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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/16/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments/remarks made in an amendment filed December 12, 2025, have been fully considered. In view of the amended claims 1, 13, 21, 28 and 30 and upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection, necessitated by the amendments is made in view of different interpretation of the previously applied references and new prior art as presented in this Office action. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-30 are therefore moot.
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 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.
Claims 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190349856 A1 (LIU et al.)(hereinafter LIU) in view of US 20220408359 A1 (HWANG et al.)(hereinafter HWANG) in view of the paper MediaTek Inc.: “Paging Enhancements for UE Power Saving in NR”, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting # 112-e, R2-2009785, 2nd – 13th November 2020, pp. 1-5 (hereinafter MediaTek) and in further view of US 20220070783 A1 (HSIEH et al.)(hereinafter HSIEH).
In re claims 1 and 28, LIU discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 5, [0129], “FIG. 15 is a flowchart 1500 of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 104, 182, 350, 1402, apparatus 1602; the processing system 1714, which may include memory 1706 and which may be the entire UE 350 or a component of the UE 350, such as the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and/or the controller/processor 359) communicating with a base station (e.g., base station 102, 180, 310, 1404, apparatus 1902)”), the UE comprising: a memory (Fig. 3:360); and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory (Fig. 3: 359, [0058], “The controller/processor 359 can be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data”), the memory and the one or more processors configured to:
transmit, to a base station, information associated with one or more parameters associated with the UE, wherein the one or more parameters indicate at least one of a UE type of the UE or information relating to a measured channel condition at the UE ([0072], “In one aspect, the base station can configure the parameters for a group-specific WUS, which targets a specific group of UEs...As indicated above, the weighting factors can help decide to which group each UE should belong. Also, the base station can balance the number of UEs within each group”. [0073], “The group WUS sequence or UE group ID can be defined based on different UE grouping related parameters, or any number of different factors, such as UE identify index value (UE_ID)” (UE type)...[0077], “Gaps should satisfy the minimum required UE processing time, which could be based on UE capability” (gap is based on UE capability). [0104], “The present disclosure can also provide further details on MME/base station configuration of the groups and WUS. For all the techniques and configuration explained herein, the base station should know whether the UE supports group-WUS or not. One way to enable this is that the MME stores the paging radio capabilities of the UE, which includes whether the UE supports WUS, and, if so, whether the UE supports group WUS. This can imply that, when connecting to network, the UE reports this capability to the MME” (when connecting to the network, UE reports its capability to the base station). [0145], “At 1804, the base station can indicate to each of the plurality of UEs an assignment to one of the plurality of UE groups”. [0110], “In aspects with a more flexible configuration, base stations can configure different the number of UE groups, G, for different sizes of gaps”. [0128], “Also, each legacy WUS and group-specific WUS can be turned on or off by the base station 1404 as needed, for example to further conserve power. The ability to turn on or off a WUS can be specific to a cell or carrier, depending on the type of UE”. [0107], “In some aspects, WUSs in certain types of wireless communications, e.g., MTC and NB-IoT, may have different types or sizes of associated gaps...The ability of the base station to group the UEs based on gap size may depend on the type of UEs and/or the reported UE capability...WUSs associated with different types of reception, e.g., DRX or enhanced DRX (eDRX), can comprises different sizes of corresponding gaps...The eDRX UE can report, e.g., at 40 ms, 240 ms, 1 second, or 2 seconds, for WUS configuration. Based on the reported UE processing time or a UE desired gap, base stations may configure multiple WUSs with different gaps for UEs belonging to the same associated PO” (discloses that different UE types have different gap sizes. Based on gap size reported by UE which also indicates UE type as they are correlated, base station configures wake up signals for subgrouping UE’s));
obtain information indicating a configuration for a paging sub-group to which the UE is assigned, wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location, and wherein the UE is assigned to the paging sub-group based at least in part on the UE type or the measured channel condition at the UE; and
receive the PEI signal based at least in part on the information indicating the configuration for the paging sub-group.
LIU does not explicitly disclose obtain information indicating a configuration for a paging sub-group to which the UE is assigned, wherein the UE is assigned to the paging sub-group based at least in part on the UE type or the measured channel condition at the UE.
HWANG discloses obtaining information indicating a configuration for a paging sub-group to which the UE is assigned, wherein the UE is assigned to the paging sub-group based on the measured channel condition at the UE (Fig. 24:S2410, [0338], “In Method 1-2, it is proposed that UE sub-grouping is performed for a wake up signal based on the coverage levels of UEs. The coverage level of a UE refers to the state of a wireless channel environment in which the UE is placed (channel environment is channel condition at the UE). [0339], “An RSRP/RSRQ value may be represented as quality information related a channel quality”. In a characteristic example, a coverage level may be represented by, for example, a measurement such as reference signal received power (RSRP)/reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measured by the UE or a repetition number that the UE uses to transmit and receive an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) channel” (condition for applying UE subgrouping based on channel condition at the UE)). [0393], “For example, because the coverage level of a UE with mobility may change over time, it may be determined whether coverage level-based UE sub-grouping is to be applied according to a mobility-based report. In contrast, a criterion such as UE_ID is applicable without much relation to the mobility of a UE, UE_ID-based UE sub-grouping may always be applied irrespective of the mobility-based report information” (discloses obtaining information indicating a configuration for a paging sub-group to which the UE is assigned, wherein the UE is assigned to the paging sub-group based on the measured channel condition at the UE and also discloses sub grouping based on UE_ID. Here a wake up signal is interpreted as receiving a paging signal for monitoring and can be a paging early indicator)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU with HWANG to provide methods for paging enhancements by grouping the UEs for paging by the base station based on UE type and its channel conditions. The advantage of doing so is to reduce unnecessary paging receptions and save power.
