DETAILED ACTION
Examiner acknowledges receipt of Applicant’s amendment filed 12/3/2025.
In the amendment, Applicant amended claims 1, 20, 21, 30, and 32 and cancelled claims 17-19 and 23.
Claims 1-6, 8, 9, 11-13, 15, 20, 21, 30, and 32 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Examiner has fully considered Applicant's arguments, see pages 7-12, filed 12/3/2025, with respect to the rejection of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 but they are not persuasive.
Examiner notes first that the scope of the present claims is different from the previously examined claims. Among other changes, the current claims require “determining…a start position and a length of the indication information…”, while the previous claims required only a start position or a length of the indication information.
On page 7, Applicant summarizes the rejections and recites the newly cited limitations starting with “wherein the acquiring the indication information comprises…”, asserting that the Li reference does not disclose this new limitation. Applicant characterizes the claimed limitation as “dynamic and UE-specific” and characterizes the teaching in Li as “static”. For the reasons described below, Examiner maintains Li anticipates these amended claims.
On pages 8-9, Applicant recites a number of paragraphs of Li. Applicant argues that the “time-domain position” of Li is distinct from the claimed “start position”. Applicant also argues that the “number NxW of paging groups” is distinct from the claimed “length”.
Examiner notes that these arguments are generally moot due to the new interpretation of Li used in the rejection below. Although similar in many ways to the previous rejection, due to the claim amendments, the new rejection more clearly explains how Li anticipates the present claims.
In particular, the claimed acquired “indication information” maps at least in part to the portion of the PEI that a given UE/terminal (the means for indicating the monitoring behavior in paging occasions). This is illustrated in the PEI of Figure 5, which includes multiple portions, each corresponding to a different paging occasion (PO). A UE/terminal uses its identifier to identify a particular paging occasion to which it is assigned and then monitors/acquires the corresponding portion of the PEI. The bounds of this portion of the PEI corresponding to a given PO (the starting position and length) are variable and based on both higher-layer signaling (SIB, MIB, PBCH, etc.) and the particular paging occasion to be monitored. Therefore, Li anticipates the amended claims. The rejection below provides additional detail and citations to Li.
As is clear from the rejection below, Examiner disagrees with Applicant’s characterization that the UE in Li “decodes a static broadcast format of a predetermined size” as the size varies based on the number of POs (N) and the number of paging groups (W).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 20 recites a slightly broader version of the last limitation of parent claim 1 in that it determines at least one of the start position or the length of the indication information based on high-layer signaling and a paging frame (PF) or a paging occasion PO that needs to be monitored. Applicant may cancel the claim, amend the claim to place the claim in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim complies with the statutory requirements.
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 1-3, 5, 6, 9, 11-13, 15, 20, 21, 30, and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al (US 2023/0284183).
Regarding claim 1: Li discloses a communication method, applied to a terminal device and comprising:
monitoring a paging indication physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a monitoring occasion, and acquiring indication information, wherein the monitoring occasion is before at least one paging frame PF (disclosed throughout; see the paging early indication (PEI), which as indicated throughout (see [0089], for example), can be carried in a DCI (of a PDCCH); further, as indicated throughout, the indication information is acquired based on the PEI; see [0033], for example, which indicates that this indication information may include at least one of: monitoring behavior in paging occasions, configuration information related to the paging occasions, and whether a first signal is available; further, as indicated in the examples of Figures 4 and 5, the monitoring occasion during which the PEI is received is before the paging frame (that includes the paging occasions)); and
determining, based on the indication information, a state of at least one reference signal, or determining, based on the indication information, whether to monitor a paging PDCCH, wherein the state is an available state or an unavailable state (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5 and the description starting in [0102]; as indicated in [0103], the PEI “indicates whether to monitor paging PDCCHs”; further, as indicated in [0104], the PEI also includes an information block 1 to “indicate whether the TRS/CSI-RS is available”);
wherein the acquiring the indication information comprises:
determining, based on a high-layer signaling and a paging frame (PF) or a paging occasion (PO) that needs to be monitored, a start position and a length of the indication information in downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI is carried on the paging indication PDCCH (disclosed throughout; first, as indicated in [0089]-[0091], the PEI may be received in a DCI of a PDCCH; further, as indicated in Figure 5, for example, the information relevant to a particular terminal/UE is organized into information for a particular paging occasion and may be either a bitmap or a bit string as indicated in [0091], for example; that is, a terminal has an associated paging occasion (PO) to monitor as indicted in [0035] “[f]or each terminal (UE), only one paging occasion associated with the terminal needs to be detected in one paging cycle…UEs in an idle state are evenly assigned a plurality of POs based on terminal identification information”; turning to Figure 5, the indication information is interpreted to include the subset of the PEI that corresponds to the UE’s PO; the start position and length of this indication information is determined based on both high-layer signaling and a paging occasion (PO) that the UE needs to monitor; that is, the UE determines (based on its identifier), a particular PO to monitor and the location of the indication information associated with this PO is determined based on signaling information including the values of N (the number of paging occasions) and W (the number of paging groups); as indicated in [0069]-[0070], this information is configured using higher-layer signaling such as SIB, MIB, PBCH, etc.; thus, if a particular UE is to monitor PO2, the location and size of the bits within the PEI corresponding to PO2 is determined based on higher-layer signaling (at least the values of N and W) as well as the paging occasion to monitor (PO2)).
Regarding claim 30: Li discloses a communication apparatus, applied to a terminal device and comprising:
a memory (see 1418 of Figure 8, for example), a transceiver (see 1402 of Figure 8, for example) and a processor (see 1420 of Figure 8, for example):
wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program (see the application program in memory 1418 of Figure 8, for example);
the transceiver is configured to send and receive data under control of the processor (disclosed throughout; see [0145], for example);
the processor, by executing the computer program, is configured to (disclosed throughout; see [0154]-[0155], for example):
monitor a paging indication physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a monitoring occasion, and acquire indication information, wherein the monitoring occasion is before at least one paging frame PF (disclosed throughout; see the paging early indication (PEI), which as indicated throughout (see [0089], for example), can be carried in a DCI (of a PDCCH); further, as indicated throughout, the indication information is acquired based on the PEI; see [0033], for example, which indicates that this indication information may include at least one of: monitoring behavior in paging occasions, configuration information related to the paging occasions, and whether a first signal is available; further, as indicated in the examples of Figures 4 and 5, the monitoring occasion during which the PEI is received is before the paging frame (that includes the paging occasions)); and
determine, based on the indication information, a state of at least one reference signal, or determine, based on the indication information, whether to monitor a paging PDCCH, wherein the state is an available state or an unavailable state (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5 and the description starting in [0102]; as indicated in [0103], the PEI “indicates whether to monitor paging PDCCHs”; further, as indicated in [0104], the PEI also includes an information block 1 to “indicate whether the TRS/CSI-RS is available”);
wherein the acquiring the indication information comprises:
determining, based on a high-layer signaling and a paging frame (PF) or a paging occasion (PO) that needs to be monitored, a start position and a length of the indication information in downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI is carried on the paging indication PDCCH (disclosed throughout; first, as indicated in [0089]-[0091], the PEI may be received in a DCI of a PDCCH; further, as indicated in Figure 5, for example, the information relevant to a particular terminal/UE is organized into information for a particular paging occasion and may be either a bitmap or a bit string as indicated in [0091], for example; that is, a terminal has an associated paging occasion (PO) to monitor as indicted in [0035] “[f]or each terminal (UE), only one paging occasion associated with the terminal needs to be detected in one paging cycle…UEs in an idle state are evenly assigned a plurality of POs based on terminal identification information”; turning to Figure 5, the indication information is interpreted to include the subset of the PEI that corresponds to the UE’s PO; the start position and length of this indication information is determined based on both high-layer signaling and a paging occasion (PO) that the UE needs to monitor; that is, the UE determines (based on its identifier), a particular PO to monitor and the location of the indication information associated with this PO is determined based on signaling information including the values of N (the number of paging occasions) and W (the number of paging groups); as indicated in [0069]-[0070], this information is configured using higher-layer signaling such as SIB, MIB, PBCH, etc.; thus, if a particular UE is to monitor PO2, the location and size of the bits within the PEI corresponding to PO2 is determined based on higher-layer signaling (at least the values of N and W) as well as the paging occasion to monitor (PO2)).
