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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/27/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With regards to the currently amended claims, the Applicant argues that previously presented rejections fail to disclose the claimed feature of “wherein the LP-WUS contains one or more sequences for detecting or selecting the LP-WUS, wherein the one or more sequences are determined based on a sequence detection or a sequence selection, or based on encoded bits, and wherein the one or more sequences are associated with at least one of a configurable sequence type, an encoding scheme, and additional bits”. The Applicant argues that previously cited reference, Li, discloses that the LP-WUS may include a sequence for LP-WUS detection, but does not disclose how to determine the sequence and that the sequence being associated with at least one of a configurable sequence type, an encoding scheme, and additional bits.
However, the claim also does not disclose how to determine the sequence besides that “wherein the one or more sequences are determined based on a sequence detection or a sequence selection”. Meanwhile, Li clearly discloses that “the LP-WUS may include two parts wherein the first part is for a sequence for LP-WUS detection” in paragraph [0052], which clearly represents the claimed “sequence detection”. Li also shows that the LP-WUS having a “second part is with payload” in addition to the first part that includes a sequence for detection in paragraph [0052]. The payload must include a number of bits, and being the second part of the LP-WUS that also has a first part that includes the claimed sequence, the payload may be considered as the claimed “additional bits” that are associated with the claimed sequence. Therefore, paragraph [0052] clearly meets all requirements of the portion of the claim being argued by the applicant. The applicant’s arguments are not persuasive and the previously presented grounds of rejections are maintained and applied to the currently amended claims.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 8, 13, 15 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 2025/0324366) in view of Li (US 2025/0220582).
Chen discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 1, a method comprising:
performing by a processor of a network node, a transformation of M-bit OOK in a time domain (see 4-bit OOK subsequence “1010” in Fig. 2; and see “4 OOK symbols” recited in paragraph [0130], wherein each OOK symbol corresponds to a value of 1 or 0, which may be represented using at least 1 bit, or a number of bits calculated using formulas shown in paragraph [0119] or [0130], as shown in paragraph [0062]) to generate a LP-WUS (see “LP-WUS” recited in paragraph [0009]) with N SCs (see “the WUS may occupy a plurality of subcarriers or Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), e.g., 100 subcarriers or 200 subcarriers, or 4PRBs, 8PRBs, 16PRBs, 24PRBs, or 32PRBs, etc.” recited in paragraph [0074]; and see “288 subcarriers” recited in paragraph [0130]), wherein the transformation is a DFT (see Fig. 2, wherein transform precoding is performed in step 220; and see “DFT (also called transform precoding operation)” recited in paragraph [0065]) or a least square operation, and wherein K samples (see Fig. 10, wherein Nofdm symbols are generated from the OOK symbols, and in paragraph [0130], that number is 2048 symbols) are generated from the M bits with a signal modification or a signal truncation (see Fig. 11, which shows the OOK sequence with a guard interval inserted and truncated as shown in paragraph [0126]);
performing, by the processor, an IFFT operation for the LP-WUS (see Fig. 5A, wherein IFFT is performed on the LP-WUS), wherein the K is a size of the IFFT (see “the IFFT size is 2048” recited in paragraph [0130]) operation of CP-OFDMA, and wherein the N is less than or equal to the K (see paragraph [0130], wherein N = 288 (subcarriers) and K = 2088 (IFFT size) and 288<2088);
transmitting, by the processor, an LP-WUS configuration to a UE (see “the NW 110 may transmit 360 to the UE 120 a WUS configuration in the system information” recited in paragraph [0088] and similarly in paragraphs [0157]); and
transmitting, by the processor, the LP-WUS based on the WUS configuration to the UE (see “the WUS configuration may comprise a frequency domain resource configuration. The frequency domain resource configuration may indicate a plurality of PRBs or subcarriers where the WUS signal occupies” recited in paragraph [0089]; also see WUS transmission in step 340 of Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 6, wherein the LP-WUS configuration comprises a monitoring configuration for a LP-WUR, and the monitoring configuration comprises an on-off switch of the LP-WUR corresponding to a duty cycle (see “the WUS configuration may further comprise a time domain resource configuration. The time domain resource configuration may indicate one of the following contents: the periodicity of the WUS, the duty cycle of the WUS, or the number of OOK symbols mapped into an OFDM symbol” recited in paragraph [0091], wherein the duty cycle of the WUS corresponds to the claimed duty cycle) or a continuous monitoring in which the LP-WUR is on.
