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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office Action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/22/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 2, 5-14, 17-20, and 24-27 are now pending in the present application. Claims 3 and 21-23 have been canceled by the Applicant and claims 24-27 have been added by Applicant.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, 12, 17-20, 24, 25, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agiwal et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0137908 A1) (hereinafter Agiwal) in view of Esswie et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0422211 A1) (hereinafter Esswie).
Regarding claim 1, Agiwal discloses a method for monitoring paging control information, performed by a User Equipment (UE) (Paragraph 0426 discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system. The method may comprise: monitoring PEI information on a PEI occasion, based on the PEI configuration information; and in case that the PEI information indicates the paging subgroup ID, monitoring paging downlink control information (DCI) on a paging occasion (PO)), the method comprising:
monitoring for a Paging Early Indication (PEI) on a PEI monitoring occasion, and determining a detection result indicating whether the PEI is detected, wherein the PEI is configured to indicate whether paging control information exists on a plurality of paging occasions (Paragraph 0426 discloses receiving, from a base station, paging early indication (PEI) configuration information including a parameter indicating a number of UE identity (ID) based paging subgroups; determining a paging subgroup ID corresponding to the UE, based on a maximum value of the parameter. Monitoring PEI information on a PEI occasion, and in case that the PEI information indicates the paging subgroup ID, monitoring paging downlink control information (DCI) on a paging occasion (PO)); and
determining, based on the detection result, whether to monitor for the paging control information on a target paging occasion, wherein the target paging occasion is one of the plurality of paging occasions (Paragraph 0426 discloses in case that the PEI information indicates the paging subgroup ID, monitoring paging downlink control information (DCI) on a paging occasion (PO));
wherein determining, based on the detection result, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion, comprises: in response to the detection result being that the PEI is detected, determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication); and
wherein the PEI comprises one or more indication fields, each indication field being used to indicate whether paging control information exists on a corresponding paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication).
Agiwal does not explicitly disclose wherein determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion comprises: determining, based on a bitmap of the PEI and an indication value of each bit in the bitmap, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion corresponding to each bit; and determining, according to the indication value being 1, to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion; or determining, according to the indication value being 0, not to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion.
In analogous art, Esswie discloses wherein determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion comprises: determining, based on a bitmap of the PEI and an indication value of each bit in the bitmap, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion corresponding to each bit; and determining, according to the indication value being 1, to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion; or determining, according to the indication value being 0, not to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Figure 5 and 6 and paragraphs 0171 and 0172 disclose on condition that there is a true EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=1), the UE may enter a sleep state (e.g., light sleep) until the paging occasion 506 and then may wake in order to decode the paging DCI. After waking, the UE may also decode the paging record 508 (e.g., received on the subsequent PDSCH resources). On condition that there is a false EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=0), the UE may assume that it and/or its paging group is NOT paged in the current paging occasion, and may enter a sleep state (e.g., deep sleep) until the next paging occasion).
It 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 to incorporate decoding a paging DCI in a paging occasion when the EPI indication bit is one and sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero, as described in Esswie, with determining whether there is paging using a PEI, as described in Agiwal, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining decoding a paging DCI in a paging occasion when the EPI indication bit is one and sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero of Esswie with determining whether there is paging using a PEI of Agiwal was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Esswie.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal and Esswie to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
Regarding claim 2, as applied to claim 1 above, Agiwal discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing in response to the detection result being that the PEI is not detected, determining that no paging control information exists on the target paging occasion, entering a sleeping state on the target paging occasion, and continuing to detect the PEI on a next PEI monitoring occasion.
Esswie further discloses in response to the detection result being that the PEI is not detected, determining that no paging control information exists on the target paging occasion, entering a sleeping state on the target paging occasion, and continuing to detect the PEI on a next PEI monitoring occasion (Figure 5 and 6 and paragraphs 0171 and 0172 disclose on condition that there is a false EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=0), the UE may assume that it and/or its paging group is NOT paged in the current paging occasion, and may enter a sleep state (e.g., deep sleep) until the next paging occasion).