Regarding claim 32: Li discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium has a computer-executable instruction stored thereon, and when a processor executes the computer-executable instruction, the processor execute steps of (disclosed throughout; see the application program, memory 1418, and processor 1420 of Figure 8 and [0154]-[0155], for example):
monitoring a paging indication physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a monitoring occasion, and acquiring indication information, wherein the monitoring occasion is before at least one paging frame PF (disclosed throughout; see the paging early indication (PEI), which as indicated throughout (see [0089], for example), can be carried in a DCI (of a PDCCH); further, as indicated throughout, the indication information is acquired based on the PEI; see [0033], for example, which indicates that this indication information may include at least one of: monitoring behavior in paging occasions, configuration information related to the paging occasions, and whether a first signal is available; further, as indicated in the examples of Figures 4 and 5, the monitoring occasion during which the PEI is received is before the paging frame (that includes the paging occasions)); and
determining, based on the indication information, a state of at least one reference signal, or determining, based on the indication information, whether to monitor a paging PDCCH, wherein the state is an available state or an unavailable state (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5 and the description starting in [0102]; as indicated in [0103], the PEI “indicates whether to monitor paging PDCCHs”; further, as indicated in [0104], the PEI also includes an information block 1 to “indicate whether the TRS/CSI-RS is available”);
wherein the acquiring the indication information comprises:
determining, based on a high-layer signaling and a paging frame (PF) or a paging occasion (PO) that needs to be monitored, a start position and a length of the indication information in downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI is carried on the paging indication PDCCH (disclosed throughout; first, as indicated in [0089]-[0091], the PEI may be received in a DCI of a PDCCH; further, as indicated in Figure 5, for example, the information relevant to a particular terminal/UE is organized into information for a particular paging occasion and may be either a bitmap or a bit string as indicated in [0091], for example; that is, a terminal has an associated paging occasion (PO) to monitor as indicted in [0035] “[f]or each terminal (UE), only one paging occasion associated with the terminal needs to be detected in one paging cycle…UEs in an idle state are evenly assigned a plurality of POs based on terminal identification information”; turning to Figure 5, the indication information is interpreted to include the subset of the PEI that corresponds to the UE’s PO; the start position and length of this indication information is determined based on both high-layer signaling and a paging occasion (PO) that the UE needs to monitor; that is, the UE determines (based on its identifier), a particular PO to monitor and the location of the indication information associated with this PO is determined based on signaling information including the values of N (the number of paging occasions) and W (the number of paging groups); as indicated in [0069]-[0070], this information is configured using higher-layer signaling such as SIB, MIB, PBCH, etc.; thus, if a particular UE is to monitor PO2, the location and size of the bits within the PEI corresponding to PO2 is determined based on higher-layer signaling (at least the values of N and W) as well as the paging occasion to monitor (PO2)).
Regarding claim 2: Li discloses the limitations that the determining the state of the at least one reference signal comprises: determining a state of at least one reference signal corresponding to a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with a paging monitoring occasion (PMO) (disclosed throughout; as indicated above, the determining the stat is at least one reference signal (TRS/CSI-RS); further, as indicated in Figure 5, the at least one reference signal corresponds to a SSB (at least one of the SSBs between the PEI and the PO) associated with a paging monitoring occasion (the monitoring occasions within the PO); see also [0035]).
Regarding claim 3: Li discloses the limitations that the indication information is 1 bit, wherein the 1 bit indicates states of all reference signals corresponding to the synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with the paging monitoring occasion (PMO) (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5 and [0104], for example, which indicate that the PEI uses “one bit…to indicated whether the TRS/CSI-RS is available”).