LIU and HWANG do not explicitly disclose obtain information indicating a configuration for a paging sub-group to which the UE is assigned, wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location, and wherein the UE is assigned to the paging sub-group based at least in part on the UE type or the measured channel condition at the UE; and receive the PEI signal based at least in part on the information indicating the configuration for the paging sub-group.
MediaTek discloses to obtain information indicating a configuration for a paging sub-group to which the UE is assigned (Page 2, Enhancement 1: UE Grouping in Paging DCI, “Paging PDCCH indicates whether a sub-group of UEs needs to receive paging PDCSH. The indication may be done by using spare bits in the DCI. Reduces the probability of paging PDSCH processing of each UE”. Page 3, Section 2.1.2: Power saving gain, “PEI indicates if any UE in a group of UEs (i.e. UEs monitoring the same PO according to PF/PO formula) is paged”. Page 4, section 2.1.3, lines 6-10, “The major difference between PEI and CSS DCI is that PEI only indicates whether a subgroup of UEs is paged (indication of paging sub group), while CSS DCI also indicates the time-frequency resources of paging PDSCH. Since there are legacy UEs monitoring the same PO, there must be a DCI right before the paging PDSCH. This not only wastes the radio resources, but also requires the network to ensure that the scheduling is the same in the "early" and "late" DCls”), wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location (Page 2, Baseline, “To ensure good synchronization for paging POCCH and PDSCH decode, UE may need to monitor multiple SSB bursts before the PO. The number of SSB bursts (Nsss) depend on channel conditions”. Page 3, section 2.1.2, lines 12-13, “We assume that for low-SINR case, UE needs to monitor 3 SSB bursts before PO (i.e. NSSB=3), and for high SINR case, NSSB=1” (discloses the location of the PEI signal), and wherein the UE is assigned to the paging sub-group based at least in part on the UE type or the measured channel condition at the UE (Page 3, “Observation 2: PEI brings significant power saving gain, especially for low SINR UEs. Observation 4: When combined with UE grouping, power saving gain is improved for both PEI and CSS methods, especially when the (original) UE group paging rate is higher”. Page 4, section 2.2, lines 1-8, “In email discussion, most companies agree that UE grouping is considered as a kind of paging enhancement for NR UE power saving, and UE grouping based on UE_ID is considered as baseline. From our experience of the UE Group Wake-Up Signal (GWUS) design for NB-IOT, however, we know that UE_ID may not be the best way to group UEs, since it may mix UEs with different paging probabilities, and thus the "false alarm" rate is high, i.e., frequently a UE need to read paging message because another UE in the same subgroup is paged. In addition to the UE_ID based method, UE grouping methods ... include (1) paging probability information, (2) UE mobility, (3) the releases UE supports, and (4) UE power consumption profile” (configuration based on UE type may not be the best way to group and cause false alarm and discusses UE grouping based on other methods such as paging probability and UE mobility)); and receive the PEI signal based at least in part on the information indicating the configuration for the paging sub-group (section 2.2 discloses various configurations for the paging subgroups including (1) paging probability information, (2) UE mobility, (3) the releases UE supports, and (4) UE power consumption profile. Page 4, section 2.2, lines 9-14, “The method of paging probability information is effective for loT where paging probabilities are quite different for different device types (e.g. sensors, meters, etc.)” (corresponding to UE type). Page 2, Enhancement#3, “Multiple PEIs are transmitted for multiple UE subgroups, and each PEI indicates whether the corresponding sub-group of UEs need to monitor PO” (receive a paging early indication signal based on configurations for the paging subgroups). Section 2.1.3, “In contrast, the two methods of PEI and CCS, both involves some kind of "early indication", help UE save more power. The reason is, if UE knows in advance that no UE in its (sub-) group is paged, it can skip reception of the whole PO, and if the indication comes early enough, UE may also skip some SSB burst monitoring for synchronization purpose (the UE receives the PEI of the sub-group to which it belongs)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU, HWANG and MediaTek to provide paging early indication (PEI) based solutions for paging enhancement including sequence based PEI and PDCCH-based PEI, both with sub-grouping indication. The advantage of doing so is to reduce unnecessary paging receptions and save power.
LIU, HWANG and MediaTek do not explicitly disclose wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location.