It 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 to incorporate sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero, as described in Esswie, with determining whether there is paging using a PEI , as described in Agiwal, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero of Esswie with determining whether there is paging using a PEI of Agiwal was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Esswie.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal and Esswie to obtain the invention as specified in claim 2.
Regarding claim 5, as applied to claim 1 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, further discloses wherein the determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion, comprises:
determining sequence information corresponding to the PEI (Paragraph 0076 discloses an early paging indication is a sequence or a PDCCH transmitted before the PO); and
determining, based on the sequence information, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication).
Regarding claim 6, as applied to claim 2 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, further discloses wherein the determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion, comprises: determining that the PEI indicates that no paging control information exists on the target paging occasion, and entering the sleeping state on the target paging occasion; or determining that the PEI indicates that the paging control information exists on the target paging occasion, and monitoring for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication).
Regarding claim 11, Agiwal discloses a method for indicating paging control information, performed by a network side device (Paragraph 0442 discloses a method performed by a base station. The method may comprise: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), paging early indication (PEI) configuration information including a parameter indicating a number of UE identity (ID) based paging subgroups; determining a paging subgroup identity (ID) corresponding to the UE, based on a maximum value of the parameter; transmitting, to the UE, PEI information indicating the paging subgroup ID), the method comprising:
sending a Paging Early Indication (PEI) on at least one PEI sending occasion, wherein the PEI is configured to indicate whether paging control information exists on a plurality of paging occasions, thereby causing a User Equipment (UE) to perform monitoring for the PEI on a PEI monitoring occasion and determining a detection result indicating whether the PEI is detected, and determining, based on the detection result, whether to monitor for the paging control information on a target paging occasion, wherein the target paging occasion is one of the plurality of paging occasions (Paragraph 0442 discloses transmitting, to the UE, PEI information indicating the paging subgroup ID; and transmitting, to the UE, paging downlink control information (DCI), based on the PEI information. Paragraph 0426 discloses receiving, from a base station, paging early indication (PEI) configuration information including a parameter indicating a number of UE identity (ID) based paging subgroups; determining a paging subgroup ID corresponding to the UE, based on a maximum value of the parameter. Monitoring PEI information on a PEI occasion, and in case that the PEI information indicates the paging subgroup ID, monitoring paging downlink control information (DCI) on a paging occasion (PO));
wherein determining, based on the detection result, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion, comprises: in response to the detection result being that the PEI is detected, determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication); and
wherein the PEI comprises one or more indication fields, each indication field being used to indicate whether paging control information exists on a corresponding paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication).
Agiwal does not explicitly disclose wherein determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion comprises: determining, based on a bitmap of the PEI and an indication value of each bit in the bitmap, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion corresponding to each bit; and determining, according to the indication value being 1, to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion; or determining, according to the indication value being 0, not to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion.
In analogous art, Esswie discloses wherein determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion comprises: determining, based on a bitmap of the PEI and an indication value of each bit in the bitmap, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion corresponding to each bit; and determining, according to the indication value being 1, to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion; or determining, according to the indication value being 0, not to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Figure 5 and 6 and paragraphs 0171 and 0172 disclose on condition that there is a true EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=1), the UE may enter a sleep state (e.g., light sleep) until the paging occasion 506 and then may wake in order to decode the paging DCI. After waking, the UE may also decode the paging record 508 (e.g., received on the subsequent PDSCH resources). On condition that there is a false EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=0), the UE may assume that it and/or its paging group is NOT paged in the current paging occasion, and may enter a sleep state (e.g., deep sleep) until the next paging occasion).
It 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 to incorporate decoding a paging DCI in a paging occasion when the EPI indication bit is one and sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero, as described in Esswie, with determining whether there is paging using a PEI, as described in Agiwal, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining decoding a paging DCI in a paging occasion when the EPI indication bit is one and sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero of Esswie with determining whether there is paging using a PEI of Agiwal was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Esswie.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal and Esswie to obtain the invention as specified in claim 11.
