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 .
This action is in response to the amendment filed by Applicant on 03/24/2026. This action is made FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/24/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant argues that “Lee's message is a backward-looking notification that relaxed
measurement was already performed. Lee does not disclose a report indicating that a criterion for radio measurement relaxation has been met. Lee's wireless device has already performed the relaxed measurement; it is informing the network after the fact. Lee's message is sent "upon entering to connected state." It is not clear from the claim whether the measurement takes place after the criterion was met. If this scope is what Applicant seeks, the claims should specifically state that the criterion is met, then the relaxed measurement takes place.
The argued claim limitations states “a radio measurement relaxation report to a radio access network, RAN, node indicating that the criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation has been met." The limitation discussed the criterion per se, not the time of the measurement relaxation.
Further, as Applicant correctly notes, Lee states that “a wireless device may transmit, to the network, a message including an information informing that the first relaxed measurement has been performed on the serving cell and/or the at least one of the neighbor cells;” and that “the information may include a time length that the relaxed measurement has been performed [criterion]. For example, the wireless device may record the time for initiation of the relaxed measurement.”
Regarding claims, 2, 42, 7, and 48, Applicant’s arguments are persuasive, and therefore, the claims are hereby objected to as allowable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-9, 38, and 41, 44-47, and 49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (Publication number: US 2021/0105649) in view of Pu et al (Publication number: US 2016/0381610).
Consider Claim 1, Lee shows a method of operating a wireless device in a communication network (see figures 10-12), comprising:
(a) Determining that a criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation has been met (see figure 10; paragraphs 414-418); (The wireless device may evaluate whether the at least one of the relaxed measurement conditions is met while in idle state and/or inactive state).
(b) In response to determining that the criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation has been met, transmitting a radio measurement relaxation report to a radio access network, RAN, node indicating that the criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation has been met (see figures 10-12; and paragraphs 424-428); (In step 1005, a wireless device may transmit, to the network, a message including an information informing that the first relaxed measurement has been performed on the serving cell and/or the at least one of the neighbor cells. The wireless device may record the time for initiation of the relaxed measurement. the wireless device may transmit the message upon entering to connected state).
However, Lee does not specifically show measurement relaxation being met for a continuous time to trigger, TTT, duration, wherein the continuous TTT duration is greater than zero, and that the criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation being met for the continuous TTT duration.
In related art, Pu et al shows measurement relaxation being met for a continuous time to trigger, TTT, duration, wherein the continuous TTT duration is greater than zero, and that the criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation being met for the continuous TTT duration (see figure 2; and paragraphs 37-39); (The measurement reporting configuration may specify timing criteria, such as a time-to-trigger (TTT) value. The TTT value may be used to further define the measurement events. For example, measurement event A3 may only be triggered if the neighbor cell measurement exceeds the serving cell measurement by a certain offset for a certain duration of time, where the duration of time is the TTT value).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the measurement reporting of Pu et al into the measurement relaxation mechanism of Lee in order to reduce delay of handover of a UE (see Pu et al; paragraphs 2-4).
Consider Claim 38, Lee shows a user equipment, UE (see figures 2 and 3), comprising:
(a) Processing circuitry; and memory coupled with the processing circuitry (see figure 2; read as processor 101 and memory 104), wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry causes the UE to perform operations comprising:
(b) Determining that a criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation has been met (see figure 10; paragraphs 414-418); (The wireless device may evaluate whether the at least one of the relaxed measurement conditions is met while in idle state and/or inactive state).
(c) In response to determining that the criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation has been met, transmitting a radio measurement relaxation report to a radio access network, RAN, node indicating that the criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation has been met (see figures 10-12; and paragraphs 424-428); (In step 1005, a wireless device may transmit, to the network, a message including an information informing that the first relaxed measurement has been performed on the serving cell and/or the at least one of the neighbor cells. The wireless device may record the time for initiation of the relaxed measurement. the wireless device may transmit the message upon entering to connected state).
