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 .
Response to Amendment
The following is a final office action in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 02/17/2026 for response of the office action mailed on 11/14/2025. Independent Claims 1 and 23 and dependent Claim 22 are amended. Claims 3-10 and 12-21 were previously canceled. Claims 34-35 are newly added. Claims 1, 2, 11, and 22-35 are pending in the application.
Applicant’s amendments to the Specification (Abstract) and Claims 1-2, 11 and 22-33 have overcome each and every objection set forth in the office action mailed 11/14/2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent Claims 1 and 23 have been fully considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 34 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claims 34 (line 5) and 35 (line 5), the limitation “and/or” is vague and indefinite for
it is unclear as to what is the intended claim limitation. For examination purposes, “and/or” will be interpreted as “or”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1 -2, 11, 22 and 34 are rejected are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TSENG et al. (US 20200314868 A1, cited in IDS), hereinafter TSENG in view of GURSU et al. (US 20230412290 A1), hereinafter GURSU.
Regarding Claim 1, TSENG teaches a method carried out in a user equipment (UE) for evaluating a stationary condition of the UE (TSENG, Abstract; ¶0005, ¶0014; ¶0026, electronic device/terminal device 110 (e.g. user equipment)/” UE” and method for RRM measurement relaxation), the method comprising:
measuring a signal property based on one or more signals received from the radio network (TSENG, FIG. 1, ¶0030 the processing circuitry 150 (of electronic device 110/UE) can determine the location based on, for example, a signal (e.g., a RS) in the serving cell that is received by the transceiver 130 (of UE) . . . based on signal strength, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), or the like of the signal in the serving cell; implement radio resource management (RRM) measurements);
determining a statistical value indicative of signal property variation based on consecutive measurements of the signal property (TSENG, ¶0034, the processing circuitry 150 (of electronic device 110/UE) can determine the mobility based on a signal variation/ “statistical value” of the signal in the serving cell, such as variation of signal strength (e.g. RSRP); see also FIG. 2, ¶0057 flowchart of exemplary process implemented by electronic device/ UE 100); and
determining that the UE is in a stationary condition responsive to the statistical value satisfying a predetermined criterion (TSENG, ¶0034 the electronic device 110/UE can be considered as having the low mobility when the electronic device 110 is stationary (e.g., the signal variation is zero / interpreted to correspond to “statistical value satisfied a predetermined condition”)).
TSENG does not explicitly teach determining a statistical value indicative of signal property variation based on a deviation of the signal property between consecutive measurements of the signal property.
However, in the analogous art, GURSU explicitly discloses determining a statistical value indicative of signal property variation based on a deviation of the signal property between consecutive measurements of the signal property (GURSU, Abstract; ¶0002 disclosed throughout, RedCap UEs; parameters may be used for stationarity detection for the UE; ¶0062 a method in, e.g., cellular networks for a UE to detect if the UE is stationary or not; the method involves a cell specific signal variation parameter and a high/medium variation parameter calculated and broadcast by a BS in a cell and a UE detecting if the UE has high signal variation or not; “determining a statistical value indicative of a signal variation”; FIG. 2, ¶0054 measurement(s) performed each 1 ms as depicted by the x-axis (ie “consecutive measurements”) [and] the standard deviations of signal strength of both scenarios are depicted on the curve as 6.64 (σ.sub.1) and 4.30 (σ.sub.2), respectively)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine TSENG’s electronic device and method for radio resource management (RRM) measurement relaxation with GURSU’s method of dynamic UE signal level correction for measurement modification and/or stationarity detection. The motivation would be to improve stationarity detection (i.e. decrease false negatives related to stationarity detection). [GURSU ¶0059].
Regarding Claim 2, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 1.
TSENG further teaches receiving, from the network, one or more criteria comprising said predetermined criterion, for determining the stationary condition (TSENG, FIG. 2 at S210 and S220; ¶0035, [o]ne or more of the thresholds S1, S2, l1, l2, D1, and D2/”one or more criteria” can be configured by the network 101 (e.g., the base station 120) and signaled to the electronic device 110 / UE; ¶0053-0054 relaxation mode can be signaled to electronic device/ UE. . . the processing circuitry 125 can configure various parameters for the relaxed RRM measurements, such as thresholds S1, S2, l1, l2, D1, and D2).