Regarding claim 12, as applied to claim 11 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, further discloses wherein the at least one PEI sending occasion comprises a plurality of PEI sending occasions (Paragraph 0049 discloses a PO is a set of ‘S’ PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging, where ‘S’ is the number of transmitted SSBs (i.e. the Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB) consists of primary and secondary synchronization signals (PSS, SSS) and PBCH) in cell. Paragraph 0076 discloses the UE may monitor the PDCCH in a PDCCH monitoring occasion (PMO) of the early paging indication. The PMO of the early paging indication occurs before the PMO of PO. The UE may receive the PDCCH in the PMO of the early paging indication).
Regarding claim 17, Agiwal discloses a communication device (Paragraphs 0426 and 0444 discloses a user equipment (UE)), comprising:
a processor; and a memory connected in communication with the processor; wherein the memory stores one or more instructions executable by the processor which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor (Figure 8 and paragraphs 0444, 0446, and 0448 disclose the UE 800 may include a processor 810, a transceiver 820 and a memory 830. The processor 810 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the proposed function, process, and/or method. Operation of the UE 800 may be implemented by the processor 810. The memory 830 may be connected to the processor 810 and store at least one instruction or a protocol or a parameter for the proposed function, process, and/or method) to:
monitor for a Paging Early Indication (PEI) on a PEI monitoring occasion, and determine a detection result indicating whether the PEI is detected, wherein the PEI is configured to indicate whether paging control information exists on a plurality of paging occasions (Paragraph 0426 discloses receiving, from a base station, paging early indication (PEI) configuration information including a parameter indicating a number of UE identity (ID) based paging subgroups; determining a paging subgroup ID corresponding to the UE, based on a maximum value of the parameter. Monitoring PEI information on a PEI occasion, and in case that the PEI information indicates the paging subgroup ID, monitoring paging downlink control information (DCI) on a paging occasion (PO)); and
determine, based on the detection result, whether to monitor for the paging control information on a target paging occasion, wherein the target paging occasion is one of the plurality of paging occasions (Paragraph 0426 discloses in case that the PEI information indicates the paging subgroup ID, monitoring paging downlink control information (DCI) on a paging occasion (PO));
wherein determining, based on the detection result, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion, comprises: in response to the detection result being that the PEI is detected, determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication); and
wherein the PEI comprises one or more indication fields, each indication field being used to indicate whether paging control information exists on a corresponding paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication).
Agiwal does not explicitly disclose wherein determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion comprises: determining, based on a bitmap of the PEI and an indication value of each bit in the bitmap, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion corresponding to each bit; and determining, according to the indication value being 1, to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion; or determining, according to the indication value being 0, not to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion.
In analogous art, Esswie discloses wherein determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion comprises: determining, based on a bitmap of the PEI and an indication value of each bit in the bitmap, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion corresponding to each bit; and determining, according to the indication value being 1, to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion; or determining, according to the indication value being 0, not to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Figure 5 and 6 and paragraphs 0171 and 0172 disclose on condition that there is a true EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=1), the UE may enter a sleep state (e.g., light sleep) until the paging occasion 506 and then may wake in order to decode the paging DCI. After waking, the UE may also decode the paging record 508 (e.g., received on the subsequent PDSCH resources). On condition that there is a false EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=0), the UE may assume that it and/or its paging group is NOT paged in the current paging occasion, and may enter a sleep state (e.g., deep sleep) until the next paging occasion).
It 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 to incorporate decoding a paging DCI in a paging occasion when the EPI indication bit is one and sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero, as described in Esswie, with determining whether there is paging using a PEI, as described in Agiwal, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining decoding a paging DCI in a paging occasion when the EPI indication bit is one and sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero of Esswie with determining whether there is paging using a PEI of Agiwal was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Esswie.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal and Esswie to obtain the invention as specified in claim 17.