HSIEH discloses wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location (Fig. 9, [0036], “A paging cycle may be configured by the BS 120 for a group of UEs including the UE 110, and the group can be associated with a group identity P-RNTI. The paging cycle can be the same as or larger than the SS block burst cycle. A time window, referred to as paging occasion window (PO window), for performing a potential paging transmission can be defined for each paging cycle. During a PO window, a same set of paging DCIs may be transmitted multiple times via a beam sweeping”. [0038], “The PO window including a sequence of POs as described above can also be configured to the UE 110. The UE can accordingly perform paging detection at the POs within the PO window. For example, the UE 110 may perform a blind PDCCH decoding to search for a paging DCI associated with a P-RNTI assigned to the UE 110 at a PO. If such a paging DCI is found, the UE 110 may locate the PDSCH according to the scheduling information contained in the paging DCI” (indication of location of PEI signals). [0063], “According to some embodiments of the disclosure, the paging early indicator is a sequence of bits that are scrambled with at least one of a UE ID, a paging group ID, and a paging-radio network temporary identifier (P-RNSI)”. [0006], “The method can include receiving from a base station (BS) a synchronization signal (SS) block burst set including a sequence of SS blocks that are each associated with a paging early indicator indicating whether a paging message is presented in at least one PO that comes later than the SS block burst set” (location of PEI signal whether it is in the next PO). [0029], “For example, the BS 120 may periodically transmit a sequence of SS blocks (referred to as an SS block burst set). The SS block burst set may be transmitted by performing a beam sweeping...The sequence of SS blocks 123-1 to 123-6 may each carry an SS block index indicating a timing or location of each SS block among the sequence of SS blocks 123-1 to 123-6”. [0053], “For example, a DRX cycle 950 is configured by the network side of the system 100. The DRX cycle 950 has duration of 2560 ms, and includes a DRX ON time 951 and a DRX OFF time 952. The UE 110 in RRC idle or RRC inactive mode sleeps during the DRX OFF time 952 and wakes up to monitor paging during the DRX ON time 951”. [0062], “For example, the SS blocks 913-918 and their associated paging early indicators 1102, 1202, 1302 and 1402 are received during the DRX cycle 950, and the paging early indicators 1102, 1202, 1302 and 1402 indicate whether POs during another DRX cycle that follows the DRX cycle 950 have paging messages and need to be monitored. Therefore, the UE 110 can have the knowledge about whether it will receive a paging message during the another DRX cycle, and select simplified timing/frequency tracking and automatic gain control schemes that are to be performed during the another DRX cycle”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU, HWANG and MediaTek with HSIEH to provide paging early indication (PEI) based solutions for paging enhancement including sequence based PEI and PDCCH-based PEI, both with sub-grouping indication. The advantage of doing so is to reduce unnecessary paging receptions and save power.
In re claim 2, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein LIU discloses wherein the UE type indicates whether the UE is a reduced capability UE, an Internet of Things UE, a machine-type communication UE, or an enhanced mobile broadband UE ([0009], “The ability to turn on or off a WUS can be specific to a cell or carrier, depending on the type of UE”. [0099], “In another aspect of the present disclosure, the system can comprise carrier-specific WUSs. For example, in NB-IoT, there can be multiple carriers configured for paging. In MTC, there can be multiple narrow bands (NBs) configured for paging. But in the legacy WUS mode configuration, turning the WUS on or off (WUS on-off) is cell-specific. For grouping UEs, the WUS on-off can be carrier-specific for NB-IoT or NB-specific for MTC” (the grouping of the UE’s is based on its type namely, NB-IoT or a machine type communication UE)).
In re claim 3, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information associated with the one or more parameters includes a random access channel associated with a preamble, and wherein the UE is assigned to the paging sub-group based at least in part on the random access channel associated with the preamble (Fig. 22, [0340], “When a UE identifies a change in its coverage level, the UE may indicate the change to a BS. In a characteristic example, when an RSRP/RSRQ value measured by the UE changes and thus does not satisfy the coverage level requirement of a current UE sub-group, the UE may indicate the change of the coverage level to the BS in a random access procedure”. [0175], “Specifically, the MTC UE determines the level within the operation mode based on measured channel quality (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) and informs the base station of the determined level using a PRACH resource (e.g., frequency, time, preamble, etc.)”. [0276], “First, the NB-IoT UE may select an NPRACH resource based on the coverage level of the corresponding UE. The NB-IoT UE may transmit a random access preamble (i.e., message 1, msg1) to the base station on the selected NPRACH resource” (coverage level refer to channel condition transmitted by the UE)).
In re claim 4, the combination discloses the method of claim 3, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the preamble is associated with a current paging sub-group of the UE ([0195], “For random access, signaling of different PRACH resources and different CE levels is supported. This provides the same control of the near-far effect for the PRACH by grouping UEs that experience similar path loss together. Up to four different PRACH resources may be signaled to the MTC UE”. [0276], “First, the NB-IoT UE may select an NPRACH resource based on the coverage level of the corresponding UE. The NB-IoT UE may transmit a random access preamble (i.e., message 1, msg1) to the base station on the selected NPRACH resource”. [0297], “Each UE sub-group configured in the proposed methods of the present disclosure may be configured independently with a WUS distinguished by a time-domain resource, frequency-domain resource, and/or code-domain resource” (preamble is associated with a subgroup)).