Regarding Claim 11, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 1.
TSENG further teaches repeatedly assessing the statistical value with respect to the predetermined criterion with a predetermined interval (TSENG, ¶0042, during a period T1 (“a predetermined interval”), the processing circuitry 150 can determine whether a first switching criterion I (“predetermined criterion”) is satisfied . . . the mobility is determined to be the low mobility (e.g., the signal variation of the signal in the serving cell is less than or equal to the threshold S1) . . . ¶0043 during a period T2 (“a predetermined interval”), the processing circuitry 150 can determine whether a first switching criterion II (“predetermined criterion”) is satisfied. . . . the mobility is determined to be the high mobility/”no longer stationary” (e.g., the signal variation of the signal in the serving cell is larger than the threshold S2); and
transmitting an update message to the network based on determining that the UE is no longer in the stationary condition, wherein the update message is transmitted in a message part of a random access procedure while the UE is in an idle state or Inactive state with respect to the radio network (TSENG, ¶0021, [w]hen the electronic device 110 is determined to be switched from the current state to the next state, a level (e.g., the normal level or the relaxed level) of RRM measurements for the next state can be implemented. . . [and in an embodiment] the electronic device 110/UE is in an idle mode (e.g., radio resource control (RRC) IDLE), an inactive mode (e.g., RRC INACTIVE), or the like; see also FIG. 2, ¶0057 shows a flowchart of an exemplary process 200 according to an embodiment of the disclosure . . .implemented by an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 110). . . . in an idle mode (e.g., RRC_IDLE) or an inactive mode (e.g., RRC INACTIVE)).
Regarding Claim 22, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 1.
TSENG further teaches receiving, from the radio network, a message associated with a relaxed cell measurement condition, based on determining the stationary condition; and monitoring the radio network using relaxed cell measurement, based on the relaxed cell measurement condition (TSENG,¶0053, [t]he network 101 . . .can configure a relaxation mode (or trigger criteria) /”a relaxed cell measurement condition” . . .that can be signaled to the electronic device 110 . . .[and] can indicate when the electronic device 110 can implement the relaxed RRM measurements (or be switched to the second state) [and] . . . indicates that the electronic device 110 can implement the relaxed RRM measurements when the electronic device 110 has the low mobility/”stationary”).
Regarding Claim 23, TSENG teaches a method carried out in an access node of a radio network for configuring a user equipment (UE) (TSENG, ¶0005, ¶001 method for RRM measurement relaxation. . . ¶0021-0022, [carried out in] an access node network 101 (e.g., the base station 120) /”access node”), the method comprising:
receiving, from the UE, a message indicating a stationary condition of the UE (¶0053-0054 relaxation mode can be signaled to electronic device/ UE. . . the processing circuitry 125 can configure various parameters for the relaxed RRM measurements, such as thresholds S1, S2, l1, l2, D1, and D2); and
transmitting, to the UE, a message associated with a relaxed cell measurement condition of the UE monitoring the radio network using relaxed cell measurement, based on the stationary condition (TSENG,¶0053, [t]he network 101 . . .can configure a relaxation mode (or trigger criteria) /”a relaxed cell measurement condition” . . .that can be signaled to the electronic device 110/”UE” . . .[and] can indicate when the electronic device 110 can implement the relaxed RRM measurements (or be switched to the second state) [and] . . . indicates that the electronic device 110 can implement the relaxed RRM measurements when the electronic device 110 has the low mobility/”stationary”).
Regarding Claim 24, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 23.
TSENG further teaches transmitting one or more criteria for use by the UE to determine allowance to activate relaxed measurement (TSENG,¶0053, [t]he network 101 /”access node” . . .can configure a relaxation mode (or trigger criteria) /”a relaxed cell measurement condition” . . .that can be signaled to the electronic device 110 . . .[and] can indicate when the electronic device 110 can implement the relaxed RRM measurements (or be switched to the second state)).
Regarding Claim 25, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 23.