Regarding claim 18, as applied to claim 11 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, further discloses communication device (Figure 9 and paragraph 0450 discloses a base station), comprising:
a processor; and a memory connected in communication with the processor; wherein the memory stores one or more instructions executable by the processor which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method of claim 11 (Figure 9 and paragraphs 0450, 0451, and 0453 disclose the base station 900 may include a processor 910, a transceiver 920 and a memory 930. The processor 910 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the proposed function, process, and/or method. Operation of the base station 900 may be implemented by the processor 910. The memory 930 may store the control information or the data included in a signal obtained by the base station 900. The memory 930 may be connected to the processor 910 and store at least one instruction or a protocol or a parameter for the proposed function, process, and/or method).
Regarding claim 19, as applied to claim 1 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, further discloses non-transitory computer storage medium, storing one or more computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement the method of claim 1 (Figure 8 and paragraphs 0444 and 0448 disclose the UE 800 may include a processor 810, a transceiver 820 and a memory 830. The memory 830 may be connected to the processor 810 and store at least one instruction or a protocol or a parameter for the proposed function, process, and/or method).
Regarding claim 20, as applied to claim 1 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, further discloses wherein the determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion, comprises:
determining, based on the PEI, an indication value on an indication field corresponding to the target paging occasion, wherein the indication value is configured to indicate whether the paging control information exists on the target paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication); and
determining, based on the indication value, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication).
Regarding claim 24, as applied to claim 17 above, Agiwal discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing in response to the detection result being that the PEI is not detected, determining that no paging control information exists on the target paging occasion, entering a sleeping state on the target paging occasion, and continuing to detect the PEI on a next PEI monitoring occasion.
Esswie further discloses in response to the detection result being that the PEI is not detected, determining that no paging control information exists on the target paging occasion, entering a sleeping state on the target paging occasion, and continuing to detect the PEI on a next PEI monitoring occasion (Figure 5 and 6 and paragraphs 0171 and 0172 disclose on condition that there is a false EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=0), the UE may assume that it and/or its paging group is NOT paged in the current paging occasion, and may enter a sleep state (e.g., deep sleep) until the next paging occasion).
It 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 to incorporate sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero, as described in Esswie, with determining whether there is paging using a PEI , as described in Agiwal, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining sleeping when the EPI indication bit is zero of Esswie with determining whether there is paging using a PEI of Agiwal was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Esswie.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal and Esswie to obtain the invention as specified in claim 24.
Regarding claim 25, as applied to claim 17 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, further discloses wherein the determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion, comprises:
determining sequence information corresponding to the PEI (Paragraph 0076 discloses an early paging indication is a sequence or a PDCCH transmitted before the PO); and
determining, based on the sequence information, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Paragraph 0175 discloses the UE may check whether paging group or subgroup associated with the UE is indicated by early paging indication or not. If indicated, the UE may monitor paging DCI in the PO associated with the early paging indication).
Regarding claim 27, as applied to claim 11 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, further discloses a non-transitory computer storage medium, storing one or more computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement the method of claim 11 (Figure 9 and paragraphs 0450, 0451, and 0453 disclose the base station 900 may include a processor 910, a transceiver 920 and a memory 930. The processor 910 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the proposed function, process, and/or method. Operation of the base station 900 may be implemented by the processor 910. The memory 930 may store the control information or the data included in a signal obtained by the base station 900. The memory 930 may be connected to the processor 910 and store at least one instruction or a protocol or a parameter for the proposed function, process, and/or method).
Claims 8, 9, 13, 14, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agiwal in view of Esswie as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Tsai et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0209464 A1) (hereinafter Tsai).
Regarding claim 8, as applied to claim 1 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing receiving a system information block (SIB) message, wherein the SIB message comprises configuration information for the PEI; determining, based on the configuration information of the PEI, a plurality of candidate PEI monitoring occasions corresponding to the PEI; and determining the PEI monitoring occasion from the plurality of candidate PEI monitoring occasions.