Regarding claim 8, an apparatus (see network device 110 shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 20), comprising:
a transceiver (see TX/RX 2040 in Fig. 20) which, during operation, wirelessly communicates with at least one UE (see UE 120 in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3); and
a processor (see processor 2010 in Fig. 20) communicatively coupled to the transceiver such that, during operation, the processor performs operations comprising:
performing, by a processor of a network node, a transformation of M-bit OOK in a time domain (see 4-bit OOK subsequence “1010” in Fig. 2; and see “4 OOK symbols” recited in paragraph [0130], wherein each OOK symbol corresponds to a value of 1 or 0, which may be represented using at least 1 bit, or a number of bits calculated using formulas shown in paragraph [0119] or [0130], as shown in paragraph [0062]) to generate a LP-WUS (see “LP-WUS” recited in paragraph [0009]) with N SCs (see “the WUS may occupy a plurality of subcarriers or Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), e.g., 100 subcarriers or 200 subcarriers, or 4PRBs, 8PRBs, 16PRBs, 24PRBs, or 32PRBs, etc.” recited in paragraph [0074]; and see “288 subcarriers” recited in paragraph [0130]), wherein the transformation is a DFT (see Fig. 2, wherein transform precoding is performed in step 220; and see “DFT (also called transform precoding operation)” recited in paragraph [0065]) or a least square operation, and wherein K samples (see Fig. 10, wherein Nofdm symbols are generated from the OOK symbols, and in paragraph [0130], that number is 2048 symbols) are generated from the M bits with a signal modification or a signal truncation (see Fig. 11, which shows the OOK sequence with a guard interval inserted and truncated as shown in paragraph [0126]);
performing an IFFT operation for the LP-WUS (see Fig. 5A, wherein IFFT is performed on the LP-WUS), wherein the K is a size of the IFFT (see “the IFFT size is 2048” recited in paragraph [0130]) operation of CP-OFDMA, and wherein the N is less than or equal to the K (see paragraph [0130], wherein N = 288 (subcarriers) and K = 2088 (IFFT size) and 288<2088);
transmitting, via the transceiver, an LP-WUS configuration to a UE (see “the NW 110 may transmit 360 to the UE 120 a WUS configuration in the system information” recited in paragraph [0088] and similarly in paragraphs [0157]); and
transmitting, via the transceiver, the LP-WUS based on the WUS configuration to the UE (see “the WUS configuration may comprise a frequency domain resource configuration. The frequency domain resource configuration may indicate a plurality of PRBs or subcarriers where the WUS signal occupies” recited in paragraph [0089]; also see WUS transmission in step 340 of Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 13, wherein the LP-WUS configuration comprises a monitoring configuration for a LP-WUR, and the monitoring configuration comprises an on-off switch of the LP-WUR corresponding to a duty cycle (see “the WUS configuration may further comprise a time domain resource configuration. The time domain resource configuration may indicate one of the following contents: the periodicity of the WUS, the duty cycle of the WUS, or the number of OOK symbols mapped into an OFDM symbol” recited in paragraph [0091], wherein the duty cycle of the WUS corresponds to the claimed duty cycle) or a continuous monitoring in which the LP-WUR is on.
Regarding claim 15, a method comprising:
Receiving, by a processor of a UE (see UE 120 in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3), a LP-WUS configuration from a network node (see “the NW 110 may transmit 360 to the UE 120 a WUS configuration in the system information” recited in paragraph [0088] and similarly in paragraphs [0157]);
wherein the LP-WUS with N SCs (see “the WUS may occupy a plurality of subcarriers or Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), e.g., 100 subcarriers or 200 subcarriers, or 4PRBs, 8PRBs, 16PRBs, 24PRBs, or 32PRBs, etc.” recited in paragraph [0074]; and see “288 subcarriers” recited in paragraph [0130]) is generated through a transformation of M-bit OOK in a time domain (see 4-bit OOK subsequence “1010” in Fig. 2; and see “4 OOK symbols” recited in paragraph [0130], wherein each OOK symbol corresponds to a value of 1 or 0, which may be represented using at least 1 bit, or a number of bits calculated using formulas shown in paragraph [0119] or [0130], as shown in paragraph [0062]), wherein the transformation is a DFT (see Fig. 2, wherein transform precoding is performed in step 220; and see “DFT (also called transform precoding operation)” recited in paragraph [0065]) or a least square operation, and wherein K samples (see Fig. 10, wherein Nofdm symbols are generated from the OOK symbols, and in paragraph [0130], that number is 2048 symbols) are generated from the M bits with a signal modification or a signal truncation (see Fig. 11, which shows the OOK sequence with a guard interval inserted and truncated as shown in paragraph [0126]), and
wherein the LP-WUS is generated through an IFFT operation (see Fig. 5A, wherein IFFT is performed on the LP-WUS), wherein the K is a size of the IFFT (see “the IFFT size is 2048” recited in paragraph [0130]) operation of CP-OFDMA, and wherein the N is less than or equal to the K (see paragraph [0130], wherein N = 288 (subcarriers) and K = 2088 (IFFT size) and 288<2088).
