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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 10/27/2023 complies with 37 CFR 1.97. Therefore, the information referred therein has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 41-48 and 50-60 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by He et al. (US 2022/0322308).
Regarding claim 41, He discloses an apparatus for a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising processing circuitry to configure the UE to ([0186], “The device 505 may include a receiver 510, a transmitter 515, and a communications manager 520. The device 505 may also include a processor.”): send, to a 5th generation NodeB (gNB) ([0069], “The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115 that may sometimes act as relays as well as the base stations 105 and the network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1.”), UE capability information ([0119], “In some aspects, the UE 115-a may transmit, to the base station 105-a (e.g., PCell), capability signaling 310 (e.g., UE capability message(s)) indicating one or more capabilities associated with configuring the UE 115-a with measurement gap configurations 320.”) that includes at least one of a first parameter that indicates whether the UE supports a preconfigured measurement gap with a UE-autonomous mechanism for activation and deactivation ([0061], “In some other cases, the UE may apply a measurement gap configuration based on pre-configured activity state (e.g., default ON activity state, default OFF activity state) for the respective measurement gap configuration.”) or a second parameter that indicates whether the UE supports a preconfigured measurement gap with a network-controlled mechanism for activation and deactivation ([0130] “For example, the downlink message 340-a (e.g., DCI message) may include an indication of an activity state associated with the first measurement gap configuration 320-a associated with the first BWP 330-a. For instance, the downlink message 340-a may indicate an active state, and may thereby indicate for the UE 115-a to transition the first measurement gap configuration 320-a from an inactive state to the active state.”); determine, after switching to an active bandwidth part (BWP) ([0105], “In cases where the set of resources associated with a measurement gap configuration is within the active BWP 210 of the UE 115 (e.g., within a same carrier frequency), the UE 115 may be able to perform measurements for a target cell in accordance with the measurement object configuration without switching away from the active BWP 210.”), whether a pre-configured measurement gap is activated or deactivated based on at least one of whether the UE supports the preconfigured measurement gap with the UE-autonomous mechanism for activation and deactivation or whether the UE supports the preconfigured measurement gap with the network-controlled mechanism for activation and deactivation ([0121], “The activity state may be indicated via a binary (or non-binary) indicator indicating whether each respective measurement gap configuration 320 is enabled (e.g., active state) or disabled (e.g., inactive state) per individual BWP.”); in response to a determination that the pre-configured measurement gap is active, perform measurements based on the pre-configured measurement gap ([0175], “At 450, the UE 115-b may perform measurements for the messages (e.g., SSBs) received at 445. The UE 115-b may perform the measurements based on the measurement gap configuration associated with the first BWP, the measurement object configurations, or both.”); and report the measurements to the gNB ([0176], “At 455, the UE 115-b may resume communications with the first base station 105-b during based on (e.g., within) the first BWP and based on the corresponding measurement gap configuration. For example, upon monitoring a measurement occasion of the first measurement gap configuration and receiving a downlink message within the measurement occasion, the UE 115-b may tune back to the first BWP following an end of the measurement occasion in order to resume communications within the first BWP.”).
Regarding claim 42, He discloses the apparatus of claim 41, wherein the UE capability information further includes a third parameter of whether the UE supports multiple measurement gap patterns with at least one preconfigured measurement gap ([0210], “In some examples, the UE capability transmitting manager 760 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the base station, an indication of a capability of the UE to support a set of multiple measurement gap configurations associated with the first BWP, where receiving the control signaling, receiving the downlink message, communicating with the base station during the first time interval, or any combination thereof, is based on the indication of the capability.”).
Regarding claim 43, He discloses the apparatus of claim 41, wherein the processing circuitry configures the UE to receive, from the gNB after switching to the BWP, an indication of whether the pre-configured measurement gap is activated or deactivated ([0121], “The activity state may be indicated via a binary (or non-binary) indicator indicating whether each respective measurement gap configuration 320 is enabled (e.g., active state) or disabled (e.g., inactive state) per individual BWP.”).
Regarding claim 44, He discloses the apparatus of claim 43, wherein the indication of whether the pre-configured measurement gap is activated or deactivated ([0130] “For example, the downlink message 340-a (e.g., DCI message) may include an indication of an activity state associated with the first measurement gap configuration 320-a associated with the first BWP 330-a. For instance, the downlink message 340-a may indicate an active state, and may thereby indicate for the UE 115-a to transition the first measurement gap configuration 320-a from an inactive state to the active state.”) is in response to transmission of the second parameter without transmission of the first parameter ([0119], “In some aspects, the UE 115-a may transmit, to the base station 105-a (e.g., PCell), capability signaling 310 (e.g., UE capability message(s)) indicating one or more capabilities associated with configuring the UE 115-a with measurement gap configurations 320.”).