In analogous art, Tsai discloses receiving a system information block (SIB) message, wherein the SIB message comprises configuration information for the PEI (Paragraph 0157 discloses the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) configuration (and/or the corresponding parameters) may be provided in system information (e.g., SIB 1, SIB 2, etc.));
determining, based on the configuration information of the PEI, a plurality of candidate PEI monitoring occasions corresponding to the PEI (Paragraphs 0150 and 0151 disclose the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) configuration may include at least one of the following IEs/parameters/fields/information: Search space/CORESET/BWP of the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI). Paragraph 0141 discloses the UE may be configured with one or multiple monitoring occasions (e.g., search spaces and/or associated control resource sets) for the UE group(s). Each monitoring occasion (e.g., search space and/or associated control resource set) may be associated with a UE group); and
determining the PEI monitoring occasion from the plurality of candidate PEI monitoring occasions (Paragraph 0142 discloses the NW may indicate to the UE to monitor which monitoring occasion(s) (for UE group(s)) based on some criteria. Alternatively, the UE may select one or more of the UE groups to monitor based on some criteria).
It 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 to incorporate PEI configuration provided in an SIB and using the configuration to determine a monitoring occasion of multiple occasions , as described in Tsai, with monitoring for a PEI, as described in Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining PEI configuration provided in an SIB and using the configuration to determine a monitoring occasion of multiple occasions of Tsai with monitoring for a PEI of Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Tsai.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal, Esswie, and Tsai to obtain the invention as specified in claim 8.
Regarding claim 9, as applied to claim 8 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing wherein the configuration information of the PEI comprises: a time interval for repeatedly sending the PEI; N PEIs corresponding to the repeatedly sending of the PEI, wherein N is a positive integer; an offset value between a last PEI of the N PEIs and a first paging occasion of the plurality of paging occasions; and a number of paging occasions corresponding to each of the N PEIs.
In analogous art, Tsai discloses wherein the configuration information of the PEI comprises:
a time interval for repeatedly sending the PEI (Paragraphs 0150 and 0151 disclose the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) configuration may include at least one of the following IEs/parameters/fields/information: Search space/CORESET/BWP of the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI). Paragraphs 0280 and 0288 disclose The UE capability parameters may be associated with at least one of the configurations/parameters (for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI)) disclosed in the present disclosure, including: Maximum/Minimum periodicity of the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI));
N PEIs corresponding to the repeatedly sending of the PEI, wherein N is a positive integer (Paragraph 0237 discloses the number of repetitions for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) may be (pre-)configured via an RRC configuration (e.g., a configuration for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI)));
an offset value between a last PEI of the N PEIs and a first paging occasion of the plurality of paging occasions (Paragraph 0165 discloses the offset may be a time gap between the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) and the (starting position of) PO. Paragraphs 0280 and 0283 disclose The UE capability parameters may be associated with at least one of the configurations/parameters (for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI)) disclosed in the present disclosure, including: Maximum/Minimum offset of the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI)); and
a number of paging occasions corresponding to each of the N PEIs (Paragraph 0211 discloses the number of POs, PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging, PFs, and/or DRX cycles may be configured via an RRC configuration (e.g., a configuration for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI))).
It 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 to incorporate PEI configuration including periodicity, number of repetitions, and offset of a PEIs and a number of POs, as described in Tsai, with monitoring for a PEI, as described in Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining PEI configuration including periodicity, number of repetitions, and offset of a PEIs and a number of POs of Tsai with monitoring for a PEI of Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Tsai.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal, Esswie, and Tsai to obtain the invention as specified in claim 9.
Regarding claim 13, as applied to claim 11 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing wherein before sending the PEI on the PEI sending occasion, the method further comprises: sending a system information block (SIB) message, wherein the SIB message comprises configuration information for the PEI, and the configuration information of the PEI is configured for the User Equipment (UE) to determine a PEI monitoring occasion for monitoring the PEI.
