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 on 18 May 2026 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 18 May 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pp. 9-13 of the Remarks, with respect to the rejections of claims 1, 19, and 25 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of US 2023/0300700 (hereinafter, “RUNE”).
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 19, and 25 are objected to because of the following informalities included therein:
The limitations when a serving cell going to stop serving a area should instead recite “when a serving cell is going to stop serving an area.” Accordingly, appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1, 19, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention.
Particularly, the claims have been amended to recite the limitation, “determining whether to measure the neighboring cell.” Applicant asserts that support for the newly claimed subject matter “is in the originally filed international application (PCT/CN2021/084782).” Remarks, p. 9. The Examiner finds insufficient support in the disclosure for the newly claimed subject matter. Accordingly, any subsequent submission should delete the new matter or precisely identify the disclosure being relied upon by Applicant for support.
Dependent claims 6, 9-11, 13, 14, 16-18, 21, and 26-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement at least by virtue of their dependencies.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. § 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 19, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor regards as the invention.
Particularly, the claims have been amended to recite the limitation, “determining whether to measure the neighboring cell.” The Examiner finds that the limitation renders the claim ambiguous in view one or more other limitations included in the claims.
That is, claim 1 recites:
in a case of a frequency priority of a neighboring cell is lower than or equal to a frequency priority of the serving cell, starting to perform measurements for the neighboring cell before the first time information, regardless of whether the serving cell fulfils that a signal quality of the serving cell is higher than a predefined signal quality threshold; or
in a case of a frequency priority of the neighboring cell is higher than a frequency priority of the serving cell, performing measurement for the neighboring cell regardless of the first time information of the serving cell;
The Examiner finds that one of ordinary skill in the art would interpret these limitations to require performing measurements for the neighboring cell in each of the alternative cases, which renders ambiguous the limitation “determining whether to measure the neighboring cell.” Independent claims 19 and 25 are similarly indefinite.
Dependent claims 6, 9-11, 13, 14, 16-18, 21, and 26-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) as being indefinite.
Accordingly, the Examiner suggests that any subsequent submission include the following claim amendment (or something similar):
wherein the method further comprises:
determining a service time threshold for performing the cell reselection method;
determining a quantifiable relationship between the first time information and the service time threshold[[,]]; and
determining, based on the quantifiable relationship, whether to perform the cell reselection method using the measurements for the neighboring cell.
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 the 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 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.
Claims 1, 9, 10, 18, 19, and 25-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over “NOKIA” (R2-2102015, copy of NPL appended to Applicant’s IDS dated 26 Sept. 2023) in view of US 2018/0288666 (hereinafter, “FUJISHIRO”) and US 2023/0300700 (hereinafter, “RUNE”).
Regarding claim 1, NOKIA discloses:
A cell reselection method (p. 12, Sec. 3, “Cell reselection related enhancements”), performed by a user equipment (UE) (p. 12, Question 4: Should the UE be provided with the information on when a cell is going to stop serving the area and the timing information about new upcoming cell) in a non-terrestrial network (p. 16, Proposal 4: The information on when a cell is going to stop serving the area and/or the timing information about new and upcoming cell is supported in Earth-fixed NTN scenario), comprising:
. . . , wherein the first message is transmitted via a system message, (p. 12, Question 4: [I]t is provided (e.g. system information, . . .))
the first message comprises first time information indicating a moment when a serving cell [is] going to stop serving an area it is currently covering for the UE; (p. 16, Sec. 3, [T]he awareness of cell expiry time shall be considered for cell selection/reselection; p. 12, Question 4: Should the UE be provided with the information on when a cell is going to stop serving the area)
in a case of a frequency priority of a neighboring cell is lower than or equal to a frequency priority of the serving cell, starting to perform measurements for the neighboring cell before the first time information, regardless of whether the serving cell fulfils that a signal quality of the serving cell is higher than a predefined signal quality threshold: or (p. 17, ZTE comment: The cell expire time can be used by UE in the following cases: Trigger intra-frequency measurements or measurements on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority. For example, a TIntraSearch and a TnonIntraSearch can be configured to UE. UE will start to perform intra-frequency measurements when the remaining valid time of the current cell Tremaining <= TIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SIntraSearchQ is fullfiled. Similarly, UE will start to perform measurments on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority when Tremaining <= TnonIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SnonIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SnonIntraSearchQ is fullfiled)
. . . .