Regarding claim 45, He discloses the apparatus of claim 41, wherein the processing circuitry configures the UE to determine a status of the pre-configured measurement gap based on the UE-autonomous mechanism or based on the network-controlled mechanism ([0061], “In some other cases, the UE may apply a measurement gap configuration based on pre-configured activity state (e.g., default ON activity state, default OFF activity state) for the respective measurement gap configuration. Moreover, the UE may transmit capability signaling indicating various capabilities of the UE, including a quantity of measurement gap configurations which may be associated with each BWP, a capability to apply measurement gap configurations according to a timer, and the like.”).
Regarding claim 46, He discloses the apparatus of claim 41, wherein the processing circuitry configures the UE to determine a status of the pre-configured measurement gap based on radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the gNB ([0125], “In some aspects, the UE 115-a may identify one or more measurement gap configurations 320-a configured at the UE 115-a based on the indication of the measurement gap configurations 320 received via the control signaling 315 (e.g., RRC signaling). Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 115-a may be configured (e.g., pre-configured) with the one or more measurement gap configurations 320, and may therefore be configured to identify the measurement gap configurations 320 without the explicit control signaling 315.”).
Regarding claim 47, He discloses the apparatus of claim 41, wherein the UE-autonomous mechanism is determined using at least one of downlink control information (DCI) or timer ([0061], “In some cases, the UE may apply a measurement gap configuration for a defined validity time, based on a timer for the respective measurement gap configuration, or both.”).
Regarding claim 48, He discloses the apparatus of claim 41, wherein the processing circuitry configures the UE to determine whether a measurement gap is the pre-configured measurement gap based on radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the gNB ([0096], “In some cases, the UE 115 may be pre-configured with the set of measurement gap configurations and signaling from the base station 105 may indicate which pre-configured measurement gap configuration to use. Additionally, or alternatively, the set of measurement gap configurations (and mappings to associated BWPs) may themselves be signaled via RRC signaling. The UE 115 may then receive an indication to perform communications within a given BWP, and the UE 115 may perform communications within the indicated BWP and in accordance with a measurement gap configuration associated with the respective BWP.”).
Regarding claim 50, He discloses the apparatus of claim 49, wherein the processing circuitry configures the UE to determine whether a plurality of concurrent pre-configured measurement gaps are present based on the RRC signaling ([0096], “In some cases, the UE 115 may be pre-configured with the set of measurement gap configurations and signaling from the base station 105 may indicate which pre-configured measurement gap configuration to use. Additionally, or alternatively, the set of measurement gap configurations (and mappings to associated BWPs) may themselves be signaled via RRC signaling. The UE 115 may then receive an indication to perform communications within a given BWP, and the UE 115 may perform communications within the indicated BWP and in accordance with a measurement gap configuration associated with the respective BWP.”).
Regarding claim 51, He discloses an apparatus for a 5th generation NodeB (gNB), the apparatus comprising processing circuitry to configure the gNB to ([0228], “The device 905 may be an example of aspects of a base station 105 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a transmitter 915, and a communications manager 920. The device 905 may also include a processor.”): receive, from a user equipment (UE) ([0069], “The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115 that may sometimes act as relays as well as the base stations 105 and the network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1.”), UE capability information ([0119], “In some aspects, the UE 115-a may transmit, to the base station 105-a (e.g., PCell), capability signaling 310 (e.g., UE capability message(s)) indicating one or more capabilities associated with configuring the UE 115-a with measurement gap configurations 320.”) that includes at least one of a first parameter that indicates whether the UE supports a preconfigured measurement gap with a UE-autonomous mechanism for activation and deactivation ([0061], “In some other cases, the UE may apply a measurement gap configuration based on pre-configured activity state (e.g., default ON activity state, default OFF activity state) for the respective measurement gap configuration.”) or a second parameter that indicates whether the UE supports a preconfigured measurement gap with a network-controlled mechanism for activation and deactivation ([0130] “For example, the downlink message 340-a (e.g., DCI message) may include an indication of an activity state associated with the first measurement gap configuration 320-a associated with the first BWP 330-a. For instance, the downlink message 340-a may indicate an active state, and may thereby indicate for the UE 115-a to transition the first measurement gap configuration 320-a from an inactive state to the active state.”); determine whether to send, to the UE after the UE has switched to an active bandwidth part (BWP) ([0105], “In cases where the set of resources associated with a measurement gap configuration is within the active BWP 210 of the UE 115 (e.g., within a same carrier frequency), the UE 115 may be able to perform measurements for a target cell in accordance with the measurement object configuration without switching away from the active BWP 210.”), an indication of whether a pre-configured measurement gap is activated or deactivated ([0121], “The activity state may be indicated via a binary (or non-binary) indicator indicating whether each respective measurement gap configuration 320 is enabled (e.g., active state) or disabled (e.g., inactive state) per individual BWP.”); and receive, from the UE, a measurement report that contains measurements based on the pre-configured measurement gap ([0176], “At 455, the UE 115-b may resume communications with the first base station 105-b during based on (e.g., within) the first BWP and based on the corresponding measurement gap configuration. For example, upon monitoring a measurement occasion of the first measurement gap configuration and receiving a downlink message within the measurement occasion, the UE 115-b may tune back to the first BWP following an end of the measurement occasion in order to resume communications within the first BWP.”).