In re claim 5, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information relating to the measured channel condition includes information indicating a channel condition associated with the UE ([0338], “UE sub-grouping is performed for a WUS based on the coverage levels of UEs. The coverage level of a UE refers to the state of a wireless channel environment in which the UE is placed. In a characteristic example, a coverage level may be represented by, for example, a measurement such as reference signal received power (RSRP)/reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measured by the UE or a repetition number that the UE uses to transmit and receive an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) channel”. [0339] An RSRP/RSRQ value may be represented as quality information related a channel quality” (UE subgrouping is done based on measured channel condition that includes a channel condition associated with the UE)).
In re claim 6, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information relating to the measured channel condition includes information indicating one or more preferred beams for a synchronization signal block ([0269], “The NB-IoT UE may receive a system information block (SIB) from the base station on an NPDSH (S2140 and S2150). Specifically, the NB-IoT UE may receive SIB1-NB, SIB2-NB, etc. on the NPDSCH through the higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). For example, SIB1-NB may refer to system information with high priority among SIBs, and SIB2-NB may refer to system information with lower priority than SIB1-NB”).
In re claim 7, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information relating to the measured channel condition includes information indicating a requested location for the PEI signal (Fig. 25, [0290], “The Rel-15 standard defines that a WUS transmission position is determined to be a position relative to a PO indicated by the WUS, and all WUS-capable UEs monitoring the same PO share the same WUS and the same WUS transmission position”. [0379], “it is proposed that UE sub-grouping configurations are differentiated according to the WUS-to-PO gap capabilities of UEs” (configuration indicates location of the PEI signal based on measured channel conditions like gap)).
In re claim 8, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information relating to the measured channel condition includes information indicating a number of repetitions for the PEI signal or a paging message associated with the PEI signal ([0008], “In a first aspect of the present disclosure, provided herein is a method for receiving a paging signal by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: determining index information indicating a wake up signal (WUS) resource, and monitoring a WUS based on the determined index information, wherein when the UE supports machine type communication (MTC), the index information indicating the WUS resource is determined based on identification information of the UE, parameters related to a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle of the UE, information about a number of paging narrow bands, and information about a number of UE groups for the WUS” (receiving paging message associated with a wake up or early indicator signal). [0338], “it is proposed that UE sub-grouping is performed for a WUS based on the coverage levels of UEs. The coverage level of a UE refers to the state of a wireless channel environment in which the UE is placed. In a characteristic example, a coverage level may be represented by, for example, a measurement such as reference signal received power (RSRP)/reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measured by the UE or a repetition number that the UE uses to transmit and receive an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) channel” (discloses number of repetitions for the PEI signal)).
In re claim 9, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information associated with the one or more parameters is transmitted via an uplink shared channel carrying a random access channel (RACH) message (Fig. 22, [0194], “the MTC UE may transmit a preamble on a PRACH (S1303) and receive a response message (e.g., random access response (RAR)) for the preamble on the MPDCCH and the PDSCH related thereto (S1304)...Msg 1 may represent the PRACH preamble, Msg 2 may represent the RAR, Msg 3 may represent uplink transmission for the RAR at the MTC UE, and Msg 4 may represent downlink transmission for Msg 3 from the base station”).
In re claim 10, the combination discloses the method of claim 9, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the RACH message is a RACH message 3 for a radio resource control (RRC) connection request or a RACH message A for a two-step RACH procedure ([0344], “In another specific method of applying Method 1-3, UE-specific dedicated signaling may be information that the UE obtains in a step for Msg2 or Msg4 of a RACH procedure (or random access procedure). For this purpose, the UE may report information required for configuring UE sub-grouping (e.g., a coverage level, a type of service, a capability, and so on) in a step for Msg1 or Msg3”).
In re claim 11, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information associated with the one or more parameters is transmitted via an uplink shared channel in a pre-configured uplink resource associated with the UE ([0276], “First, the NB-IoT UE may select an NPRACH resource based on the coverage level of the corresponding UE. The NB-IoT UE may transmit a random access preamble (i.e., message 1, msg1) to the base station on the selected NPRACH resource”. [0353], “the defined corresponding channel may be a UL resource for a preconfigured UL transmission (e.g., semi-persistent scheduling (SPS)). A WUS for which UE sub-grouping has been performed may be used for activating/deactivating the use of the preconfigured UL resource or indicating an ACK/NACK or a retransmission for the preconfigured UL resource”).
In re claim 12, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the paging sub-group is a sub-group of a group of UEs associated with a paging occasion and the group of UEs can be paged by a network in the paging occasion ([0289], “In an LTE system, a user equipment (UE) may determine a position at which the UE will monitor paging based on a paging occasion (PO) and paging frame (PF) determined based on its UE_ID. The same technical idea is applied to NB-IoT and MTC which have been newly introduced to the 3GPP LTE Rel-13 standard. A plurality of UEs may expect paging in one PO, and the number of the UEs may be determined according to a configuration in an SIB transmitted by a base station (BS). Hereinafter, a group of a plurality of UEs which may expect paging in the same PO will be defined as a UE-group-per-PO” (group of UE’s in the sub group can be paged by a network in the paging occasion)).
