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 .
1. Claims 1-17 are pending.
Response to Arguments
2. In light of the amendments to the claims, the claim objections of claims 1-17 are withdrawn.
3. Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 12/16/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-17 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yi et al, US 20100216469 in view of Kim et al, US 2020/0305014have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yi et al, US 20100216469 hereafter Yi in view of Kim et al, US 2020/0305014 further in view of Jeong et al, US 2021/0112477. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action.
Specification
4. The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Interpretation
5. Claims 1 and 11 recite “without performing RRC redirection” and does not explicitly state whether “performing RRC redirection” corresponds to all steps of redirection process in Fig. 4 steps S401-S406 or any one of the steps S401-S406 or a certain subset of the steps S401-S406. For the purposes of examination, the Examiner interprets “without performing RRC redirection” to correspond to “the terminal device does not need to perform RRC redirection, to be specific, does not need to return from an RRC connected mode to an RRC idle mode” as disclosed in the specification [0006]. If the Applicant intends for “without performing RRC redirection” to have different scope than the Examiner’s interpretation then it is suggested to amend the claims. Although 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). During patent examination, the pending claims must be "given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification." The Federal Circuit’s en banc decision in Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1316, 75 USPQ2d 1321, 1329 (Fed. Cir. 2005) expressly recognized that the USPTO employs the "broadest reasonable interpretation".
Dependent claims 2-10 and 12-16 are objected to for similar reasons as the independent claims 1 and 11. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
6. Claim(s) 1-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yi et al, US 20100216469 hereafter Yi (as cited in the IDS dated 11/03/2023) in view of Kim et al, US 2020/0305014 (as cited in the IDS dated 11/03/2023) hereafter Kim further in view of Jeong et al, US 2021/0112477 hereafter Jeong.
As for claim 1, Yi discloses:
An apparatus used in a terminal device (Yi, [0197], The UE including software code may be stored in a memory unit and driven by a processor.), wherein the apparatus comprises:
at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor and configured to store instructions executable by the at least one processor (Yi, [0197], The UE including software code may be stored in a memory unit and driven by a processor.) to cause the apparatus to:
after the terminal device camps on a first cell, receive a first message from a network device, wherein the first message comprises information about a second cell (Yi, [0121], [0125], [0141], [0188], [0191]-[0192], After the UE is camped on one cell, receive messages from a base station about another/second cell), the first cell corresponds to a first component carrier (CC), and the second cell corresponds to a second CC (Yi, Fig. 11A, [0092], [0154], The respective Node Bs may use different frequencies and/or RATs.)
Yi does not explicitly disclose when the terminal device is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC inactive mode, send a second message to the network device being camped on the first cell, wherein the second message indicates one or more of the first cell, and the second cell, or the second message comprises measurement information of one or more of the first cell and the second cell.
However, Kim discloses when the terminal device is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC inactive mode (Kim, [0063], The UE performs frequency measurement in the RRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode while camped), send a second message to the network device being camped on the first cell, wherein the second message indicates one or more of the first cell, and the second cell, or the second message comprises measurement information of one or more of the first cell and the second cell. (Kim, Fig. 1L, [0243] The UE transmits a measurement report of the cell while in the RRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode to the base station, in operation 1l-20)
The combination of Yi and Kim does not explicitly disclose receive a third message, being camped on the first cell from the network device; and determine, based on the third message, that the terminal device camps on a third cell without performing RRC redirection, wherein the third cell is one of the first cell or the second cell.
However, Jeong discloses receive a third message, being camped on the first cell from the network device; and determine, based on the third message, that the terminal device camps on a third cell without performing RRC redirection, wherein the third cell is one of the first cell or the second cell (Jeong, Fig. 8, [0071]-[0074], Receive, a third information from the base station, and based on the third information from the base station, determine whether to stay camped on the current cell or to change to another cell. The cell change determination is made while the UE remains in RRC inactive mode without returning to RRC connected mode which the Examiner interprets to correspond to “without performing RRC redirection”).
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 combination of the teachings of Yi and Kim with receive a third message, being camped on the first cell from the network device; and determine, based on the third message, that the terminal device camps on a third cell without performing RRC redirection, wherein the third cell is one of the first cell or the second cell as taught by Jeong to efficiently reduce battery consumption and signaling load of the UE (Jeong, [0060]).
As for claims 2 and 12, Yi does not explicitly disclose the information about the second cell comprises: CC information of the second cell; and/or a cell identifier of the second cell.
However, Kim discloses the information about the second cell comprises: CC information of the second cell; and/or a cell identifier of the second cell (Kim, [0072], [0120], The message from the base station includes a cell identifier).
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 teachings of Yi with the information about the second cell comprises: CC information of the second cell; and/or a cell identifier of the second cell as taught by Kim to provide improved mobility of a UE (Kim, [0045]).
As for claims 3 and 13, Yi discloses the information about the second cell further comprises any one or more of the following: downlink reference signal information of the second cell (Yi, [0010], Receiving a reference symbol received power (RSRP), reference symbol received quality (RSRQ), and received signal strength indicator (RSSI) are being discussed as a signal measurement value.)