NOKIA does not explicitly disclose:
receiving a first message,
in a case of a frequency priority of the neighboring cell is higher than a frequency priority of the serving cell, performing measurement for the neighboring cell regardless of the first time information of the serving cell.
In the same field of endeavor, however, FUJISHIRO teaches:
receiving a first message, (¶ 0089: In step S11, the UE 100 receives the system information (SIB; System Information Block) broadcast from the eNB 200 (the current serving cell))
in a case of a frequency priority of the neighboring cell is higher than a frequency priority of the serving cell, performing measurement for the neighboring cell regardless of the first time information of the serving cell. (¶¶ 0061-0062: [T]he start condition is shown as follows: (A1) A frequency having a higher priority than the priority of the frequency of the current serving cell the UE 100 always measures the quality of the frequency having the higher priority)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify NOKIA’s cell (re)selection procedures to provide a frequency priority-based start condition as taught by FUJISHIRO in which the UE always measures the quality of the frequency having the higher priority such that if a start condition is satisfied, a UE selects, from among cells that may or may not satisfy some other selection condition, a target cell used as a serving cell. See FUJISHIRO, at ¶ 0004.
NOKIA in view of FUJISHIRO also do not explicitly disclose:
wherein the method further comprises:
determining a service time threshold for the cell reselection method;
determining a relationship between the first time information and the service time threshold, and
determining whether to measure the neighboring cell.
In the same field of endeavor, however, RUNE teaches:
wherein the method further comprises:
determining a service time threshold for the cell reselection method; (¶ 0212: At step 1002, the wireless device 110 obtains information indicating an expected time for the wireless device 110 to be served in at least one cell; ¶ 0215: [D]etermining to perform the cell selection or reselection procedure when the expected time for the wireless device to be served in the at least one cell drops below a threshold; ¶ 0149: Other variants of combining channel quality conditions and expected time to be served in cell ranking criteria may involve a threshold condition associated with the expected time to be served, where cells fulfilling the threshold condition for the expected time to be served are ranked based on the channel quality. For example, among the cells for which the expected time to be served exceeds a threshold, e.g. Texp>Texp-thresh (where Texp is the expected time to be served and Texp-thresh is the threshold defining the condition for the expected time to be served), the cells may be ranked in order of channel quality)
determining a relationship between the first time information and the service time threshold, and (¶ 0217: [T]he wireless device determines the expected time for the wireless device to be served in the at least one cell based on one or more of: configured information, a position of the wireless device, a position of a satellite, a position of a reference location, ephemeris data, a measurement performed by the wireless device; an altitude associated with at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; an elevation angle associated with at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; a speed associated with at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; a location of a border of the at least one cell; a typical or average cell coverage duration time for the at least one cell; a number of satellites associated with the at least one cell; orbit information for at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; and an average dwelling time associated with the at least one cell)
determining whether to measure the neighboring cell. (¶ 0212: At step 10004 [sic], the wireless device 110 determines whether to perform a cell selection or reselection procedure based at least in part on the information indicating the expected time for the wireless device 110 to be served in the at least one cell; ¶ 0129: [T]he expected time to be served may be derived by the wireless device itself. For example, in a particular embodiment, the expected time to be served may be derived by the wireless device based on measurements and configured information or a hybrid of the two))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify NOKIA’s cell (re)selection procedures to provide a service time threshold as taught by RUNE in which the UE is allowed to relax its neighbor cell measurements for cell reselection evaluation when certain conditions are fulfilled which indicate that the need or probability for a cell reselection in the near future is low. See RUNE, at ¶ 0046.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 1. FUJISHIRO also teaches:
wherein after the neighboring cell is measured, the method further comprises: determining a target cell based on an R criterion. (¶ 0211: UE 100 identifies cells having a quality that satisfies the predetermined quality criteria (S-criteria or R-criteria), and selects, based on the value having randomness, the target cell from among the identified cells (selection candidate cells))
Regarding claim 10, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 1. NOKIA further discloses:
further comprising: determining a target cell based on second time information. (p. 12, Sec. 3, Question 4: [T]he timing information about new upcoming cell)
Regarding claim 18, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 1. FUJISHIRO also teaches:
wherein receiving the first message comprises:
receiving the first message based on a system message (¶ 0089: In step S11, the UE 100 receives the system information (SIB; System Information Block) broadcast from the eNB 200 (the current serving cell))
and/or
a radio resource control (RRC) message. (¶ 0124: [T]he reselection parameter is preferably included in the system information (SIB; System Information Block) broadcast from the current serving cell. . . . [T]he reselection parameter may be included in the message (for example, RRC Connection Release))
Regarding claim 19, NOKIA discloses:
A cell reselection method (p. 12, Sec. 3, “Cell reselection related enhancements”), performed by a network device (p. 12, sec. 3, Qualcomm comment: The cell can broadcast cell expiry time) in a non-terrestrial network (p. 16, Proposal 4: The information on when a cell is going to stop serving the area and/or the timing information about new and upcoming cell is supported in Earth-fixed NTN scenario), comprising:
. . . , wherein the first message is transmitted via a system message, (p. 12, Question 4: [I]t is provided (e.g. system information, . . .))
the first message comprises first time information indicating a moment when a serving cell [is] going to stop serving an area it is currently covering for a user equipment (UE); (p. 16, Sec. 3, [T]he awareness of cell expiry time shall be considered for cell selection/reselection; p. 12, Question 4: Should the UE be provided with the information on when a cell is going to stop serving the area)
wherein the first time information is configured for the UE to:
in a case of a frequency priority of a neighboring cell is lower than or equal to a frequency priority of the serving cell, start to perform measurements for the neighboring cell before the first time information, regardless of whether the serving cell fulfils that a signal quality of the serving cell is higher than a predefined signal quality threshold: or (p. 17, ZTE comment: The cell expire time can be used by UE in the following cases: Trigger intra-frequency measurements or measurements on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority. For example, a TIntraSearch and a TnonIntraSearch can be configured to UE. UE will start to perform intra-frequency measurements when the remaining valid time of the current cell Tremaining <= TIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SIntraSearchQ is fullfiled. Similarly, UE will start to perform measurments on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority when Tremaining <= TnonIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SnonIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SnonIntraSearchQ is fullfiled)
. . . .
NOKIA does not explicitly disclose:
sending a first message,
in a case of a frequency priority of the neighboring cell is higher than a frequency priority of the serving cell, perform measurement for the neighboring cell regardless of the first time information of the serving cell.
In the same field of endeavor, however, FUJISHIRO teaches:
sending a first message, (¶ 0089: In step S11, the UE 100 receives the system information (SIB; System Information Block) broadcast from the eNB 200 (the current serving cell))
in a case of a frequency priority of the neighboring cell is higher than a frequency priority of the serving cell, perform measurement for the neighboring cell regardless of the first time information of the serving cell. (¶¶ 0061-0062: [T]he start condition is shown as follows: (A1) A frequency having a higher priority than the priority of the frequency of the current serving cell the UE 100 always measures the quality of the frequency having the higher priority)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify NOKIA’s cell (re)selection procedures to provide a frequency priority-based start condition as taught by FUJISHIRO in which the UE always measures the quality of the frequency having the higher priority such that if a start condition is satisfied, a UE selects, from among cells that may or may not satisfy some other selection condition, a target cell used as a serving cell. See FUJISHIRO, at ¶ 0004.
NOKIA, and FUJISHIRO do not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first time information is configured for the UE to:
determine a service time threshold for the cell reselection;
determine a relationship between the first time information and the service time threshold, and
determine whether to measure the neighboring cell.
