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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/01/2025 has been entered.
Claims 1, 16, and 18 remain pending in the application. Claims 2-15, 17, and 19-22 have been canceled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 12/01/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Referring to claims 1, 16, and 18 which now recite “wherein the indication information is a radio resource control (RRC) message”, Applicant argues that Wang fails to disclose the claimed features because Wang describes a technical solution which is totally different the technical solution of an embodiment of the claimed subject matter. That is, according to the embodiment of the claimed subject matter, the instruction (containing the RRC message) can achieve two functions: activating the SCG and configuring the state of the one or more SCells in the SCG, without additional signaling. In Wang, the activation indication is only used to activate the SCG, and additional independent signaling (e.g., MAC CE) is used to configure the state of the one or more SCells in the SCG (see paragraphs [0158] and [124] of Wang), which results in high signaling overhead and high activation latency (see Remarks, PP.4-5).
In reply, Examiner respectfully disagrees because the indication information in the instruction is used only to configure the state of the one or more SCells in the SCG as recited by the claims. However, if configuring the state of the one or more Scells in the SCG implies activating the SCG, Examiner submits that Wang activates the SCG by configuring the state of the one or more SCells in the SCG. Thus, the instruction of Wang can achieve the two functions.
In reply to in Wang, the activation indication is only used to activate the SCG, and additional independent signaling (e.g., MAC CE) is used to configure the state of the one or more SCells in the SCG, Examiner respectfully disagrees because the terminal activates the secondary cell group according to the activation indication which may be included in a MAC CE, an RRC message, or physical layer signaling that is sent by the access network device to the terminal (see Wang, [0158] and [0160]). Wang further discloses the network side may provide the configuration of the PSCell for the UE by using a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) message. In addition, the network side may further provide a configuration of the SCell for the UE by using a radio resource control message ([0124]). Thus, MAC CE, RRC message, and physical layer signaling are examples used by Wang to send instructions including activation indication to activate the SCG and configure the state of the one or more SCells in the SCG. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter in the claims is not different from Wang in how to configure the state of the one or more SCells in the SCG. Further, the RRC message in Wang is indicative of the state of the one or more SCells in the SCG and contains the activation indication for activating the SCG.
For at least the foregoing reasons, Wang discloses each and every element as set forth in claims 1, 16, and 18.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US 2022/0167445 A1, hereinafter referred to as Wang).
Referring to claim 16, Wang discloses a user equipment (UE) (figs.11 and 13, terminal 1300), comprising:
a transceiver (figs.11 and 13, transceiver unit 1102/1301);
at least one processor (figs.11 and 13, processing unit 1101/1302), in communication connection with the transceiver (figs.11 and 13); and
a memory (fig.13, memory), in communication connection with the at least one processor and storing instructions executable by the at least one processor (fig.13 and [0305]); the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, being operable with the at least one processor to:
cause the transceiver to receive an instruction for activating a secondary cell group (SCG) in case that the SCG is in a deactivated state ([0154]-[0156] and [0268]) (Note: the terminal receives, via a transceiver, an instruction for activating a secondary cell group (SCG) in case that the SCG is in a deactivated state); and
configure a state of one or more secondary cells (SCell) in the SCG according to indication information in the instruction, wherein the indication information comprises an activated state and is indicative of the state of the one or more SCells in the SCG, and wherein the indication information is a radio resource control (RRC) message ([0124], [0158]-[0160], [0268], and [0124]) (Note: the terminal configures state of secondary cells (SCell) in the SCG according to an indication information in the instruction, wherein the indication information comprising an activation indication that indicates that a SCell in the SCG is in an activated state, wherein the indication information is a radio resource control (RRC) message).
Referring to claim 18, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 16 is applicable herein. Wang further discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium; storing computer instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to carry out actions as in claim 16 ([0300]-[0301], [0303], and [0305]).
Referring to claim 1, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 16 is applicable herein.
Conclusion
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/MOUSTAPHA DIABY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683