In re claim 13, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein MediaTek discloses wherein the configuration further indicates at least one of: the paging sub-group, a set of beams for transmission of the PEI signal, a set of beams for transmission of a corresponding paging message, or a number of repetitions of a monitoring occasion associated with a paging occasion for the corresponding paging message (Section 2.1.3, “From numerical analysis, we realize that the power saving gain of "pure" UE grouping (i.e. indication for UE subgroups in paging DCI) is very limited. In contrast, the two methods of PEI and CCS, both involves some kind of "early indication", help UE save more power. The reason is, if UE knows in advance that no UE in its (sub-) group is paged, it can skip reception of the whole PO, and if the indication comes early enough, UE may also skip some SSB burst monitoring for synchronization purpose. The major difference between PEI and CSS DCI is that PEI only indicates whether a subgroup of UEs is paged (indication of UE subgroup), while CSS DCI also indicates the time-frequency resources of paging PDSCH. Since there are legacy UEs monitoring the same PO, there must be a DCI right before the paging PDSCH. This not only wastes the radio resources, but also requires the network to ensure that the scheduling is the same in the "early" and "late" DCls” (discloses the configuration indicates the paging sub-group)).
In re claims 14 and 29, the combination discloses the method of claim 1 and the UE of claim 28, wherein HWANG discloses wherein obtaining the information indicating the configuration further comprises: determining the information indicating the configuration based at least in part on the information associated with the one or more parameters ([0338], “it is proposed that UE sub-grouping is performed for a WUS based on the coverage levels of UEs. The coverage level of a UE refers to the state of a wireless channel environment in which the UE is placed. In a characteristic example, a coverage level may be represented by, for example, a measurement such as reference signal received power (RSRP)/reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measured by the UE or a repetition number that the UE uses to transmit and receive an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) channel” (subgrouping configuration is determined based on parameters such as RSRP, RSRQ for channel quality)).
In re claim 15, the combination discloses the method of claim 1, wherein HWANG discloses wherein obtaining the information indicating the configuration further comprises: receiving the information indicating the configuration from the base station ([0289], “A plurality of UEs may expect paging in one PO, and the number of the UEs may be determined according to a configuration in an SIB transmitted by a base station (BS)”. [0314], “The present disclosure proposes a method of determining a condition for applying UE sub-grouping and configuring the UE sub-grouping by a base station”).
In re claim 16, the combination discloses the method of claim 15, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information indicating the configuration is received in connection with a radio resource control release message ([0174], “The MTC operation mode is determined by the base station, and each level is determined by the MTC UE. Specifically, the base station transmits RRC signaling including information for the MTC operation mode to the UE. The RRC signaling may include an RRC connection setup message, an RRC connection reconfiguration message, or an RRC connection reestablishment message”. [0335], “The values of WWUS (n) may be signaled by a system information block (SIB) or higher-layer signaling such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling”).
In re claim 17, the combination discloses the method of claim 15, wherein LIU discloses wherein the information indicating the configuration is received via radio resource control signaling other than a radio resource control release message ([0066], “Different types of wireless communication systems can support different types of WUSs. For instance, some wireless communication systems can support at least a WUS discontinuous transmission (WUS/DTX) at least for paging UEs in radio resource control idle (RRC _IDLE) mode”).
In re claim 18, the combination discloses the method of claim 15, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information indicating the configuration is received via a downlink shared channel associated with a random access channel (RACH) message, wherein the RACH message includes a Message 4 for a four-step RACH procedure or a Message B for a two-step RACH procedure ([0194], “the MTC UE may transmit a preamble on a PRACH (S1303) and receive a response message (e.g., random access response (RAR)) for the preamble on the MPDCCH and the PDSCH related thereto (S1304)...In the MTC, the signals and messages (e.g., Msg 1, Msg 2, Msg 3, and Msg 4) transmitted during the RACH procedure may be repeatedly transmitted, and a repetition pattern may be configured differently depending on coverage enhancement (CE) levels. Msg 1 may represent the PRACH preamble, Msg 2 may represent the RAR, Msg 3 may represent uplink transmission for the RAR at the MTC UE, and Msg 4 may represent downlink transmission for Msg 3 from the base station”. [0344], “In another specific method of applying Method 1-3, UE-specific dedicated signaling may be information that the UE obtains in a step for Msg2 or Msg4 of a RACH procedure (or random access procedure)”).
In re claim 19, the combination discloses the method of claim 15, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information indicating the configuration is received via a physical downlink control channel associated with a preconfigured uplink resource of the UE (Fig. 24, [0194], “To this end, the MTC UE may transmit a preamble on a PRACH (S1303) and receive a response message (e.g., random access response (RAR)) for the preamble on the MPDCCH and the PDSCH related thereto (S1304). In the MTC, the signals and messages (e.g., Msg 1, Msg 2, Msg 3, and Msg 4) transmitted during the RACH procedure may be repeatedly transmitted, and a repetition pattern may be configured differently depending on coverage enhancement (CE) levels. Msg 1 may represent the PRACH preamble, Msg 2 may represent the RAR, Msg 3 may represent uplink transmission for the RAR at the MTC UE, and Msg 4 may represent downlink transmission for Msg 3 from the base station”. [0276], “First, the NB-IoT UE may select an NPRACH resource based on the coverage level of the corresponding UE. The NB-IoT UE may transmit a random access preamble (i.e., message 1, msg1) to the base station on the selected NPRACH resource”. [0353], “the defined corresponding channel may be a UL resource for a preconfigured UL transmission (e.g., semi-persistent scheduling (SPS)). A WUS for which UE sub-grouping has been performed may be used for activating/deactivating the use of the preconfigured UL resource or indicating an ACK/NACK or a retransmission for the preconfigured UL resource” (response received via PDCCH associated with a preconfigured uplink resource)).