In the same field of endeavor, however, RUNE teaches:
wherein the first time information is configured for the UE to:
determine a service time threshold for the cell reselection; (¶ 0212: At step 1002, the wireless device 110 obtains information indicating an expected time for the wireless device 110 to be served in at least one cell; ¶ 0215: [D]etermining to perform the cell selection or reselection procedure when the expected time for the wireless device to be served in the at least one cell drops below a threshold; ¶ 0149: Other variants of combining channel quality conditions and expected time to be served in cell ranking criteria may involve a threshold condition associated with the expected time to be served, where cells fulfilling the threshold condition for the expected time to be served are ranked based on the channel quality. For example, among the cells for which the expected time to be served exceeds a threshold, e.g. Texp>Texp-thresh (where Texp is the expected time to be served and Texp-thresh is the threshold defining the condition for the expected time to be served), the cells may be ranked in order of channel quality)
determine a relationship between the first time information and the service time threshold, and (¶ 0217: [T]he wireless device determines the expected time for the wireless device to be served in the at least one cell based on one or more of: configured information, a position of the wireless device, a position of a satellite, a position of a reference location, ephemeris data, a measurement performed by the wireless device; an altitude associated with at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; an elevation angle associated with at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; a speed associated with at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; a location of a border of the at least one cell; a typical or average cell coverage duration time for the at least one cell; a number of satellites associated with the at least one cell; orbit information for at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; and an average dwelling time associated with the at least one cell)
determine whether to measure the neighboring cell. (¶ 0212: At step 10004 [sic], the wireless device 110 determines whether to perform a cell selection or reselection procedure based at least in part on the information indicating the expected time for the wireless device 110 to be served in the at least one cell; ¶ 0129: [T]he expected time to be served may be derived by the wireless device itself. For example, in a particular embodiment, the expected time to be served may be derived by the wireless device based on measurements and configured information or a hybrid of the two))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify NOKIA’s cell (re)selection procedures to provide a service time threshold as taught by RUNE in which the UE is allowed to relax its neighbor cell measurements for cell reselection evaluation when certain conditions are fulfilled which indicate that the need or probability for a cell reselection in the near future is low. See RUNE, at ¶ 0046.
Regarding claim 25, NOKIA discloses:
A cell reselection device (p. 12, Question 4: Should the UE be provided with the information on when a cell is going to stop serving the area and the timing information about new upcoming cell), comprising:
. . .
. . . , wherein the first message is transmitted via a system message, (p. 12, Question 4: [I]t is provided (e.g. system information, . . .))
the first message comprises first time information indicating a moment when a serving cell [is] going to stop serving a[n] area it is currently covering for a user equipment (UE); (p. 16, Sec. 3, [T]he awareness of cell expiry time shall be considered for cell selection/reselection; p. 12, Question 4: Should the UE be provided with the information on when a cell is going to stop serving the area)
wherein the processor is further configured to:
in a case of a frequency priority of a neighboring cell is lower than or equal to a frequency priority of the serving cell, start to perform measurements for the neighboring cell before the first time information, regardless of whether the serving cell fulfils that a signal quality of the serving cell is higher than a predefined signal quality threshold: or (p. 17, ZTE comment: The cell expire time can be used by UE in the following cases: Trigger intra-frequency measurements or measurements on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority. For example, a TIntraSearch and a TnonIntraSearch can be configured to UE. UE will start to perform intra-frequency measurements when the remaining valid time of the current cell Tremaining <= TIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SIntraSearchQ is fullfiled. Similarly, UE will start to perform measurments on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority when Tremaining <= TnonIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SnonIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SnonIntraSearchQ is fullfiled)
. . . .
NOKIA does not explicitly disclose:
a processor; and
a memory, [w]herein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to
receive a first message,
in a case of a frequency priority of the neighboring cell is higher than a frequency priority of the serving cell, perform measurement for the neighboring cell regardless of the first time information of the serving cell.