Regarding claim 52, He discloses the apparatus of claim 51, wherein the UE capability information further includes a third parameter of whether the UE supports multiple measurement gap patterns with at least one preconfigured measurement gap ([0210], “In some examples, the UE capability transmitting manager 760 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the base station, an indication of a capability of the UE to support a set of multiple measurement gap configurations associated with the first BWP, where receiving the control signaling, receiving the downlink message, communicating with the base station during the first time interval, or any combination thereof, is based on the indication of the capability.”).
Regarding claim 53, He discloses the apparatus of claim 52, wherein the indication of whether the pre- configured measurement gap is activated or deactivated ([0130] “For example, the downlink message 340-a (e.g., DCI message) may include an indication of an activity state associated with the first measurement gap configuration 320-a associated with the first BWP 330-a. For instance, the downlink message 340-a may indicate an active state, and may thereby indicate for the UE 115-a to transition the first measurement gap configuration 320-a from an inactive state to the active state.”) is in response to reception of the second parameter without transmission of the first parameter ([0119], “In some aspects, the UE 115-a may transmit, to the base station 105-a (e.g., PCell), capability signaling 310 (e.g., UE capability message(s)) indicating one or more capabilities associated with configuring the UE 115-a with measurement gap configurations 320.”).
Regarding claim 54, He discloses the apparatus of claim 51, wherein the processing circuitry configures the gNB to indicate a status of the pre-configured measurement gap based on radio resource control (RRC) signaling ([0125], “In some aspects, the UE 115-a may identify one or more measurement gap configurations 320-a configured at the UE 115-a based on the indication of the measurement gap configurations 320 received via the control signaling 315 (e.g., RRC signaling). Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 115-a may be configured (e.g., pre-configured) with the one or more measurement gap configurations 320, and may therefore be configured to identify the measurement gap configurations 320 without the explicit control signaling 315.”).
Regarding claim 55, He discloses the apparatus of claim 51, wherein the UE-autonomous mechanism is determined using at least one of downlink control information (DCI) or timer ([0061], “In some cases, the UE may apply a measurement gap configuration for a defined validity time, based on a timer for the respective measurement gap configuration, or both.”).