In re claim 20, the combination discloses the method of claim 15, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information indicating the configuration is received in a paging message to the UE ([0008], “In a first aspect of the present disclosure, provided herein is a method for receiving a paging signal by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: determining index information indicating a wake up signal (WUS) resource, and monitoring a WUS based on the determined index information, wherein when the UE supports machine type communication (MTC), the index information indicating the WUS resource is determined based on identification information of the UE, parameters related to a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle of the UE, information about a number of paging narrow bands, and information about a number of UE groups for the WUS”).
In re claims 21 and 30, LIU discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a base station (Fig. 18, [0144], “FIG. 18 is a flowchart 1800 of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a base station”), the base station (Fig. 3:310, Fig. 14:1404) comprising: a memory (Fig. 3:376); and one or more processors (Fig. 3:375) operatively coupled to the memory ([0062], “The controller/processor 375 can be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data”), the memory and the one or more processors configured to:
receive, from a user equipment (UE), information associated with one or more parameters associated with the UE, wherein the one or more parameters indicate at least one of a UE type of the UE or a measured channel condition at the UE ([0072], “In one aspect, the base station can configure the parameters for a group-specific WUS, which targets a specific group of UEs...As indicated above, the weighting factors can help decide to which group each UE should belong. Also, the base station can balance the number of UEs within each group”. [0073], “The group WUS sequence or UE group ID can be defined based on different UE grouping related parameters, or any number of different factors, such as UE identify index value (UE_ID)” (UE type)...[0077], “Gaps should satisfy the minimum required UE processing time, which could be based on UE capability” (gap is based on UE capability). [0104], “The present disclosure can also provide further details on MME/base station configuration of the groups and WUS. For all the techniques and configuration explained herein, the base station should know whether the UE supports group-WUS or not. One way to enable this is that the MME stores the paging radio capabilities of the UE, which includes whether the UE supports WUS, and, if so, whether the UE supports group WUS. This can imply that, when connecting to network, the UE reports this capability to the MME” (when connecting to the network, UE reports its capability to the base station). [0145], “At 1804, the base station can indicate to each of the plurality of UEs an assignment to one of the plurality of UE groups”. [0110], “In aspects with a more flexible configuration, base stations can configure different the number of UE groups, G, for different sizes of gaps”. [0128], “Also, each legacy WUS and group-specific WUS can be turned on or off by the base station 1404 as needed, for example to further conserve power. The ability to turn on or off a WUS can be specific to a cell or carrier, depending on the type of UE”. [0107], “In some aspects, WUSs in certain types of wireless communications, e.g., MTC and NB-IoT, may have different types or sizes of associated gaps...The ability of the base station to group the UEs based on gap size may depend on the type of UEs and/or the reported UE capability...WUSs associated with different types of reception, e.g., DRX or enhanced DRX (eDRX), can comprises different sizes of corresponding gaps...The eDRX UE can report, e.g., at 40 ms, 240 ms, 1 second, or 2 seconds, for WUS configuration. Based on the reported UE processing time or a UE desired gap, base stations may configure multiple WUSs with different gaps for UEs belonging to the same associated PO” (discloses that different UE types have different gap sizes. Based on gap size reported by UE which also indicates UE type as they are correlated, base station configures wake up signals for subgrouping UE’s));
assign the UE to a paging sub-group based at least in part on the UE type or the measured channel condition at the UE,
wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location, and wherein the paging sub-group is associated with a configuration; and
transmitting .
LIU does not explicitly disclose assign the UE to a paging sub-group based at least in part on the UE type or the measured channel condition at the UE.
HWANG discloses assign the UE to a paging sub-group based at least in part on the UE type or the measured channel condition at the UE (Fig. 24:S2410, [0338], “In Method 1-2, it is proposed that UE sub-grouping is performed for a wake up signal based on the coverage levels of UEs. The coverage level of a UE refers to the state of a wireless channel environment in which the UE is placed (channel environment is channel condition at the UE). [0339], “An RSRP/RSRQ value may be represented as quality information related a channel quality”. In a characteristic example, a coverage level may be represented by, for example, a measurement such as reference signal received power (RSRP)/reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measured by the UE or a repetition number that the UE uses to transmit and receive an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) channel” (condition for applying UE subgrouping based on channel condition at the UE)). [0393], “For example, because the coverage level of a UE with mobility may change over time, it may be determined whether coverage level-based UE sub-grouping is to be applied according to a mobility-based report. In contrast, a criterion such as UE_ID is applicable without much relation to the mobility of a UE, UE_ID-based UE sub-grouping may always be applied irrespective of the mobility-based report information” (discloses obtaining information indicating a configuration for a paging sub-group to which the UE is assigned, wherein the UE is assigned to the paging sub-group based on the measured channel condition at the UE and also discloses sub grouping based on UE_ID. Here a wake up signal is interpreted as receiving a paging signal for monitoring and can be a paging early indicator)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU with HWANG to provide methods for paging enhancements by grouping the UEs for paging by the base station based on UE type and its channel conditions. The advantage of doing so is to reduce unnecessary paging receptions and save power.
