arrive at claim 25, in order to provide a benefit of an efficient means to deliver the early termination indication information to a group of terminal devices.
In regards to claim 27, MAEDA in view of ZHOU is silent on the network entity of claim 25, wherein the DCI message is a group DCI message, and wherein the early termination indicator comprises a single bit of the group DCI message. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art concerned with power-saving in wireless networks. MOON teaches a power saving feature such as DRX/DTX, where a group DCI message is use to configure a power saving state (“[0169] The terminal may receive the activation or inactivation indication for the cell DTX operation and/or cell DRX operation through the DCI. For example, a group common DCI may include information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and/or information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal. The information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DTX operation configured in the terminal and the information indicating to activate or inactivate the cell DRX operation configured in the terminal may each be expressed as 1 bit, and the information may be included in a DCI payload of the DCI. The indication for activation or inactivation of the cell DTX/DRX operation may be performed on a serving cell basis. The DCI may be referred to as ‘network energy saving (NES) DCI’.).”)
Thus, based upon the teachings of MOON it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power saving feature of MAEDA, to adopt use of a group DCI message to carry to power-saving state information, such as the early termination indicator of MAEDA to thus arrive at claim 27, in order to provide a benefit of an efficient means to deliver the early termination indication information to a group of terminal devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 2, 4-6, 10, 17, 18, 20-21, 24, 29, and 30, are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/TARELL A HAMPTON/Examiner, Art Unit 2476 /AYAZ R SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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