As for claims 4 and 14, Yi discloses wherein the system message of the second cell comprises any one or more of the following: downlink reference signal information of the second cell (Yi, [0010], Receiving a reference symbol received power (RSRP), reference symbol received quality (RSRQ), and received signal strength indicator (RSSI) are being discussed as a signal measurement value.)
Yi does not explicitly disclose after the receiving unit receives the first message from the network device, and before the sending unit sends the second message to the network device, search for a system message of the second cell based on the CC information and/or the cell identifier of the second cell.
However, Kim discloses after the receiving unit receives the first message from the network device, and before the sending unit sends the second message to the network device, search for a system message of the second cell based on the CC information and/or the cell identifier of the second cell (Kim, [0102], [0120], [0214], The UE received a message from the base station, the message includes cell identifiers that the UE uses to search for a suitable cell),
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 teachings of Yi with after the receiving unit receives the first message from the network device, and before the sending unit sends the second message to the network device, search for a system message of the second cell based on the CC information and/or the cell identifier of the second cell as taught by Kim to provide improved mobility of a UE (Kim, [0045]).
As for claims 5 and 15, Yi does not explicitly disclose the at least one processor to further cause the apparatus to: after the terminal device camps on the first cell, and before the receiving unit receives the first message from the network device, send a fourth message to the network device, wherein the fourth message is for initiating a radio resource control RRC connection establishment process, an RRC re-establishment process, or an RRC resume process.
However, Kim discloses the at least one processor to further cause the apparatus to: after the terminal device camps on the first cell, and before the receiving unit receives the first message from the network device, send a fourth message to the network device, wherein the fourth message is for initiating a radio resource control RRC connection establishment process, an RRC re-establishment process, or an RRC resume process. (Kim, [0111], The UE establishes an inverse direction transmission synchronization via a random access process and transmits an RRCSetupRequest message to the base station (operation 1e-25). The RRCSetupRequest message may include, for example, an establishment cause for configuring a connection with an identifier of the UE.)
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 teachings of Yi with the at least one processor to further cause the apparatus to: after the terminal device camps on the first cell, and before the receiving unit receives the first message from the network device, send a fourth message to the network device, wherein the fourth message is for initiating a radio resource control RRC connection establishment process, an RRC re-establishment process, or an RRC resume process as taught by Kim to provide improved mobility of a UE (Kim, [0045]).
As for claim 6, Yi does not explicitly disclose after the receiving unit receives the first message from the network device, and before the sending unit sends the second message to the network device, determine, based on the information about the second cell, whether the terminal device can camp on the second cell.
However, Kim discloses after the receiving unit receives the first message from the network device, and before the sending unit sends the second message to the network device, determine, based on the information about the second cell, whether the terminal device can camp on the second cell (Kim, [0101]-[0102], [0119]-[0121], The UE receives from the base station a frequency list or what frequency bands are to be measured, in what order prioritized frequencies are to be measured, what beams are to be measured and before sending the RRC message determine, based on the frequency information received from the base station, which is the suitable cell to camp on).
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 teachings of Yi with after the receiving unit receives the first message from the network device, and before the sending unit sends the second message to the network device, determine, based on the information about the second cell, whether the terminal device can camp on the second cell as taught by Kim to provide improved mobility of a UE (Kim, [0045]).
As for claim 7, Yi discloses:
if signal quality of a downlink reference signal of the second cell is higher than or equal to the signal quality threshold of the second cell, determine that the terminal device can camp on the second cell (Yi, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, [0002], [0008], [0010], [0098]-[0099], [0101]-[0102], If the quality level is higher than the threshold then selecting that cell to camp on), or if signal quality of a downlink reference signal of the second cell is lower than the signal quality threshold of the second cell, determine that the terminal device cannot camp on the second cell (Yi, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, [0002], [0008], [0010], [0098]-[0099], [0101]-[0102], If the quality level is lower than the threshold then selecting another cell to camp on);
As for claim 8, Yi discloses:
if signal quality of a downlink reference signal of the second cell is higher than the signal quality threshold of the second cell, determine that the terminal device can camp on the second cell (Yi, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, [0002], [0008], [0010], [0098]-[0099], [0101]-[0102], If the quality level is higher than the threshold then selecting that cell to camp on), or if signal quality of a downlink reference signal of the second cell is lower than or equal to the signal quality threshold of the second cell, determine that the terminal device cannot camp on the second cell (Yi, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, [0002], [0008], [0010], [0098]-[0099], [0101]-[0102], If the quality level is lower than the threshold then selecting another cell to camp on).
As for claims 9 and 16, Yi does not explicitly disclose send/receive the second message to the network device based on a resource of the first cell; or send/receive the second message to the network device based on a resource of the second cell.
However, Kim discloses send/receive the second message to the network device based on a resource of the first cell (Kim, [0173]-[0174], The random access response transmitted by the base station may indicate an instruction to transmit a measurement report. When the UE receives the uplink transmission resources from the random access response, the UE may transmit a measurement report together with message 3.)