In the same field of endeavor, however, FUJISHIRO teaches:
a processor (processor 160); and
a memory (memory 150), [w]herein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to
receive a first message, (¶ 0089: In step S11, the UE 100 receives the system information (SIB; System Information Block) broadcast from the eNB 200 (the current serving cell))
in a case of a frequency priority of the neighboring cell is higher than a frequency priority of the serving cell, perform measurement for the neighboring cell regardless of the first time information of the serving cell. (¶¶ 0061-0062: [T]he start condition is shown as follows: (A1) A frequency having a higher priority than the priority of the frequency of the current serving cell the UE 100 always measures the quality of the frequency having the higher priority)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify NOKIA’s cell (re)selection procedures to provide a frequency priority-based start condition as taught by FUJISHIRO in which the UE always measures the quality of the frequency having the higher priority such that if a start condition is satisfied, a UE selects, from among cells that may or may not satisfy some other selection condition, a target cell used as a serving cell. See FUJISHIRO, at ¶ 0004.
NOKIA, FUJISHIRO do not explicitly disclose:
wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine a service time threshold for the cell reselection;
determine a relationship between the first time information and the service time threshold, and
determine whether to measure the neighboring cell.
In the same field of endeavor, however, RUNE teaches:
wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine a service time threshold for the cell reselection; (¶ 0212: At step 1002, the wireless device 110 obtains information indicating an expected time for the wireless device 110 to be served in at least one cell; ¶ 0215: [D]etermining to perform the cell selection or reselection procedure when the expected time for the wireless device to be served in the at least one cell drops below a threshold; ¶ 0149: Other variants of combining channel quality conditions and expected time to be served in cell ranking criteria may involve a threshold condition associated with the expected time to be served, where cells fulfilling the threshold condition for the expected time to be served are ranked based on the channel quality. For example, among the cells for which the expected time to be served exceeds a threshold, e.g. Texp>Texp-thresh (where Texp is the expected time to be served and Texp-thresh is the threshold defining the condition for the expected time to be served), the cells may be ranked in order of channel quality)
determine a relationship between the first time information and the service time threshold, and (¶ 0217: [T]he wireless device determines the expected time for the wireless device to be served in the at least one cell based on one or more of: configured information, a position of the wireless device, a position of a satellite, a position of a reference location, ephemeris data, a measurement performed by the wireless device; an altitude associated with at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; an elevation angle associated with at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; a speed associated with at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; a location of a border of the at least one cell; a typical or average cell coverage duration time for the at least one cell; a number of satellites associated with the at least one cell; orbit information for at least one satellite associated with the at least one cell; and an average dwelling time associated with the at least one cell)
determine whether to measure the neighboring cell. (¶ 0212: At step 10004 [sic], the wireless device 110 determines whether to perform a cell selection or reselection procedure based at least in part on the information indicating the expected time for the wireless device 110 to be served in the at least one cell; ¶ 0129: [T]he expected time to be served may be derived by the wireless device itself. For example, in a particular embodiment, the expected time to be served may be derived by the wireless device based on measurements and configured information or a hybrid of the two))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify NOKIA’s cell (re)selection procedures to provide a service time threshold as taught by RUNE in which the UE is allowed to relax its neighbor cell measurements for cell reselection evaluation when certain conditions are fulfilled which indicate that the need or probability for a cell reselection in the near future is low. See RUNE, at ¶ 0046.