However, Lee does not specifically show measurement relaxation being met for a continuous time to trigger, TTT, duration, wherein the continuous TTT duration is greater than zero, and that the criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation being met for the continuous TTT duration.
In related art, Pu et al shows measurement relaxation being met for a continuous time to trigger, TTT, duration, wherein the continuous TTT duration is greater than zero, and that the criterion associated with radio measurement relaxation being met for the continuous TTT duration (see figure 2; and paragraphs 37-39); (The measurement reporting configuration may specify timing criteria, such as a time-to-trigger (TTT) value. The TTT value may be used to further define the measurement events. For example, measurement event A3 may only be triggered if the neighbor cell measurement exceeds the serving cell measurement by a certain offset for a certain duration of time, where the duration of time is the TTT value).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the measurement reporting of Pu et al into the measurement relaxation mechanism of Lee in order to reduce delay of handover of a UE (see Pu et al; paragraphs 2-4).
Consider Claims 3, and 44, Lee shows that the criterion comprises a received power level and/or received quality level of a reference signal transmitted by the RAN node being greater than a threshold value (see paragraph 449); (The UE may be considered as being not at cell edge if the measured Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and/or Signal to Interference & Noise Ratio (SINR) quality of serving cell (or beam) is above a threshold).
Consider Claims 4 and 45, Pu et al shows that in response to transmitting the measurement relaxation report, receiving a command from the RAN node changing a measurement configuration of the UE (see paragraph 31).
Consider Claims 5 and 46, Lee shows that in response to transmitting the measurement relaxation report, receiving a command from the RAN node which indicates that the wireless device should commence radio measurement relaxation; and commencing radio measurement relaxation in response to receiving the command (see figures 10-12; and paragraphs 424-428); (In step 1005, a wireless device may transmit, to the network, a message including an information informing that the first relaxed measurement has been performed on the serving cell and/or the at least one of the neighbor cells. The wireless device may record the time for initiation of the relaxed measurement. the wireless device may transmit the message upon entering to connected state).
Consider Claims 6 and 47, Lee shows that the command comprises a radio measurement relaxation configuration (see figures 10-12; and paragraphs 424-428); (In step 1005, a wireless device may transmit, to the network, a message including an information informing that the first relaxed measurement has been performed on the serving cell and/or the at least one of the neighbor cells. The wireless device may record the time for initiation of the relaxed measurement. the wireless device may transmit the message upon entering to connected state).
Consider Claims 8 and 49, Lee shows that transmitting the radio measurement relaxation report is only performed if the wireless device did not already transmit a previous radio measurement relaxation report indicating fulfillment of the criterion (see figures 8 and 10; also paragraphs 423-427); (A wireless device may transmit, to the network, a message including an information informing that the first relaxed measurement has been performed on the serving cell and/or the at least one of the neighbor cells. The information may include a time length that the relaxed measurement has been performed. For example, the wireless device may record the time for initiation of the relaxed measurement. the wireless device may perform the second relaxed measurement on the serving cell and/or at least one of the neighbor cells based on the second measurement configuration. For example, the wireless device may perform the second relaxed measurement on the serving cell and/or the at least one of the neighbor cells while in connected state).
Consider Claim 9, Pu et al shows that the criterion comprises an unfulfillment criterion that indicates that the wireless device is in a state that is unsuitable for radio measurement relaxation (see paragraph 31); (a UE may be able to exercise a certain degree of control over handover latency through adjustment of measurement reporting configurations. It is appreciated that a UE may be able to potentially expedite or accelerate handover procedures by performing measurement reporting according to a measurement reporting configuration with a lower expected handover latency than a default measurement reporting configuration, i.e. a measurement reporting configuration with a lower expected duration of time until a handover is initiated and/or completed than the expected duration of time until a handover is initiated and/or completed of the default measurement reporting configuration).
Consider Claim 41, Lee shows a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment, UE, whereby execution of the program code causes the UE to perform operations according to claim 1 (see paragraph 100).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 42, 7, and 48 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/MICHAEL A FARAGALLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624 04/04/2026
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