LIU and HWANG do not explicitly disclose wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location, and wherein the paging sub-group is associated with a configuration; and transmitting
MediaTek discloses wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location (Page 2, Baseline, “To ensure good synchronization for paging POCCH and PDSCH decode, UE may need to monitor multiple SSB bursts before the PO. The number of SSB bursts (Nsss) depend on channel conditions”. Page 3, section 2.1.2, lines 12-13, “We assume that for low-SINR case, UE needs to monitor 3 SSB bursts before PO (i.e. NSSB=3), and for high SINR case, NSSB=1” (discloses the location of the PEI signal) and wherein the paging sub-group is associated with a configuration (Page 4, section 2.2, lines 1-8, “In email discussion, most companies agree that UE grouping is considered as a kind of paging enhancement for NR UE power saving, and UE grouping based on UE_ID is considered as baseline. From our experience of the UE Group Wake-Up Signal (GWUS) design for NB-IOT, however, we know that UE_ID may not be the best way to group UEs, since it may mix UEs with different paging probabilities, and thus the "false alarm" rate is high, i.e., frequently a UE need to read paging message because another UE in the same subgroup is paged. In addition to the UE_ID based method, UE grouping methods ... include (1) paging probability information, (2) UE mobility, (3) the releases UE supports, and (4) UE power consumption profile” (discloses UE grouping based on various configurations)); and transmitting (section 2.2 discloses various configurations for the paging subgroups including (1) paging probability information, (2) UE mobility, (3) the releases UE supports, and (4) UE power consumption profile. Page 4, section 2.2, lines 9-14, “The method of paging probability information is effective for loT where paging probabilities are quite different for different device types (e.g. sensors, meters, etc.)” (corresponding to UE type). Page 2, Enhancement#3, “Multiple PEIs are transmitted for multiple UE subgroups, and each PEI indicates whether the corresponding sub-group of UEs need to monitor PO” (receive a paging early indication signal based on configurations for the paging subgroups). Section 2.1.3, “In contrast, the two methods of PEI and CCS, both involves some kind of "early indication", help UE save more power. The reason is, if UE knows in advance that no UE in its (sub-) group is paged, it can skip reception of the whole PO, and if the indication comes early enough, UE may also skip some SSB burst monitoring for synchronization purpose (transmitting to the UE the PEI signal indicating UE subgroup based on various configurations disclosed)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU, HWANG and MediaTek to provide paging early indication (PEI) based solutions for paging enhancement including sequence based PEI and PDCCH-based PEI, both with sub-grouping indication. The advantage of doing so is to reduce unnecessary paging receptions and save power.
LIU, HWANG and MediaTek do not explicitly disclose wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location.
HSIEH discloses wherein the configuration indicates a paging early indication (PEI) signal location (Fig. 9, [0036], “A paging cycle may be configured by the BS 120 for a group of UEs including the UE 110, and the group can be associated with a group identity P-RNTI. The paging cycle can be the same as or larger than the SS block burst cycle. A time window, referred to as paging occasion window (PO window), for performing a potential paging transmission can be defined for each paging cycle. During a PO window, a same set of paging DCIs may be transmitted multiple times via a beam sweeping”. [0038], “The PO window including a sequence of POs as described above can also be configured to the UE 110. The UE can accordingly perform paging detection at the POs within the PO window. For example, the UE 110 may perform a blind PDCCH decoding to search for a paging DCI associated with a P-RNTI assigned to the UE 110 at a PO. If such a paging DCI is found, the UE 110 may locate the PDSCH according to the scheduling information contained in the paging DCI” (indication of location of PEI signals). [0063], “According to some embodiments of the disclosure, the paging early indicator is a sequence of bits that are scrambled with at least one of a UE ID, a paging group ID, and a paging-radio network temporary identifier (P-RNSI)”. [0006], “The method can include receiving from a base station (BS) a synchronization signal (SS) block burst set including a sequence of SS blocks that are each associated with a paging early indicator indicating whether a paging message is presented in at least one PO that comes later than the SS block burst set” (location of PEI signal whether it is in the next PO). [0029], “For example, the BS 120 may periodically transmit a sequence of SS blocks (referred to as an SS block burst set). The SS block burst set may be transmitted by performing a beam sweeping...The sequence of SS blocks 123-1 to 123-6 may each carry an SS block index indicating a timing or location of each SS block among the sequence of SS blocks 123-1 to 123-6”. [0053], “For example, a DRX cycle 950 is configured by the network side of the system 100. The DRX cycle 950 has duration of 2560 ms, and includes a DRX ON time 951 and a DRX OFF time 952. The UE 110 in RRC idle or RRC inactive mode sleeps during the DRX OFF time 952 and wakes up to monitor paging during the DRX ON time 951”. [0062], “For example, the SS blocks 913-918 and their associated paging early indicators 1102, 1202, 1302 and 1402 are received during the DRX cycle 950, and the paging early indicators 1102, 1202, 1302 and 1402 indicate whether POs during another DRX cycle that follows the DRX cycle 950 have paging messages and need to be monitored. Therefore, the UE 110 can have the knowledge about whether it will receive a paging message during the another DRX cycle, and select simplified timing/frequency tracking and automatic gain control schemes that are to be performed during the another DRX cycle”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU, HWANG and MediaTek with HSIEH to provide paging early indication (PEI) based solutions for paging enhancement including sequence based PEI and PDCCH-based PEI, both with sub-grouping indication. The advantage of doing so is to reduce unnecessary paging receptions and save power.
