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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/16/26 has been entered.
Response to Arguments/Amendments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/16/26 have been fully considered but they are moot due to the new ground rejection blow.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-8 and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gupta (US 20190327679 A1) in view of Lee2 (WO 2022086198 A1).
For claim 1, Gupta discloses an apparatus (FIG. 2, UE 102), comprising: processing circuitry (the processing circuitry of the apparatus) to:
output, for transmission, capability information associated with wake-up signal (WUS) monitoring (FIG. 12 and the associated text, such as [0115] “FIG. 12 shows an example sequence 1200 of the UE 300 and the eNB 212 exchange RRC messages to deploy C-WuRx capabilities available on the UE 300. For example, the UE 300 and the eNB first negotiate the capability of the UE to use the C-WuRx while the UE 300 is connected to a Wi-Fi access point 1202 and maintains the WWAN link in the RRC_CONNECTED state”; note that “exchange” includes output and C-WuRx is Cellular wakeup receiver (WUR) as cited Abstract, which suggested WUS), the capability information to include:
an indication of support for WUS monitoring in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode (suggested by [0115] “… For example, the UE 300 and the eNB first negotiate the capability of the UE to use the C-WuRx while the UE 300 is connected to a Wi-Fi access point 1202 and maintains the WWAN link in the RRC_CONNECTED state” in view of FIG. 12), and
perform, via the WUR, WUS monitoring while in a sleep state in which operation of the main radio is suspended (FIGs. 10-12 and the associated text, such as “[0121] At step 1294, the UE's C-WuRx is triggered to turn on and the main LTE receiver is turned off. This allows the UE to save power otherwise expended on the LTE link while still monitoring (with a low-power and low-latency mechanism) at least a portion of the LTE channel conveying the wakeup signal.”);
transition from the sleep state to an awake state based on receipt of a WUS (“[0073] … When the C-WuRx 350 detects the wakeup signal, the C-WuRx 350 may be configured to wake up the FEM circuitry 308 to receive incoming downlink data.”); and
monitor, via the main radio, for a PDCCH transmission from a base station in the awake state (“[0109] … And when the UE activates its main radio for the active duration period of C-DRX, which is typically in the order of 10 milliseconds (ms) plus additional time for the hardware to power up, the main radio consumes a relatively high amount of power (e.g., about 500 mW) so as to monitor the PDCCH in each sub-frame”); and
interface circuitry, coupled with the processing circuitry, to transmit the capability information (“[0115] “FIG. 12 shows an example sequence 1200 of the UE 300 and the eNB 212 exchange RRC messages to deploy C-WuRx capabilities available on the UE 300. For example, the UE 300 and the eNB first negotiate the capability of the UE to use the C-WuRx while the UE 300 is connected to a Wi-Fi access point 1202 and maintains the WWAN link in the RRC_CONNECTED state”).
Gupta is silent but Lee2, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses:
a switching gap value indicating a minimum time gap between WUS reception by wake-up receiver (WUR) and a main radio to start physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring in the RRC connected mode (FIGs. 9-16 and associated text: For example, p37-48, Section (4) “Embodiment 1-4: DCI format 2_6 based PDCCH monitoring adaptation)”, such as p37/l2-4 “In the power saving technology of the Rel-16 NR system, when a DRX operation is performed, whether to wake up in each DRX cycle may be notified to the UE through DCI format 2_6. …”, p38, last para extending to p39 “In order for the terminal to which PDCCH monitoring adaptation is indicated through DCI format 2_6 to operate simultaneously with the start of the DRX active time, the terminal may report a time gap in consideration of the SS set switching time to the base station. According to NR standard document TS38.213, in the case of SS set group switching, the minimum value (P .sub.switch ) for the switching time may be defined as shown in [Table 10].”; disclosing a switch gap having a minimum value from terminal wake-up to start of PDCCH monitoring). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Lee2 above to the WUS reception by Gupta to yield a predictable result of performing PDCCH monitoring.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Gupta and Lee2 for the benefit of PDCCH monitoring (p38 of Lee2).