Regarding claim 5: Li discloses the limitations that the determining the state of the at least one reference signal comprises: determining that the state of the at least one reference signal is an available state before a paging monitoring occasion (PMO) or before a paging occasion (PO) (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5 and [0104], for example, which disclose that the determination of whether the TRS/CSI-RS is available occurs before a paging occasion).
Regarding claim 6: Li discloses the limitation that the determining the state of the at least one reference signal comprises: determining that the state of the at least one reference signal is an available state after a first reference point, wherein a distance between the first reference point and a paging monitoring occasion (PMO) or a paging occasion (PO) is a first offset; or determining that the state of the at least one reference signal is an available state before a second reference point, wherein a distance between the second reference point and a paging monitoring occasion (PMO) or a paging occasion (PO) is a second offset (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5, for example, which discloses that the PEI (indicating that the TRS/CSI-RS is in an available state) is an offset before a paging occasion; see also [0103], which indicates that “After obtaining the paging early indication information, the terminal determines that a minimum time interval between the paging early indication information and the subsequent N POs associated is three SSB periods”).
Regarding claim 9: Li discloses the limitations that the state of the at least one reference signal is determined to be an available state after a third reference point, wherein a distance between the third reference point and the paging indication PDCCH is a third offset; or the state of the at least one reference signal is determined to be an available state after a fourth reference point, wherein a distance between the fourth reference point and the paging indication PDCCH is a fourth offset (disclosed throughout; as indicated in [0089], the PEI can be carried in the DCI, which is transmitted periodically; if a first PEI/DCI indicates that the TRS/CSI-RS is available (as described in Figure 5 and [0104], for example), the TRS/CSI-RS is determined to be available until the next PEI/DCI; the first PEI/DCI is a third (or fourth) reference point, and the distance between the first PEI/DCI and the next PEI/DCI is a third (or fourth) offset).
Regarding claim 11: Li discloses the limitation that in a case that the indication information is a first preset value, the paging PDCCH is monitored in a paging frame (PF) (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5 and [0104]-[0105], for example, which discloses that when the value of the information blocks 2-5 are a particular value, “paging PDCCH needs to be monitored”; see also [0050], which discloses that the set of paging occasions is a paging frame (PF)).
Regarding claim 12: Li discloses the limitation that the indication information is carried by 1 bit (disclosed throughout; see [0105], for example, which indicates that each of the four groups in each PO is indicated by a single bit (“'0' indicates monitoring, and '1' indicates no monitoring”); thus, if a single bit in information blocks 2-5 indicates monitoring, the paging PDCCH is monitored in a paging frame).
Regarding claim 13: Li discloses the limitation that in a case that the indication information is a first preset value, the paging PDCCH is monitored in a PO (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5 and [0104], for example, which discloses that when the value of the information blocks 2-5 are a particular value, “paging PDCCH needs to be monitored”; the bits in information blocks 2-5 further identify the particular PO(s) to monitor).
Regarding claim 15: Li discloses the limitation that in a case that the indication information is a first preset value, the paging PDCCH is monitored in a PO subgroup or a PO to which the PO subgroup belongs (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5 and [0104], for example, which discloses that when the value of the information blocks 2-5 are a particular value, “paging PDCCH needs to be monitored”; the bits in information blocks 2-5 further identify the particular PO(s) (each corresponding to a group) to monitor).