Regarding claim 26, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 1. FUJISHIRO also teaches:
A computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions that, when executed, cause the method of claim 1, to be implemented. (¶ 0353: [A] program for causing a computer to execute each process performed by the UE 100)
Regarding claim 27, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 19. NOKIA further discloses:
A cell reselection device (p. 12, sec. 3, Qualcomm comment: The cell can broadcast cell expiry time),
FUJISHIRO also teaches:
a processor (processor 240); and
a memory (memory 230), wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to cause the device to execute the method of claim 19. (¶ 0353: [A] program for causing a computer to execute each process performed by the UE 100)
Regarding claim 28, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 1. NOKIA further discloses:
wherein performing the measurements for the neighboring cell comprises:
performing intra-frequency or inter-frequency measurements for the neighboring cell. (p. 17, ZTE comment: The cell expire time can be used by UE in the following cases: Trigger intra-frequency measurements or measurements on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority. For example, a TIntraSearch and a TnonIntraSearch can be configured to UE. UE will start to perform intra-frequency measurements when the remaining valid time of the current cell Tremaining <= TIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SIntraSearchQ is fullfiled. Similarly, UE will start to perform measurments on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority when Tremaining <= TnonIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SnonIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SnonIntraSearchQ is fullfiled)
Regarding claim 29, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 1. NOKIA further discloses:
wherein the signal quality of the serving cell being higher than the predefined signal quality threshold comprises Srxlev > SIntraSearchP or Srxlev > SnonIntraSearchP. (p. 17, ZTE comment: The cell expire time can be used by UE in the following cases: Trigger intra-frequency measurements or measurements on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority. For example, a TIntraSearch and a TnonIntraSearch can be configured to UE. UE will start to perform intra-frequency measurements when the remaining valid time of the current cell Tremaining <= TIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SIntraSearchQ is fullfiled. Similarly, UE will start to perform measurments on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority when Tremaining <= TnonIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SnonIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SnonIntraSearchQ is fullfiled)
Regarding claim 30, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 19. NOKIA further discloses:
wherein performing the measurements for the neighboring cell comprises:
performing intra-frequency or inter-frequency measurements for the neighboring cell. (p. 17, ZTE comment: The cell expire time can be used by UE in the following cases: Trigger intra-frequency measurements or measurements on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority. For example, a TIntraSearch and a TnonIntraSearch can be configured to UE. UE will start to perform intra-frequency measurements when the remaining valid time of the current cell Tremaining <= TIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SIntraSearchQ is fullfiled. Similarly, UE will start to perform measurments on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority when Tremaining <= TnonIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SnonIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SnonIntraSearchQ is fullfiled)
Regarding claim 31, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 19. NOKIA further discloses:
wherein the signal quality of the serving cell being higher than the predefined signal quality threshold comprises Srxlev > SIntraSearchP or Srxlev > SnonIntraSearchP. (p. 17, ZTE comment: The cell expire time can be used by UE in the following cases: Trigger intra-frequency measurements or measurements on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority. For example, a TIntraSearch and a TnonIntraSearch can be configured to UE. UE will start to perform intra-frequency measurements when the remaining valid time of the current cell Tremaining <= TIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SIntraSearchQ is fullfiled. Similarly, UE will start to perform measurments on inter-frequency with an equal or lower reselection priority when Tremaining <= TnonIntraSearch before the Srxlev <= SnonIntraSearchP or SSqual <= SnonIntraSearchQ is fullfiled)
Claims 6, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over NOKIA in view of FUJISHIRO and RUNE, and further in view of US 2018/0324656 (hereinafter, “CHEN”).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 2. NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE do not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first time information comprises a first service duration for which a serving cell provides a service; and
measuring the neighboring cell based on the first time information comprises:
determining a timer duration based on the first service duration, and determining to measure the neighboring cell by determining that the timer duration expires;
or
wherein the first time information comprises a first service moment at which a serving cell provides a service; and
measuring the neighboring cell based on the first time information of the serving cell comprises:
determining a current moment reaching the first service moment, and
determining to measure the neighboring cell.