Claim 15 is rejected because it is a claim of method performed by the UE of claim 1 and has the same subject matter as claim 1.
Claim 17 is rejected because it is a claim of non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions for performing the method of the UE of claim 1 and has the same subject matter as claim 1.
As to claim 2, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 1, Lee2 further discloses: wherein the capability information further includes:
a first switching gap value indicating a first time interval for the UE to transition from the sleep state to the awake state (FIG. 12, Long DRX Cycle); or
a second switching gap value indicating a second time interval for the UE to prepare for WUS monitoring after receipt of a corresponding WUS monitoring trigger (FIG. 12, Short DRX Cycle).
The motivation of combining Gupta and Lee2 is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 3, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 2, Lee2 further discloses: wherein the capability information includes both the first switching gap value and the second switching gap value as a pair (FIG. 12, Short DRX Cycle and Long DRX Cycle; or Table 10 which specifies different minimum switching gap values).
The motivation of combining Gupta and Lee2 is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 4, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 2, Lee2 further discloses: wherein the first switching gap value is based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS), and wherein the second switching gap value is based on the SCS (FIG. 14, S1411 “monitor the PDCCH based on the default SS set” in view of p29, 6th para “the UE may monitor the PDCCH based on the default SS set (S1411)”).
The motivation of combining Gupta and Lee2 is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 5, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 1, Lee2 further discloses: switching gap value is based on a minimum time gap between the WUS reception and a first PDCCH monitoring occasion (p38, last para extending to p39 “In order for the terminal to which PDCCH monitoring adaptation is indicated through DCI format 2_6 to operate simultaneously with the start of the DRX active time, the terminal may report a time gap in consideration of the SS set switching time to the base station. According to NR standard document TS38.213, in the case of SS set group switching, the minimum value (P .sub.switch ) for the switching time may be defined as shown in [Table 10].”).
The motivation of combining Gupta and Lee2 is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 6, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 1, Lee2 further discloses: wherein the capability information includes a first switching gap value indicating a first time interval for the UE to transition from the sleep state to the awake state when the sleep state is of a first type and a second switching gap value indicating a second time interval for the UE to transition from the sleep state to the awake state when the sleep state is of a second type (FIG. 12, Short DRX Cycle and Long DRX Cycle; or Table 10 which specifies different minimum switching gap values).
The motivation of combining Gupta and Lee2 is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 7, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 6, Gupta further discloses: wherein the processing circuitry is further to:
determine whether the first switching gap value is to be defined with respect to a start of the WUS or an end of the WUS (p38, last para “… the terminal to which PDCCH monitoring adaptation is indicated through DCI format 2_6 to operate simultaneously with the start of the DRX active time, …”; or FIG. 16); and
determine the first switching gap value based on the determination of whether the first switching gap value is to be defined with respect to the start of the WUS or the end of the WUS (FIG. 12, Short DRX Cycle and Long DRX Cycle; or Table 10 which specifies different minimum switching gap values).
The motivation of combining Gupta and Lee2 is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 8, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 6, Gupta further discloses: wherein the processing circuitry is further to:
transition from the awake state to a sleep state, wherein a downlink control information (DCI) transmission is used to trigger the transition (FIGs.10-12 and the associated text, such as [0040] “… The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the Downlink Control Information (DCI) and the channel condition.” in combined with [0118] “… the trigger is a message from the eNB …”, wherein DCI is used to send a trigger message from eNB to UE)
Lee2 also discloses this claim limitation (p28, para 2-3, “Embodiments of the present disclosure propose PDCCH monitoring adaptation methods that can be indicated based on DCI. … the above-described PDCCH monitoring adaptation may be explicitly and/or implicitly triggered and/or indicated”).
As to claims 13 and 16, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claims 1 and 15, Gupta further discloses: wherein the processing circuitry is further to: receive configuration information including a configured switching gap value based on the capability (FIGs.10-12 and the associated text, such as [0118] “… The trigger may also include an inactivity timer value similar to those used for DRX. In some embodiments, the trigger is a message from the eNB, or it may be triggered in response to elapsed time tracked through a timer. The C-WuRx active state is not assumed to be entered until its trigger condition for operation during RRC_CONNECTED state, i.e., complete UL/DL data offload to WLAN, has been achieved and the eNB does not expect any WLAN measurements at any frequency” in view of the parent claims).