Regarding claim 19, performing, by the processor, an on-off switch of a LP-WUR corresponding to a duty cycle according to a monitoring configuration for the LP-WUR in the LP-WUS configuration (see “the WUS configuration may further comprise a time domain resource configuration. The time domain resource configuration may indicate one of the following contents: the periodicity of the WUS, the duty cycle of the WUS, or the number of OOK symbols mapped into an OFDM symbol” recited in paragraph [0091], wherein the duty cycle of the WUS corresponds to the claimed duty cycle); or performing, by the processor, a continuous monitoring according to the monitoring configuration for the LP-WUR in the LP-WUS configuration, wherein the LP-WUR is on in performing the continuous monitoring.
Chen does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 1 and 8, wherein the LP-WUS associates with a UE group ID; wherein the LP-WUS contains one or more sequences for detecting or selecting the LP-WUS, wherein the one or more sequences are determined based on a sequence detection or a sequence selection, or based on the encoded bits, and wherein the one or more sequences are associated with at least one of a configurable sequence type, an encoding scheme and additional bits; regarding claim 15, determining, by the processor, whether to wake up according to the LP-WUS; and wherein the LP-WUS associates with a UE group ID; wherein the LP-WUS contains one or more sequences for detecting or selecting the LP-WUS, wherein the one or more sequences are determined based on a sequence detection or a sequence selection, or based on the encoded bits.
Li discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 1 and 8, wherein the LP-WUS associates with a UE group ID (see “The second part of the LP-WUS may include a group ID, sub-group ID or unicast ID for the UE” recited in paragraph [0060]); wherein the LP-WUS contains one or more sequences for detecting or selecting the LP-WUS, wherein the one or more sequences are determined based on a sequence detection (see “a LP-WUS may include two parts wherein the first part is for a sequence for LP-WUS detection” recited in paragraph [0052]) or a sequence selection, or based on the encoded bits, and wherein the one or more sequences are associated with at least one of a configurable sequence type, an encoding scheme and additional bits (see “a LP-WUS may include two parts wherein the first part is for a sequence for LP-WUS detection, and the second part is with payload” recited in paragraph [0052], wherein the sequence for LP-WUS detection is considered bits additional to the second part).
Regarding claim 15, determining, by the processor, whether to wake up according to the LP-WUS (see “if a UE detects a valid LP-WUS (ON) for the UE, the UE may or may not turn on the main receiver according to the indication of the LP-WUS. The detected valid LP-WUS can indicate whether to wake up the main receiver or not for the UE. Otherwise, if the UE does not detect a valid LP-WUS, one from the following options may be considered” recited in paragraph [0103]) and wherein the LP-WUS associates with a UE group ID (see “The second part of the LP-WUS may include a group ID, sub-group ID or unicast ID for the UE” recited in paragraph [0060]); wherein the LP-WUS contains one or more sequences for detecting or selecting the LP-WUS, wherein the one or more sequences are determined based on a sequence detection (see “a LP-WUS may include two parts wherein the first part is for a sequence for LP-WUS detection” recited in paragraph [0052]) or a sequence selection, or based on the encoded bits, and wherein the one or more sequences are associated with at least one of a configurable sequence type, an encoding scheme and additional bits (see “a LP-WUS may include two parts wherein the first part is for a sequence for LP-WUS detection, and the second part is with payload” recited in paragraph [0052], wherein the sequence for LP-WUS detection is considered bits additional to the second part).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Chen using features, as taught by Li, in order to allow the UE to detect the LP-WUS (see paragraph [0052] of Li).
Claim(s) 2-3, 5, 9-10, 12 and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen and Li as applied to claims 1, 8 and 15 above, and further in view of Suh (US 2018/0227070).
Chen and Li disclose the features as shown above.
Chen also discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 3 and 10, wherein in an event that the OOK value corresponds to a first value, the N SCs are modulated (see “a first number of subcarriers mapped with non-zero values can be used to generate an OOK ON-symbol” recited in paragraph [0071]), and wherein in an event that the OOK value represents a second value, the N SCs are zero power from a baseband point of view (see “a second number of subcarriers mapped with zero values or near-zero values can be used to generate an OOK OFF-symbol” recited in paragraph [0071]).