In the same field of endeavor, however, CHEN teaches:
wherein the first time information comprises a first service duration for which a serving cell provides a service; and (Abstract: [G]enerating offset parameter information corresponding to the target service or application according to the first block parameter and the second block parameter, the offset parameter information comprising: information about first duration for which the target service or application needs to wait to access the serving cell and information about second duration for which the target service or application needs to wait to access the neighboring cell)
measuring the neighboring cell based on the first time information comprises:
determining a timer duration based on the first service duration, and determining to measure the neighboring cell by determining that the timer duration expires; (Abstract: [A]pplying the offset parameter information to a cell reselection rule R, and determining a target cell to camp on; ¶ 0132: [A]fter camping on the target cell, a timer T1 is set, the UE initiates the access request for the original service or application when T1 is not expired and returns to an idle state when the service is finished; a timer T2 is then set, and if the service is not initiated anymore when T2 is expired, the offset parameter gets invalid)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, RUNE’s cell reselection procedure to provide a duration of a target service/application as taught by CHEN to set a timer associated with cell reselection, so as to account for a type of a service/application currently requested to be initiated by the UE, and an access priority of the service/application in neighboring cells such that the target cells are very likely to have sufficient resources to support the service/application currently requested to be initiated by the UE, and thereby prevent the UE from having multiple access failures in such cells. See CHEN, at ¶ 0003.
Regarding claim 11, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 10. NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE do not explicitly disclose:
wherein the second time information comprises a second service moment at which a neighboring cell provides a service; and
determining the target cell based on the second time information comprises:
determining a minimum difference between the second service moment and a first service moment, and
determining a cell corresponding to the minimum difference as the target cell;
or
wherein the second time information comprises a second service duration for which the neighboring cell provides a service; and
determining the target cell based on the second time comprises:
determining the second service duration with a longest duration, and
determining a cell corresponding to the second service duration with the longest duration as the target cell.
In the same field of endeavor, however, CHEN teaches:
wherein the second time information comprises a second service duration for which the neighboring cell provides a service; and (Abstract: [I]nformation about second duration for which the target service or application needs to wait to access the neighboring cell; and applying the offset parameter information to a cell reselection rule R, and determining a target cell to camp on)
determining the target cell based on the second time comprises:
determining the second service duration with a longest duration, and (¶ 0029: [A] cell with a maximum value of R is selected from the serving cell and the neighbor cell as the target cell)
determining a cell corresponding to the second service duration with the longest duration as the target cell. (¶ 0029: [A] cell with a maximum value of R is selected from the serving cell and the neighbor cell as the target cell)
Regarding claim 13, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, RUNE, and CHEN, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 11. FUJISHIRO further discloses:
wherein the target cell satisfies an S criterion. (¶ 0211: UE 100 identifies cells having a quality that satisfies the predetermined quality criteria (S-criteria or R-criteria), and selects, based on the value having randomness, the target cell from among the identified cells (selection candidate cells))
Regarding claim 14, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 10. FUJISHIRO further discloses:
determining the target cell based on the second time information comprises:
determining at least one candidate cell based on an R criterion; (¶ 0211: UE 100 identifies cells having a quality that satisfies the predetermined quality criteria (S-criteria or R-criteria), and selects, based on the value having randomness, the target cell from among the identified cells (selection candidate cells))
NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE do not explicitly disclose:
wherein the second time information comprises a second service moment at which a neighboring cell provides a service; and
determining the target cell based on the second time information comprises:
determining at least one candidate cell based on an R criterion;
determining a minimum difference between the second service moment and a first service moment, in the at least one candidate cell, and
determining a candidate cell corresponding to the minimum difference as the target cell;
or
wherein the second time information comprises a second service duration for which the neighboring cell provides a service; and
. . .
determining as the target cell a candidate cell with a longest second service duration in the at least one candidate cell.