Regarding claim 56, He discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an apparatus of a user equipment (UE), the instructions, when executed, configured to cause the apparatus to ([0223], “The memory 830 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 835 including instructions that, when executed by the processor 840, cause the device 805 to perform various functions described herein. The code 835 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory.”): send, to a 5th generation NodeB (gNB) ([0069], “The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115 that may sometimes act as relays as well as the base stations 105 and the network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1.”), UE capability information ([0119], “In some aspects, the UE 115-a may transmit, to the base station 105-a (e.g., PCell), capability signaling 310 (e.g., UE capability message(s)) indicating one or more capabilities associated with configuring the UE 115-a with measurement gap configurations 320.”) that includes at least one of a first parameter that indicates whether the UE supports a preconfigured measurement gap with a UE-autonomous mechanism for activation and deactivation ([0061], “In some other cases, the UE may apply a measurement gap configuration based on pre-configured activity state (e.g., default ON activity state, default OFF activity state) for the respective measurement gap configuration.”) or a second parameter that indicates whether the UE supports a preconfigured measurement gap with a network-controlled mechanism for activation and deactivation ([0130] “For example, the downlink message 340-a (e.g., DCI message) may include an indication of an activity state associated with the first measurement gap configuration 320-a associated with the first BWP 330-a. For instance, the downlink message 340-a may indicate an active state, and may thereby indicate for the UE 115-a to transition the first measurement gap configuration 320-a from an inactive state to the active state.”); determine, after switching to an active bandwidth part (BWP) ([0105], “In cases where the set of resources associated with a measurement gap configuration is within the active BWP 210 of the UE 115 (e.g., within a same carrier frequency), the UE 115 may be able to perform measurements for a target cell in accordance with the measurement object configuration without switching away from the active BWP 210.”), whether a pre-configured measurement gap is activated or deactivated based on at least one of whether the UE supports the preconfigured measurement gap with the UE-autonomous mechanism for activation and deactivation or whether the UE supports the preconfigured measurement gap with the network- controlled mechanism for activation and deactivation ([0121], “The activity state may be indicated via a binary (or non-binary) indicator indicating whether each respective measurement gap configuration 320 is enabled (e.g., active state) or disabled (e.g., inactive state) per individual BWP.”); in response to a determination that the pre-configured measurement gap is active, perform measurements based on the pre-configured measurement gap ([0175], “At 450, the UE 115-b may perform measurements for the messages (e.g., SSBs) received at 445. The UE 115-b may perform the measurements based on the measurement gap configuration associated with the first BWP, the measurement object configurations, or both.”); and report the measurements to the gNB ([0176], “At 455, the UE 115-b may resume communications with the first base station 105-b during based on (e.g., within) the first BWP and based on the corresponding measurement gap configuration. For example, upon monitoring a measurement occasion of the first measurement gap configuration and receiving a downlink message within the measurement occasion, the UE 115-b may tune back to the first BWP following an end of the measurement occasion in order to resume communications within the first BWP.”).
Regarding claim 57, He discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 56, wherein the UE capability information further includes a third parameter of whether the UE supports multiple measurement gap patterns with at least one preconfigured measurement gap ([0210], “In some examples, the UE capability transmitting manager 760 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the base station, an indication of a capability of the UE to support a set of multiple measurement gap configurations associated with the first BWP, where receiving the control signaling, receiving the downlink message, communicating with the base station during the first time interval, or any combination thereof, is based on the indication of the capability.”).
Regarding claim 58, He discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 56, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the apparatus to receive, from the gNB after switching to the BWP, an indication of whether the pre-configured measurement gap is activated or deactivated ([0121], “The activity state may be indicated via a binary (or non-binary) indicator indicating whether each respective measurement gap configuration 320 is enabled (e.g., active state) or disabled (e.g., inactive state) per individual BWP.”).
Regarding claim 59, He discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the apparatus to determine a status of the pre-configured measurement gap based on radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the gNB ([0125], “In some aspects, the UE 115-a may identify one or more measurement gap configurations 320-a configured at the UE 115-a based on the indication of the measurement gap configurations 320 received via the control signaling 315 (e.g., RRC signaling). Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 115-a may be configured (e.g., pre-configured) with the one or more measurement gap configurations 320, and may therefore be configured to identify the measurement gap configurations 320 without the explicit control signaling 315.”).
Regarding claim 60, He discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of wherein the UE-autonomous mechanism is determined using at least one of downlink control information (DCI) or timer ([0061], “In some cases, the UE may apply a measurement gap configuration for a defined validity time, based on a timer for the respective measurement gap configuration, or both.”).
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.
Claim 49 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al. (US 2022/0322308) in view of Kazmi et al. (US 2024/0172028; citing US Provisional 63169360).
Regarding claim 49, He does not disclose the FR1 and/or FR2. Kazmi discloses the apparatus of claim 41, wherein the processing circuitry configures the UE to determine whether the pre-configured measurement gap ([0041], “In a scenario, a UE is configured with a PMGP by the network node (e.g., via RRC signaling). An example of the PMGP is illustrated in Fig. 3.”) applies to frequency range 1 (FR1) only, FR2 only, or FR1 and F2 based on radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the gNB ([0041], “Examples of such parameters include a pre-defined PMGP identifier, MGL, MGRP, timing information related to time instance at which or from when the PMGP is configured for the UE (e.g., from the moment the PMGP can be usable for measurement if also activated), whether PMGP is per UE or per FR (whether per FR1 and/or per FR2), indicator of a cell (e.g., PCell, PSCell, etc.) used for timing reference for gap configuration etc.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified He in view of Kazmi to have the FR1 and/or FR2. The motivation would have been to reduce transmission time and increase throughput (i.e., Kazmi [0027]).
Conclusion
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/NICK ANON SUNDARA/Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479