DETAILED ACTION
Status of Case
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the amendment filed on 12/1/2025.
Claims 1-2, 5-9, 11-16, 19-20, 22, and 29 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 12/1/2025 with respect to the pending claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 2, 5-9, 11-16, 19-20, 22, and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stavridis (WO2020/126039 A1) in view of Zhang (EP 3525515 A1).
Consider claim 1, Stavridis discloses a method by a wireless device operable to perform receive beam sweeping over a set of a plurality of receive beams (see Fig. 4, reproduced below for convenience)), the method comprising:
receiving, from a network node, assistance information (Fig. 4: (404); Page 16, line 34 - page 17, line 6: "In step 404, the wireless device obtains knowledge identifying the location of a radio access network node relative to the wireless LC network node forming its LC cell. For example, such knowledge may include, or be based on one or more of: angle-of-arrival information for one or more transmissions received from the radio access network node; [...] location information received from the radio access network node. Thus [...] the radio access network node (or any other node of the network 100) may provide the information implicitly or explicitly in a transmission to the wireless device.");
determining, based on the assistance information, a first subset of receive beams within the set of the plurality of receive beams (Fig. 4: (406); Page 17, lines 8-20: "In step 406, the wireless device selects a subset of one or more [...] receive beams of those [...] receive beams which are available to it, on the basis of the wireless LC network node to which it connected in step 400. For example, the subset of [...] receive beams may correspond to [...] those receive beams in the coverage area of the identified wireless LC network node which are directed to receive transmissions from the radio access network node. The selection of the subset of one or more [...] receive beams may be further based on one or more of: the orientation of the wireless device, determined in step 402; and the location of the radio access network node relative to the wireless device or the wireless LC network node, determined in step 404."); and
performing at least one operation based on the first subset of receive beams (Fig. 4: (408); Page 17, lines 22-31: "In step 408, the wireless device performs a beam sweeping procedure, using only the selected subset of [...] receive beams. As noted above, this procedure may involve the transmitting device (whether the radio access network node or the wireless device) transmitting beams in all of the beams of the subset, e.g., in a burst and/or at a regular interval. The receiving device performs measurements on those beams using all of the receiving beams in the subset, and reports the measurements to the transmitting device so that an appropriate transmit-receive beam pair can be determined").
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Stavridis does not specifically disclose receiving information comprising an indication that the wireless device is traveling at a speed that is greater than a threshold speed or within a range of speeds that are associated with a high speed vehicle, determining a scaling factor for measurement by the wireless device, and performing at least one measurement based on the scaling factor.
Zhang discloses receiving information comprising an indication that the wireless device is traveling at a speed that is greater than a threshold speed or within a range of speeds that are associated with a high speed vehicle, determining a scaling factor for measurement by the wireless device, and performing at least one measurement based on the scaling factor (see paragraphs 164-166 and Table 6: a network device receives a mobility status and a mobility type that are sent by a terminal, such as a first mobility type that is associated with mobility status of “high speed” that has a corresponding configuration information that comprises “high-speed scale factor”; also, see figures 8-9, reproduced below for convenience).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Stavridis and combine it with the noted teachings of Zhang. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a terminal configuration method to accurately determine the mobility of a terminal and improve cell reselection performance, cell handover performance, or beam change performance of the terminal (see paragraph 7 of Zhang).
Consider claim 2, Stavridis discloses determining, based on the assistance information, a first subset of receive beams within the set of the plurality of receive beams (see page 17 lines 26-28: “The receiving device performs measurements on those beams using all of the receiving beams in the subset, and reports the measurements to the transmitting device so that an appropriate transmit-receive beam pair can be determined).
Consider claims 5 and 19, Stavridis discloses that the assistance information comprises at least one of: an estimated position of the wireless device; an actual position of the wireless device; an estimated speed of the wireless device; an actual speed of the wireless device; geographical information associated with a network deployment; a position of an antenna of at least one network node; an actual or expected route of a vehicle on which the wireless device is mounted; a distance of at least one network node from the wireless device; a distance of at least one network node from a route of the vehicle on which the wireless device is mounted; and vehicle deployment and/or vehicle layout information (Fig. 4: (404); Page 16, line 34 - page 17, line 6: "in step 404, the wireless device obtains knowledge identifying the location of a radio access network node relative to the wireless LC network node forming its LC cell. For example, such knowledge may include, or be based on [...] location information received from the radio access network node. Thus [...] the radio access network node (or any other node of the network 100) may provide the information implicitly or explicitly in a transmission to the wireless device." It is noted that according to figure 1a, the antenna of the network node 102 is attached to the network node).