In the same field of endeavor, however, CHEN teaches:
wherein the second time information comprises a second service duration for which the neighboring cell provides a service; and (Abstract: [I]nformation about second duration for which the target service or application needs to wait to access the neighboring cell; and applying the offset parameter information to a cell reselection rule R, and determining a target cell to camp on)
determining as the target cell a candidate cell with a longest second service duration in the at least one candidate cell. (¶ 0029: [A] cell with a maximum value of R is selected from the serving cell and the neighbor cell as the target cell)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE’s cell reselection procedure to provide a service duration associated with a service/application provided by a neighboring cell as taught by CHEN such that a cell with a maximum value of R is selected from the serving cell and the neighbor cell as the target cell, so as to account for a type of a service/application currently requested to be initiated by the UE, and an access priority of the service/application in neighboring cells such that the target cells are very likely to have sufficient resources to support the service/application currently requested to be initiated by the UE, and thereby prevent the UE from having multiple access failures in such cells. See CHEN, at ¶ 0003.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, RUNE, and CHEN, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 14. CHEN also teaches:
determining a maximum R value in a serving cell R value and a neighboring cell R value based on the R criterion, and (¶ 0029: [A] cell with a maximum value of R is selected from the serving cell and the neighbor cell as the target cell)
determining at least one cell corresponding to the maximum R value as a candidate cell; (¶ 0029: [A] cell with a maximum value of R is selected from the serving cell and the neighbor cell as the target cell)
Regarding claim 17, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and CHEN, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 14. FUJISHIRO further discloses:
wherein an S criterion is not required to be satisfied; (¶ 0211: UE 100 identifies cells having a quality that satisfies the predetermined quality criteria (S-criteria or R-criteria), and selects, based on the value having randomness, the target cell from among the identified cells (selection candidate cells) [That is, the quality is satisfied when either one of S-criteria or R-criteria are the criteria used)
NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and CHEN do not explicitly disclose:
wherein determining the at least one candidate cell based on the R criterion comprises:
determining a maximum R value in a serving cell R value and a neighboring cell R value based on the R criterion, and
determining at least one cell corresponding to the maximum R value as a candidate cell,
. . . ;
or
determining a maximum R value in R values of neighboring cells based on the R criterion, and
determining at least one neighboring cell corresponding to the maximum R value as a candidate cell,
. . . .
In the same field of endeavor, however, CHEN teaches:
determining a maximum R value in a serving cell R value and a neighboring cell R value based on the R criterion, and (¶ 0029: [A] cell with a maximum value of R is selected from the serving cell and the neighbor cell as the target cell)
determining at least one cell corresponding to the maximum R value as a candidate cell, (¶ 0029: [A] cell with a maximum value of R is selected from the serving cell and the neighbor cell as the target cell)
Regarding claim 21, the combination of NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE, as applied above, renders obvious the cell reselection method of claim 19. NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE do not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first time information comprises a first service duration for which a serving cell provides a service and a first service moment at which a serving cell provides a service; and
the second time information comprises a second service duration for which a neighboring cell provides a service and a second service moment at which a neighboring cell provides a service.
In the same field of endeavor, however, CHEN teaches:
wherein the first time information comprises a first service duration for which a serving cell provides a service and a first service moment at which a serving cell provides a service; and (Abstract: [I]nformation about first duration for which the target service or application needs to wait to access the serving cell; ¶ 0120: [W]hen the UE initiates a access request for an application or a service, cell reselection is triggered, and the UE performs neighbor cell measurement, receives the system broadcast of the neighbor cell)
the second time information comprises a second service duration for which a neighboring cell provides a service and a second service moment at which a neighboring cell provides a service. (Abstract: [I]nformation about second duration for which the target service or application needs to wait to access the neighboring cell; ¶ 0120: [W]hen the UE initiates a access request for an application or a service, cell reselection is triggered, and the UE performs neighbor cell measurement, receives the system broadcast of the neighbor cell)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify NOKIA, FUJISHIRO, and RUNE’s cell reselection procedure to provide a first service moment associated with a service/application provided by a serving cell and a second service moment associated with a service/application provided by a neighboring cell as taught by CHEN, so as to account for a type of a service/application currently requested to be initiated by the UE, and an access priority of the service/application in neighboring cells such that the target cells are very likely to have sufficient resources to support the service/application currently requested to be initiated by the UE, and thereby prevent the UE from having multiple access failures in such cells. See CHEN, at ¶ 0003.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Garth D Richmond whose telephone number is (703)756-4559. The Examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET.
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If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 571-270-5371. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GARTH D RICHMOND/Examiner, Art Unit 2644
/Alison Slater/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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