Regarding claim 17, wherein in an event that the OOK value corresponds to a first value, the N SCs are modulated (see “a first number of subcarriers mapped with non-zero values can be used to generate an OOK ON-symbol” recited in paragraph [0071]), and wherein in an event that the OOK value represents a second value, the N SCs are zero power from a baseband point of view (see “a second number of subcarriers mapped with zero values or near-zero values can be used to generate an OOK OFF-symbol” recited in paragraph [0071]).
Chen does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 2 and 9, wherein a single-bit OOK is used in one OFDM symbol, and wherein the N SCs of the LP-WUS are modulated based on a plurality of OOK values; regarding claims 5 and 12, wherein the encoded bits comprises an encoding scheme; regarding claims 16, wherein a single-bit OOK is used in one OFDM symbol, and wherein the N SCs of the LP-WUS are modulated based on a plurality of OOK values; regarding claim 18, wherein the encoded bits comprises an encoding scheme.
Suh discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 2 and 9, wherein a single-bit OOK is used in one OFDM symbol (see “An OFDM symbol generation operation 404 is then performed on the OOK mapped data bits to generate corresponding OFDM based symbols. In example embodiments, each data bit is represented by a single OFDM based symbol such that N data bits results in N successive symbols” recited in paragraph [0046]), and wherein the N SCs of the LP-WUS are modulated based on a plurality of OOK values (see “for each symbol, the OFDM symbol generator 404 is used to modulate the same data bit across all of the orthogonal subcarriers of the corresponding OFDM symbol” recited in paragraph [0046]).
Regarding claims 5 and 12, wherein the encoded bits comprises an encoding scheme (see FCS 266 in the WFC coded portion 268 of the wake up packet 250 in Fig. 2).
Regarding claims 16, wherein a single-bit OOK is used in one OFDM symbol (see “An OFDM symbol generation operation 404 is then performed on the OOK mapped data bits to generate corresponding OFDM based symbols. In example embodiments, each data bit is represented by a single OFDM based symbol such that N data bits results in N successive symbols” recited in paragraph [0046]), and wherein the N SCs of the LP-WUS are modulated based on a plurality of OOK values (see “for each symbol, the OFDM symbol generator 404 is used to modulate the same data bit across all of the orthogonal subcarriers of the corresponding OFDM symbol” recited in paragraph [0046]).
Regarding claims 18, wherein the encoded bits comprises an encoding scheme (see FCS 266 in the WFC coded portion 268 of the wake up packet 250 in Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Chen and Li using features, as taught by Suh, in order to modulate the same data bit across all of the orthogonal subcarriers of the corresponding OFDM symbol (see paragraph [0046] of Suh).
Claim(s) 7, 14 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen and Li as applied to claims 1, 8 and 15 above, and further in view of Liu (US 2025/0240715).
Chen and Li discloses the features as shown above.
Chen does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 7 and 14, wherein the LP-WUS associates with at least one of a UE ID, a cell ID, cell information, time information, SI change information, tracking area information, RAN information, SFN, a WUR ID and a WUR group ID; regarding claim 20, obtaining, by the processor, at least one of a UE group ID, a UE ID, a cell ID, a WUR ID and a WUR group ID; and determining, by the processor, whether to apply the WUS configuration according to at least one of the UE group I, the UE ID, the cell ID, the WUR ID and the WUR group ID.
Liu discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 7 and 14, wherein the LP-WUS associates with at least one of a UE ID, a cell ID (see “The configuration may further indicate a list of neighbor areas (e.g., cell IDs) in which the LP-WUS will be transmitted” recited in paragraph [0108]), cell information, time information, SI change information, tracking area information, RAN information, SFN, a WUR ID and a WUR group ID.
Regarding claim 20, obtaining, by the processor, at least one of a UE group ID, a UE ID, a cell ID (see “The configuration may further indicate a list of neighbor areas (e.g., cell IDs) in which the LP-WUS will be transmitted” recited in paragraph [0108]), a WUR ID and a WUR group ID; and determining, by the processor, whether to apply the WUS configuration according to at least one of the UE group I, the UE ID, the cell ID, the WUR ID and the WUR group ID (see “The configuration may further indicate a list of neighbor areas (e.g., cell IDs) in which the LP-WUS will be transmitted” recited in paragraph [0108]; and see step 730 in Fig. 7, wherein the UE receives the LP-WUS, as the LP-WUS is transmitted in the cell ID indicated in the LP-WUS configuration 715, the LP-WUS configuration 715 cell ID must be applied in order to receive the LP-WUS in step 730).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Chen and Li using features, as taught by Liu, in order to configure the UE to receive the LP-WUS (see paragraph [0106]-[0108] of Liu).
Conclusion
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/JUTAI KAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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