TSENG further teaches said message associated with a relaxed cell measurement condition indicates activation or inactivation of relaxed measurement (TSENG,¶0053, [t]he network 101 /”access node” . . .can configure a relaxation mode (or trigger criteria) /”a relaxed cell measurement condition” . . .that can be signaled to the electronic device 110 . . .[and] can indicate when the electronic device 110 can implement the relaxed RRM measurements (or be switched to the second state), interpreted to correspond to “activation of relaxed measurement”).
Regarding Claim 33, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 23.
TSENG further teaches transmitting a message identifying one or more criteria for use in the UE to determine stationary condition (TSENG, FIG. 2 at S210 and S220; ¶0035, One or more of the thresholds S1, S2, l1, l2, D1, and D2/”one or more criteria” can be configured by the network 101 (e.g., the base station 120) and signaled to the electronic device 110 / UE; ¶0053-0054 relaxation mode can be signaled to electronic device/ UE. . . the processing circuitry 125 can configure various parameters for the relaxed RRM measurements, such as thresholds S1, S2, l1, l2, D1, and D2; [and] . . . indicates that the electronic device 110 can implement the relaxed RRM measurements when the electronic device 110 has the low mobility/”stationary”).
Regarding Claim 34, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 1.
TSENG does not explicitly teach the determining the statistical value comprises: determining one or more of: a maximum deviation from a certain value level of the signal property, and/or a standard deviation from the certain value level of the signal property.
However, in the analogous art, GURSU explicitly discloses the determining the statistical value comprises: determining one or more of: a maximum deviation from a certain value level of the signal property, [and/] or a standard deviation from the certain value level of the signal property (GURSU FIG. 2, ¶0054 measurement(s) performed each 1 ms as depicted by the x-axis (ie “consecutive measurements”) [and] the standard deviations of signal strength of both scenarios are depicted on the curve as 6.64 (σ.sub.1) and 4.30 (σ.sub.2), respectively))).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine TSENG’s electronic device and method for radio resource management (RRM) measurement relaxation with GURSU’s method of dynamic UE signal level correction for measurement modification and/or stationarity detection. The motivation would be to improve stationarity detection (i.e. decrease false negatives related to stationarity detection). [GURSU ¶0059]
Regarding Claim 35, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 1.
TSENG does not explicitly teach the determining the statistical value comprises: determining one or more of: a square root of the variance of a quantity of signal property measurements, [and/] or the signal property measurements within a selected period of measurements
However, in the analogous art, GURSU explicitly discloses the determining the statistical value comprises: determining one or more of: a square root of the variance of a quantity of signal property measurements, [and/] or the signal property measurements within a selected period of measurements (GURSU, ¶0135, FIG. 7, the UE relaxes the RRM measurements (see block 750) and extends its measurement periodicity, such as to 24 hours; FIG. 9, ¶0154-0156, as UE decides it is a high variation UE, the UE 110 decides to use the stationary_UE_high_variation_correction parameter to detect stationarity. The UE in block 925 measures Srxlev periodically, “a selected period of measurements”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine TSENG’s electronic device and method for radio resource management (RRM) measurement relaxation with GURSU’s method of dynamic UE signal level correction for measurement modification and/or stationarity detection. The motivation would be to improve stationarity detection (i.e. decrease false negatives related to stationarity detection). [GURSU ¶0059]
Claims 26-28 and 30-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TSENG in view of GURSU, and further in view of YERRAMALLI et al. (US 20210400626 A1), hereinafter YERRAMALLI.
Regarding Claim 26, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 1.
TSENG further teaches said signal is a reference signal (RS) (TSENG, ¶0028, [t]he signals can include reference signals (RSs) that can be used to estimate a link quality of the link between the electronic device 110 and the network 101, cell qualities of the respective serving cell and the one or more neighboring cells, and/or the like).
Yet, TSENG does not explicitly teach said signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS).