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 teachings of Yi with send/receive the second message to the network device based on a resource of the first cell; or send/receive the second message to the network device based on a resource of the second cell as taught by Kim to provide improved mobility of a UE (Kim, [0045]).
As for claims 10 and 17, Yi discloses signal quality information of a downlink reference signal of the first cell; and signal quality information of the downlink reference signal of the second cell (Yi, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, [0002], [0008], [0010], [0098]-[0099], [0101]-[0102], If the quality level is higher than the threshold then selecting that cell to camp on).
Yi does not explicitly disclose the second message comprises any one or more of the following: CC information of the first cell; a cell identifier of the first cell; the CC information of the second cell; the cell identifier of the second cell.
However, Kim discloses the second message comprises any one or more of the following: CC information of the first cell; a cell identifier of the first cell; (Kim, [0072], [0120], The message from the base station includes a cell identifier); the cell identifier of the second cell (Kim, [0072], [0120], The message from the base station includes a cell identifier);
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 teachings of Yi with the second message comprises any one or more of the following: CC information of the first cell; a cell identifier of the first cell; the CC information of the second cell; the cell identifier of the second cell as taught by Kim to provide improved mobility of a UE (Kim, [0045]).
As for claim 11, Yi discloses:
An apparatus implemented in a network device, wherein the apparatus comprises: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor and configured to store instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the communication apparatus to:
after the terminal device camps on a first cell, receive a first message from a network device, wherein the first message comprises information about a second cell (Yi, [0121], [0125], [0141], [0188], [0191]-[0192], After the UE is camped on one cell, receive messages from a base station about another/second cell), the first cell corresponds to a first component carrier (CC), and the second cell corresponds to a second CC (Yi, Fig. 11A, [0092], [0154], The respective Node Bs may use different frequencies and/or RATs.)
Yi does not explicitly disclose when the terminal device in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC inactive mode, send a second message to the network device, wherein the second message indicates the first cell and/or the second cell, or the second message comprises measurement information of the first cell and/or the second cell.
However, Kim discloses when the terminal device in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC inactive mode, send a second message to the network device, the second message comprises measurement information of the first cell and/or the second cell (Kim, [0171]-[0172], When an RRC connection with a network needs to be configured the UE may indicate that there is a measurement report performed in the RRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode, while configuring an RRC connection with the base station.)
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 teachings of Yi with when the terminal device in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC inactive mode, send a second message to the network device, wherein the second message indicates the first cell and/or the second cell, or the second message comprises measurement information of the first cell and/or the second cell as taught by Kim to provide improved mobility of a UE (Kim, [0045]).
Yi does not explicitly disclose receive a second message from the terminal device being camped on the first cell in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC inactive mode, wherein the second message indicates one or more of the first cell, the second cell, and the second message comprises measurement information of one or more of the first cell or the second cell.
However, Kim discloses receive a second message from the terminal device being camped on the first cell in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC inactive mode, (Kim, [0063], The UE performs frequency measurement in the RRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode while camped), wherein the second message indicates one or more of the first cell, the second cell, and the second message comprises measurement information of one or more of the first cell or the second cell (Kim, Fig. 1L, [0243] The message from the UE is a measurement report of the cell received at the base station from the UE in the RRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode, in operation 1l-20)
The combination of Yi and Kim does not explicitly disclose receive a third message, being camped on the first cell from the network device; and determine, based on the third message, that the terminal device camps on a third cell without performing RRC redirection, wherein the third cell is one of the first cell or the second cell.
However, Jeong discloses send a third message to the terminal device when the terminal device is camped on the first cell, wherein the third message indicates the terminal device to camp on a third cell without performing RRC redirection, and the third cell is one of the first cell or the second cell (Jeong, Fig. 8, [0071]-[0074], Send, a third information from the base station, and based on the third information from the base station, the UE determines whether to stay camped on the current cell or to change to another cell. The cell change determination is made while the UE remains in RRC inactive mode without returning to RRC connected mode which the Examiner interprets to correspond to “without performing RRC redirection”).
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 combination of the teachings of Yi and Kim with receive a third message, being camped on the first cell from the network device; and determine, based on the third message, that the terminal device camps on a third cell without performing RRC redirection, wherein the third cell is one of the first cell or the second cell as taught by Jeong to efficiently reduce battery consumption and signaling load of the UE (Jeong, [0060]).
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Lee, US 8,467,781 discloses the UE transitions to an RRC idle mode (step S920). Then, the UE logs measurements on the basis of the MDT configuration (step S930). The UE establishes or re-establishes an RRC connection to a BS and thus enters the RRC connected mode (step S940). As the UE transitions from the RRC idle mode to the RRC connected mode, the UE sends a logging indicator to the network (step S945).
8. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENEE HOLLAND whose telephone number is (571)270-7196. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, IAN MOORE can be reached at (571)272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JENEE HOLLAND
Examiner
Art Unit 2469
/JENEE HOLLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469