Consider claims 6 and 20, Stavridis discloses that the assistance information comprises at least one of: Dmin, Ds, Drrh_h, and a geographical coordinate of a location of at least one network node, where Dmin is a perpendicular distance between the at least one network node and track on which the vehicle travels; Ds is the distance between adjacent at least one network node and Drrh_h is the vertical height of the at least one network node above the ground (Fig. 4: (404); Page 16, line 34 - page 17, line 6: "in step 404, the wireless device obtains knowledge identifying the location of a radio access network node relative to the wireless LC network node forming its LC cell. For example, such knowledge may include, or be based on [...] location information received from the radio access network node. Thus [...] the radio access network node (or any other node of the network 100) may provide the information implicitly or explicitly in a transmission to the wireless device." It is noted that according to figure 1a, the antenna of the network node 102 is attached to the network node).
Consider claim 7, Stavridis discloses determining, based on the assistance information, a location of at least one network node relative to the wireless device (Fig. 4: (404); Page 16, line 34 - page 17, line 6: "in step 404, the wireless device obtains knowledge identifying the location of a radio access network node relative to the wireless LC network node forming its LC cell. For example, such knowledge may include, or be based on [...] location information received from the radio access network node. Thus [...] the radio access network node (or any other node of the network 100) may provide the information implicitly or explicitly in a transmission to the wireless device." It is noted that according to figure 1a, the antenna of the network node 102 is attached to the network node).
Consider claims 8 and 22, Stavridis discloses that the assistance information comprises at least one angle of a position of the wireless device relative to at least one network node (Fig. 4: (404); Page 16, line 34 - page 17, line 6: "In step 404, the wireless device obtains knowledge identifying the location of a radio access network node relative to the wireless LC network node forming its LC cell. For example, such knowledge may include, or be based on one or more of: angle-of-arrival_information for one or more transmissions received from the radio access network node; [...] location information received from the radio access network node. Thus [...] the radio access network node (or any other node of the network 100) may provide the information implicitly or explicitly in a transmission to the wireless device.”)
Consider claim 9, although Stavridis discloses assistance information (see above), Stavridis does not specifically disclose a distance of at least one network node from an actual or expected route of the wireless device and/or a vehicle associated with the wireless device.
Zhang discloses a distance of at least one network node from an actual or expected route of the wireless device and/or a vehicle associated with the wireless device (see paragraphs 164-166, figures 8-9, and Table 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Stavridis and combine it with the noted teachings of Zhang. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a terminal configuration method to accurately determine the mobility of a terminal and improve cell reselection performance, cell handover performance, or beam change performance of the terminal (see paragraph 7 of Zhang).
Consider claim 11, Stavridis discloses that the method comprises determining the first subset of receive beams in response to receiving the indication the wireless device is traveling at a speed that is greater than a threshold speed or is travelling at a speed that is within a range of speeds that are associated with the high speed vehicle.
Zhang discloses determining the first subset of receive beams in response to receiving the indication the wireless device is traveling at a speed that is greater than a threshold speed or is travelling at a speed that is within a range of speeds that are associated with the high speed vehicle (see paragraphs 164-166, figures 8-9, and Table 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Stavridis and combine it with the noted teachings of Zhang. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a terminal configuration method to accurately determine the mobility of a terminal and improve cell reselection performance, cell handover performance, or beam change performance of the terminal (see paragraph 7 of Zhang).
Consider claim 12, Stavridis discloses that performing the at least one operation comprises adapting a Radio Resource Management, RRM, operation based on the first subset of receive beams (Fig. 4: (408); Page 17, lines 22-31: "in step 408, the wireless device performs a beam sweeping procedure, using only the selected subset of [...] receive beams. As noted above, this procedure may involve the transmitting device (whether the radio access network node or the wireless device) transmitting beams in all of the beams of the subset, e.g., in a burst and/or at a regular interval. The receiving device performs measurements on those beams using all of the receiving beams in the subset, and reports the measurements to the transmitting device so that an appropriate transmit-receive beam pair can be determined.").