However, in the analogous art, YERRAMALLI explicitly discloses said signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS) (YERRAMALLI, Abstract; FIG. 10-13, UE receiving a positioning reference signal(s); disclosed throughout; e.g. FIG. 11, ¶0095, [a]t time T1, the first station may transmit a first DL PRS 1104 which may be received by the second base station 1112 at time T2 (for example), and by the third base station 1114 at time T2′. The first DL PRS 1104 may also be received by the UE 1105 at time T3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine TSENG’s electronic device and method for radio resource management (RRM) measurement relaxation and GURSU’s method of dynamic UE signal level correction for measurement modification and/or stationarity detection with YERRAMALLI’s UE positioning methods. The motivation would be to use the distance values and station locations to determine location of UE [YERRAMALLI, ¶0086].
Regarding Claim 27, TSENG, GURSU and YERRAMALLI teach Claim 26.
TSENG and GURSU do not explicitly teach said PRS is an on-demand PRS configured for use by the UE in Idle/Inactive mode.
However, in the analogous art, YERRAMALLI explicitly discloses said PRS is an on-demand PRS configured for use by the UE in Idle/Inactive mode (YERRAMALLI, FIG. 8; FIG. 10-11, ¶0098; ¶0102; ¶0104 the [first] PRS may be an on-demand PRS; ¶0085 the UE is in an RRC idle or RRC inactive mode . . .¶0086[t]he distance values and the locations of the stations may be used to determine a location of the UE 805.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine TSENG’s electronic device and method for radio resource management (RRM) measurement relaxation and GURSU’s method of dynamic UE signal level correction for measurement modification and/or stationarity detection with YERRAMALLI’s UE positioning methods. The motivation would be to use the distance values and station locations to determine location of UE [YERRAMALLI, ¶0086].
Regarding Claim 28, TSENG, GURSU and YERRAMALLI teach Claim 26.
TSENG and GURSU do not explicitly teach said signal property is associated with relative time of PRS reception from a plurality of access nodes of the radio network.
However, in the analogous art, YERRAMALLI explicitly discloses said signal property is associated with relative time of PRS reception from a plurality of access nodes of the radio network (YERRAMALLI, FIG. 8A, PRS signals being transmitted at times T1 – T6, “relative time”; ¶0098, the first PRS may be an omnidirectional or beamformed transmission capable of being received by a plurality of stations (interpreted as base stations / “a plurality of access nodes”) . . . [and] the first PRS may be an on-demand PRS; see also ¶0033 “relative time” of PRS reception with a plurality of stations).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine TSENG’s electronic device and method for radio resource management (RRM) measurement relaxation and GURSU’s method of dynamic UE signal level correction for measurement modification and/or stationarity detection with YERRAMALLI’s UE positioning methods. The motivation would be to use the distance values and station locations to determine location of UE [YERRAMALLI, ¶0086].
Regarding Claim 30, TSENG, GURSU and YERRAMALLI teach Claim 26.
TSENG further teaches said signal property is received power of the signal, or a physical resource associated with an identity to carry the said signal (TSENG, [0034] [t]he signal variation/”signal property” can be a variation of the signal strength (e.g., RSRP) of the signal in the serving cell / the “received power”). [see also YERRAMALLI ¶0048, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server . . . the location measurements may include . . . Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) “received power of the signal”).
Regarding Claims 31-32, the claims disclose similar features of Claims 26-27, respectively and are rejected based on the same rationales of Claims 26-27.
Claim 29 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TSENG in view of GURSU, and further in view of Rune et al. (US 20170150384 A1), hereinafter Rune.
Regarding Claim 29, TSENG and GURSU teach Claim 1.
TSENG and GURSU do not explicitly teach said signal property is a determined angle or time of arrival of the signal in the UE.
However, in the analogous art, Rune explicitly discloses said signal property is a determined angle or time of arrival of the signal in the UE (Rune, ¶0113, other circumstances that may be relevant include [the signal property] the speed with which the UE is moving (which may be estimated from e.g. Doppler shift measurements, timing advance (e.g. time of arrival) measurements and/or angle of arrival measurements), timing advance, . . .).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine TSENG’s electronic device and method for radio resource management (RRM) measurement relaxation and GURSU’s method of dynamic UE signal level correction for measurement modification and/or stationarity detection with Rune’s relaxed measurement reporting method and device configurations. The motivation would be to improve mobility robustness [Rune, ¶0071].
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACY L WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7694. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:30-5:30. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached at 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRACY L WILLIAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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