As to claim 14, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 1, Gupta further discloses the capability information further includes: a capability to transition from the sleep state to the awake state based on the trigger, wherein the trigger is receiving a WUS or a passage of time in sleep state without detecting the WUS; or a capability to transition from the awake state to the sleep state based on an indication from a DCI transmission, a time-based trigger, a detection by the UE of a condition, or a UE triggered state transition (FIGs. 10-12 [0040] “… The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the Downlink Control Information (DCI) and the channel condition. …”).
Lee2 also discloses the above limitation in p37-48, Section (4).
As to claim 18, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 17, Lee2 further discloses: wherein the trigger includes a need to perform semi-statically configured downlink (DL) reception or uplink (UL) transmission (p19, 4th para “… PUSCH transmission is dynamically scheduled by a UL grant in DCI, or semi-static based on higher layer (eg, RRC) signaling (and/or Layer 1 (L1) signaling (eg, PDCCH)) -static) can be scheduled …”).
The motivation of combining Gupta and Lee2 is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 19, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 18, Lee2 further discloses: wherein the semi-statically configured DL reception excludes PDCCH monitoring in some or all UE-specific search space sets (p19, 4th para “… PUSCH transmission is dynamically scheduled by a UL grant in DCI, or semi-static based on higher layer (eg, RRC) signaling (and/or Layer 1 (L1) signaling (eg, PDCCH)) -static) can be scheduled …”).
The motivation of combining Gupta and Lee2 is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 20, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 17, Gupta further discloses: wherein the trigger includes switching to the awake state after monitoring for the WUS for a pre-defined or configured time (FIGs.10-12 and the associated text, such as [0118] “… The trigger may also include an inactivity timer value similar to those used for DRX. In some embodiments, the trigger is a message from the eNB, or it may be triggered in response to elapsed time tracked through a timer. …”).
Lee2 also discloses the above limitation (such as p22, 1st para; or p25, 1st para).
Claim 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gupta in view of Lee2, further in view of Reial (US 20220086756 A1).
As to claim 9, Gupta in view of Lee2 discloses claim 1, and is silent but Reial, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication associated with WUS, discloses: wherein the capability information further includes a WUR performance parameter, wherein the WUR performance parameter is either a WUR sensitivity value used to achieve a performance target or a signal to interference noise ratio (SINR) value used to achieve the performance target ([0092] “… The one or more performance metrics may comprise Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) such as MD and FA, for the determined WUS format and SINR …”). OOSA would have been motived to apply the teaching of Maleki above to the WUS by Gupta in view of Lee2 to yield a predictable result of determining the required performance metrics according to MPEP 2143(D).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Gupta and Reial for the benefit of determining required performance metrics ([0096] of Reial).
As to claim 10, Gupta in view of Lee2 and Reial discloses claim 9, Reial further discloses: wherein the WUR performance parameter is based on a WUR architecture and power consumption level ([0092] “… the UE can determine the achievable performance and power consumption metric (such as an average energy consumption) …”). The motivation of combining Gupta in view of Lee2 and Reial is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 11, Gupta in view of Lee2 and Reial discloses claim 9, Reial further discloses: wherein the processing circuitry is further to: receive configuration information including the performance target ([0092] “… the UE can determine the achievable performance and power consumption metric (such as an average energy consumption) …”). The motivation of combining Gupta in view of Lee2 and Reial is the same as stated in the parent claim.
As to claim 12, Gupta in view of Lee2 and Reial discloses claim 11, Gupta further discloses wherein the processing circuitry is further to: output, for transmission a performance parameter corresponding to the performance target, based on time and frequency resources allocated for monitoring the WUS ([0038] … The grid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation ...”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIANYE WU whose telephone number is (571)270-1665. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 8am-6pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at (571) 272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JIANYE WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
Prosecution Insights