In re claim 22, the combination discloses the method of claim 21, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information relating to the measured channel condition includes information indicating a channel condition associated with the UE ([0338], “UE sub-grouping is performed for a WUS based on the coverage levels of UEs. The coverage level of a UE refers to the state of a wireless channel environment in which the UE is placed. In a characteristic example, a coverage level may be represented by, for example, a measurement such as reference signal received power (RSRP)/reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measured by the UE or a repetition number that the UE uses to transmit and receive an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) channel”. [0339] An RSRP/RSRQ value may be represented as quality information related a channel quality” (UE subgrouping is done based on measured channel condition that includes a channel condition associated with the UE)).
In re clam 23, the combination discloses the method of claim 21, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information relating to the measured channel condition includes information indicating one or more preferred beams for a synchronization signal block ([0269], “The NB-IoT UE may receive a system information block (SIB) from the base station on an NPDSH (S2140 and S2150). Specifically, the NB-IoT UE may receive SIB1-NB, SIB2-NB, etc. on the NPDSCH through the higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). For example, SIB1-NB may refer to system information with high priority among SIBs, and SIB2-NB may refer to system information with lower priority than SIB1-NB”).
In re claim 24, the combination discloses the method of claim 21, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information relating to the measured channel condition includes information indicating a requested location for the PEI signal (Fig. 25, [0290], “The Rel-15 standard defines that a WUS transmission position is determined to be a position relative to a PO indicated by the WUS, and all WUS-capable UEs monitoring the same PO share the same WUS and the same WUS transmission position”. [0379], “it is proposed that UE sub-grouping configurations are differentiated according to the WUS-to-PO gap capabilities of UEs” (configuration indicates location of the PEI signal based on measured channel conditions like gap)).
In re claim 25, the combination discloses the method of claim 21, wherein HWANG discloses wherein the information relating to the measured channel condition includes information indicating a number of repetitions for the PEI signal or a paging message associated with the PEI signal ([0008], “In a first aspect of the present disclosure, provided herein is a method for receiving a paging signal by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: determining index information indicating a wake up signal (WUS) resource, and monitoring a WUS based on the determined index information, wherein when the UE supports machine type communication (MTC), the index information indicating the WUS resource is determined based on identification information of the UE, parameters related to a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle of the UE, information about a number of paging narrow bands, and information about a number of UE groups for the WUS” (receiving paging message associated with a wake up or early indicator signal). [0338], “it is proposed that UE sub-grouping is performed for a WUS based on the coverage levels of UEs. The coverage level of a UE refers to the state of a wireless channel environment in which the UE is placed. In a characteristic example, a coverage level may be represented by, for example, a measurement such as reference signal received power (RSRP)/reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measured by the UE or a repetition number that the UE uses to transmit and receive an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) channel” (discloses number of repetitions for the PEI signal)).
In re claim 26, the combination discloses the method of claim 21, wherein HWANG discloses the method further comprising: determining the configuration based at least in part on the information associated with the one or more parameters ([0338], “it is proposed that UE sub-grouping is performed for a WUS based on the coverage levels of UEs. The coverage level of a UE refers to the state of a wireless channel environment in which the UE is placed. In a characteristic example, a coverage level may be represented by, for example, a measurement such as reference signal received power (RSRP)/reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measured by the UE or a repetition number that the UE uses to transmit and receive an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) channel” (subgrouping configuration is determined based on parameters such as RSRP, RSRQ for channel quality)).
In re claim 27, the combination discloses the method of claim 21, wherein HWANG discloses the method further comprising: transmitting information indicating the configuration to the UE ([0289], “A plurality of UEs may expect paging in one PO, and the number of the UEs may be determined according to a configuration in an SIB transmitted by a base station (BS)”. [0290], “Accordingly, when a WUS transmitted for a specific PO is present, all WUS-capable UEs in a UE-group-per-PO corresponding to the PO should perform paging monitoring”. [0314], “The present disclosure proposes a method of determining a condition for applying UE sub-grouping and configuring the UE sub-grouping by a base station”).
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SWATI JAIN whose telephone number is (571)270-0699. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri (830 am - 530 pm).
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, Pan Yuwen can be reached on 571-272-7855. 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.
/SWATI JAIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2649 /YUWEN PAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649