Regarding claim 20: Li discloses the limitation that the determining at least one of the start position or the length of the indication information in the DCI comprises: determining, based on a high-layer signaling and a paging frame (PF) or a paging occasion PO that needs to be monitored, at least one of the start position or the length of the indication information in the DCI (disclosed throughout; first, as indicated in [0089]-[0091], the PEI may be received in a DCI of a PDCCH; further, as indicated in Figure 5, for example, the information relevant to a particular terminal/UE is organized into information for a particular paging occasion and may be either a bitmap or a bit string as indicated in [0091], for example; that is, a terminal has an associated paging occasion (PO) to monitor as indicted in [0035] “[f]or each terminal (UE), only one paging occasion associated with the terminal needs to be detected in one paging cycle…UEs in an idle state are evenly assigned a plurality of POs based on terminal identification information”; turning to Figure 5, the indication information is interpreted to include the subset of the PEI that corresponds to the UE’s PO; the start position and length of this indication information is determined based on both high-layer signaling and a paging occasion (PO) that the UE needs to monitor; that is, the UE determines (based on its identifier), a particular PO to monitor and the location of the indication information associated with this PO is determined based on signaling information including the values of N (the number of paging occasions) and W (the number of paging groups); as indicated in [0069]-[0070], this information is configured using higher-layer signaling such as SIB, MIB, PBCH, etc.; thus, if a particular UE is to monitor PO2, the location and size of the bits within the PEI corresponding to PO2 is determined based on higher-layer signaling (at least the values of N and W) as well as the paging occasion to monitor (PO2)).
Regarding claim 21: Li discloses the limitations that the determining at least one of the start position or the length of the indication information in the DCI further comprises: determining, based on a PO subgroup to which the terminal device belongs, at least one of the start position or the length of the indication information in the DCI (disclosed throughout; see Figure 5 and [0103]-[0104], for example, which discloses that the starting position and length of a segment of the PEI that the UE needs to process is based on the subgroup to which the terminal belongs; that is, the information in the PEI is divided into sections according to the paging groups; the terminal only needs the information corresponding to the subgroup to which it belongs and this information determines the location and length of the PEI information corresponding to the terminal and its group).
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.
Claims 4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al (US 2023/0284183) in view of Vivo* (3GPP R1-2005389 “Discussion on TRS/CSI-RS occasion(s) for idle/inactive UEs”).
* Cited in Applicant’s IDS filed 7/8/2024
Regarding claim 4: Li discloses the limitations of parent claim 2 as indicated above. Li does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claim 4 that the indication information is more than 1 bit, wherein each 1 bit indicates a state of one reference signal corresponding to the synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with the paging monitoring occasion (PMO). However, Vivo discloses a similar method that signals the terminal the status of TRS/CSI-RS reference signals (see title, for example). Further, on page 4, Vivo discloses that “a bitmap can be introduced in paging DCI, where each bit is associated with a CSI-RS resource(set), and is used to indicate UE whether the associated CSI resource is actually transmitted at gNB”. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Li to include a bitmap such as that disclosed in Vivo, where each bit indicates whether a particular reference signal is available. The rationale for doing so would have been to enable more flexibility in the resource control by allowing the network to indicated the availability of individual reference signals as suggested by Vivo.
Regarding claim 8: Li discloses the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above. Li does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claim 8 that before the paging indication PDCCH, the state of the at least one reference signal is determined to be an available state. However, Vivo discloses a similar method that signals the terminal the status of TRS/CSI-RS reference signals (see title, for example). Further, on page 4, Vivo discloses “If network would stop transmitting one of the configured CSI-RS resources, the information can be indicated to UE without system information update, UE shall not assume the CSI-RS resource is available anymore”. Thus, in this example, before the network stopped the transmission of the particular CSI-RS resource, the UE had been “assuming” the CSI-RS resource was available (and will not “anymore”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Li to explicitly utilize a bitmap such as the one disclosed in Vivo and to allow the network to switch off particular resources using a bit in the bitmap. Further, this bitmap implementation enables the UE to assume certain CSI-RS resources are available prior to receiving the bitmap (based on prior configuration). The rationale for doing so would have been to enable the network to “flexibly switch on/off the CSI-RS resources configured by SIB through paging DCI” as suggested by Vivo.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert C Scheibel whose telephone number is (571)272-3169. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 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, Hassan A Phillips can be reached at 571-272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Robert C. Scheibel
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2467
/Robert C Scheibel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467 December 23, 2025
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