Consider claim 13, Stavridis discloses that adapting the RRM operation comprises performing the receive beam sweeping over a reduced number of beams as compared to a reference number of beams (Fig. 4: (408); Page 17, lines 22-31: "in step 408, the wireless device performs a beam sweeping procedure, using only the selected subset of [...] receive beams. As noted above, this procedure may involve the transmitting device (whether the radio access network node or the wireless device) transmitting beams in all of the beams of the subset, e.g., in a burst and/or at a regular interval. The receiving device performs measurements on those beams using all of the receiving beams in the subset, and reports the measurements to the transmitting device so that an appropriate transmit-receive beam pair can be determined.").
Consider claim 14, Stavridis discloses that the reduced number of beams corresponds to the number of beams over which receive beam sweeping is performed when the assistance information is received, and the reference number of beams corresponds to number of beams over which receive beam sweeping is performed if no assistance information was received by the wireless device (Fig. 4: (408); Page 17, lines 22-31: "in step 408, the wireless device performs a beam sweeping procedure, using only the selected subset of [...] receive beams. As noted above, this procedure may involve the transmitting device (whether the radio access network node or the wireless device) transmitting beams in all of the beams of the subset, e.g., in a burst and/or at a regular interval. The receiving device performs measurements on those beams using all of the receiving beams in the subset, and reports the measurements to the transmitting device so that an appropriate transmit-receive beam pair can be determined.").
Consider claim 15, Stavridis discloses that the wireless device comprises a user equipment, UE, mounted on a vehicle (see figure 1A and paragraph 50: vehicle 101).
Consider claim 16, Stavridis discloses a method by a network node operable to assist a wireless device in performing receive beam sweeping over a set of a plurality of receive beams (see Fig. 4, reproduced below for convenience)), the method comprising: transmitting, to the wireless device, assistance information for determining by the wireless device a first subset of receive beams within the set of the plurality of receive beams (Fig. 4: (404); Page 16, line 34 - page 17, line 6: "In step 404, the wireless device obtains knowledge identifying the location of a radio access network node relative to the wireless LC network node forming its LC cell. For example, such knowledge may include, or be based on one or more of: angle-of-arrival information for one or more transmissions received from the radio access network node; [...] location information received from the radio access network node. Thus [...] the radio access network node (or any other node of the network 100) may provide the information implicitly or explicitly in a transmission to the wireless device.") for performing receive beam sweeping (Fig. 4: (408); Page 17, lines 22-31: "In step 408, the wireless device performs a beam sweeping procedure, using only the selected subset of [...] receive beams. As noted above, this procedure may involve the transmitting device (whether the radio access network node or the wireless device) transmitting beams in all of the beams of the subset, e.g., in a burst and/or at a regular interval. The receiving device performs measurements on those beams using all of the receiving beams in the subset, and reports the measurements to the transmitting device so that an appropriate transmit-receive beam pair can be determined").
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Stavridis does not specifically disclose determining a scaling factor for performing at least one measurement based on the scaling factor, and having an indication that the wireless device is traveling at a speed that is greater than a threshold speed or within a range of speeds that are associated with a high speed vehicle.
Zhang discloses determining a scaling factor for performing at least one measurement based on the scaling factor, and having an indication that the wireless device is traveling at a speed that is greater than a threshold speed or within a range of speeds that are associated with a high speed vehicle (see paragraphs 164-166 and Table 6: a network device receives a mobility status and a mobility type that are sent by a terminal, such as a first mobility type that is associated with mobility status of “high speed” that has a corresponding configuration information that comprises “high-speed scale factor”; also, see figures 8-9, reproduced below for convenience).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Stavridis and combine it with the noted teachings of Zhang. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a terminal configuration method to accurately determine the mobility of a terminal and improve cell reselection performance, cell handover performance, or beam change performance of the terminal (see paragraph 7 of Zhang).
Consider claim 29, Stavridis discloses a wireless device adapted to perform the method of claim 1 (see figure 2: STA, i.e. a wireless device).
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jamal Javaid whose telephone number is 571-270-5137 and email address is Jamal.Javaid@uspto.gov.
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/JAMAL JAVAID/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412