In analogous art, Tsai discloses wherein before sending the PEI on the PEI sending occasion, the method further comprises: sending a system information block (SIB) message, wherein the SIB message comprises configuration information for the PEI, and the configuration information of the PEI is configured for the User Equipment (UE) to determine a PEI monitoring occasion for monitoring the PEI (Paragraph 0157 discloses the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) configuration (and/or the corresponding parameters) may be provided in system information (e.g., SIB 1, SIB 2, etc.). Paragraphs 0150 and 0151 disclose the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) configuration may include at least one of the following IEs/parameters/fields/information: Search space/CORESET/BWP of the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI). Paragraph 0141 discloses the UE may be configured with one or multiple monitoring occasions (e.g., search spaces and/or associated control resource sets) for the UE group(s). Each monitoring occasion (e.g., search space and/or associated control resource set) may be associated with a UE group. Paragraph 0142 discloses the NW may indicate to the UE to monitor which monitoring occasion(s) (for UE group(s)) based on some criteria. Alternatively, the UE may select one or more of the UE groups to monitor based on some criteria. Since the claim is directed only to the sending of information and the contents of the information are not relied upon by any step of the method, the contents of the information are considered as merely non-functional descriptive material and do not carry patentable weight. See MPEP 2111.05 and 2112.01(III)).
It 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 to incorporate PEI configuration provided in an SIB and using the configuration to determine a monitoring occasion of multiple occasions , as described in Tsai, with monitoring for a PEI, as described in Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining PEI configuration provided in an SIB and using the configuration to determine a monitoring occasion of multiple occasions of Tsai with monitoring for a PEI of Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Tsai.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal, Esswie, and Tsai to obtain the invention as specified in claim 13.
Regarding claim 14, as applied to claim 13 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing wherein the configuration information of the PEI comprises: a time interval for repeatedly sending the PEI; N PEIs corresponding to the repeatedly sending of the PEI, wherein N is a positive integer; an offset value between a last PEI of the N PEIs and a first paging occasion of the plurality of paging occasions; and a number of paging occasions corresponding to each of the N PEIs.
In analogous art, Tsai discloses wherein the configuration information of the PEI comprises (Since the claim is directed only to the sending of information and the contents of the information are not relied upon by any step of the method, the contents of the information are considered as merely non-functional descriptive material and do not carry patentable weight. See MPEP 2111.05 and 2112.01(III)):
a time interval for repeatedly sending the PEI (Paragraphs 0150 and 0151 disclose the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) configuration may include at least one of the following IEs/parameters/fields/information: Search space/CORESET/BWP of the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI). Paragraphs 0280 and 0288 disclose The UE capability parameters may be associated with at least one of the configurations/parameters (for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI)) disclosed in the present disclosure, including: Maximum/Minimum periodicity of the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI));
N PEIs corresponding to the repeatedly sending of the PEI, wherein N is a positive integer (Paragraph 0237 discloses the number of repetitions for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) may be (pre-)configured via an RRC configuration (e.g., a configuration for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI)));
an offset value between a last PEI of the N PEIs and a first paging occasion of the plurality of paging occasions (Paragraph 0165 discloses the offset may be a time gap between the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) and the (starting position of) PO. Paragraphs 0280 and 0283 disclose The UE capability parameters may be associated with at least one of the configurations/parameters (for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI)) disclosed in the present disclosure, including: Maximum/Minimum offset of the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI)); and
a number of paging occasions corresponding to each of the N PEIs (Paragraph 0211 discloses the number of POs, PDCCH monitoring occasions for paging, PFs, and/or DRX cycles may be configured via an RRC configuration (e.g., a configuration for the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI))).
It 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 to incorporate PEI configuration including periodicity, number of repetitions, and offset of a PEIs and a number of POs, as described in Tsai, with monitoring for a PEI, as described in Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining PEI configuration including periodicity, number of repetitions, and offset of a PEIs and a number of POs of Tsai with monitoring for a PEI of Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Tsai.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal, Esswie, and Tsai to obtain the invention as specified in claim 14.
Regarding claim 26, as applied to claim 17 above, Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing receiving a system information block (SIB) message, wherein the SIB message comprises configuration information for the PEI; determining, based on the configuration information of the PEI, a plurality of candidate PEI monitoring occasions corresponding to the PEI; and determining the PEI monitoring occasion from the plurality of candidate PEI monitoring occasions.
In analogous art, Tsai discloses receiving a system information block (SIB) message, wherein the SIB message comprises configuration information for the PEI (Paragraph 0157 discloses the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) configuration (and/or the corresponding parameters) may be provided in system information (e.g., SIB 1, SIB 2, etc.));
determining, based on the configuration information of the PEI, a plurality of candidate PEI monitoring occasions corresponding to the PEI (Paragraphs 0150 and 0151 disclose the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI) configuration may include at least one of the following IEs/parameters/fields/information: Search space/CORESET/BWP of the new signaling/indication (e.g., PEI). Paragraph 0141 discloses the UE may be configured with one or multiple monitoring occasions (e.g., search spaces and/or associated control resource sets) for the UE group(s). Each monitoring occasion (e.g., search space and/or associated control resource set) may be associated with a UE group); and
determining the PEI monitoring occasion from the plurality of candidate PEI monitoring occasions (Paragraph 0142 discloses the NW may indicate to the UE to monitor which monitoring occasion(s) (for UE group(s)) based on some criteria. Alternatively, the UE may select one or more of the UE groups to monitor based on some criteria).
It 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 to incorporate PEI configuration provided in an SIB and using the configuration to determine a monitoring occasion of multiple occasions , as described in Tsai, with monitoring for a PEI, as described in Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining PEI configuration provided in an SIB and using the configuration to determine a monitoring occasion of multiple occasions of Tsai with monitoring for a PEI of Agiwal, as modified by Esswie, was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Tsai.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Agiwal, Esswie, and Tsai to obtain the invention as specified in claim 26.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Considering claim 7, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Agiwal and Esswie, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of determining that no PEI is detected on a plurality of PEI monitoring occasions corresponding to the PEI, and monitoring for the paging control information on the target paging occasion in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claim 7.
Considering claim 10, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Agiwal and Esswie, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of wherein the determining, based on the configuration information of the PEI, the plurality of candidate PEI monitoring occasions corresponding to the PEI, comprises: determining N candidate PEI monitoring occasions corresponding to the N PEIs based on the time interval and the offset value in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claim 10.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's arguments filed 4/22/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 13 in he Remarks, Applicant argues that Esswie does not disclose “the PEI comprises one or more indication fields, each indication field being used to indicate whether paging control information exists on a corresponding paging occasion; and wherein determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion comprises: determining, based on the PEI comprising a bitmap and an indication value of each bit in the bitmap, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion corresponding to each bit; determining, in response to the indication value being 1, to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion; and determining, in response to the indication value being 0, not to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion.”
Esswie discloses wherein determining, based on the PEI, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion comprises: determining, based on a bitmap of the PEI and an indication value of each bit in the bitmap, whether to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion corresponding to each bit; and determining, according to the indication value being 1, to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion; or determining, according to the indication value being 0, not to monitor for the paging control information on the target paging occasion (Figure 5 and 6 and paragraphs 0171 and 0172 disclose on condition that there is a true EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=1), the UE may enter a sleep state (e.g., light sleep) until the paging occasion 506 and then may wake in order to decode the paging DCI. After waking, the UE may also decode the paging record 508 (e.g., received on the subsequent PDSCH resources). On condition that there is a false EPI indication (e.g., early paging indication bit=0), the UE may assume that it and/or its paging group is NOT paged in the current paging occasion, and may enter a sleep state (e.g., deep sleep) until the next paging occasion).
Consequently, in view of the above reasons and having addressed each of Applicant' s arguments, the previous rejection is maintained and made FINAL by the Examiner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to MARK G. PANNELL whose telephone number is (303) 297-4245. The Examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (Mountain Time).
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If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on (571) 272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/Mark G. Pannell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
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