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 .
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 57, 61, 62, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69-72, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82 is 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.
Claim 57 recites the limitation "the secondary cells (SCells)" in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 61 recites the limitation "the network node” in lines 3-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 62 recites the limitation "the uplink grant” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 64 recites the limitation "the power headroom report (PHR)” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 65 recites the limitation "the L2 feedback” in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 67 recites the limitation "the user equipment (UE)” in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 68 recites the limitation "the user equipment (UE)” in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 69 recites the limitation "the available or preferred secondary cells (SCells)" in line 11-12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 70 recites the limitation "the secondary cell (SCell) status" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 71 recites the limitation "the user equipment” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 72 recites the limitation "the at least one user equipment (US)” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 76 recites the limitation "the user equipment (UE)” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 77 recites the limitation "the uplink grant”, “the secondary cells (SCells)”, and “the user equipment’s” in lines 1-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 79 recites the limitation "the L2 feedback” and “the power headroom report (PHR)” in line 1-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 80 recites the limitation "the L2 feedback” in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 82 recites the limitation "the user equipment (UE)” in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 57, 60, 69, 74, 76 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chakraborty et al. (US 2019/0116585).
Regarding claim 57, Chakraborty discloses an apparatus (Aspects of the present disclosure provide various procedures and methods for accelerated secondary cell (SCell) activation and The scheduling entity further transmits to the UE a control message to initiate the accelerated SCell activation procedure, abstract and [0006]-[0007]), comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured, with the at least one processor (The scheduling entity includes a communication interface, a memory, and a processor operatively coupled with the memory and the communication interface, [0008] and figure 5), to cause the apparatus at least to perform:
transmitting a secondary cell (SCell) activation command to at least one user equipment (UE), wherein the secondary cell (SCell) activation command comprises an indication of at least one candidate secondary cell (SCell) targeted for activation (The scheduling entity further transmits to the UE a control message to initiate the accelerated SCell activation procedure to establish a connection between the UE and one or more SCells and For example, the PCell BS 1104 may transmit a MAC control element (CE) to the UE 1102 to activate one or more SCells, [0006]-[0007] and [0103] and [0092]-[0093] and [0112] and figure 10 and figure 13); and
receiving feedback from the at least one user equipment (UE), wherein the feedback comprises information on the secondary cells (SCells) being activated (At block 1010, the scheduling entity may receive a measurement report…The measurement report indicates the best or preferred SCell(s) for a CA configuration. Based on the measurement report, the scheduling entity may configure the best or preferred SCells to be the active SCells in a CA configuration for the UE, [0093] and [0006]-[0007] and [0106] and [0112] and figure 10 and figure 11) with reduced activation time (configuring one or more SCells to facilitate a fast or accelerated SCell activation procedure described below. The communication circuit 542 may include an SCell activation block configured to control SCells activation/deactivation, for example, using an accelerated SCell activation procedure, [0074] and [0006] and [0080]-[0081] and [0087]).
Regarding claim 69, Chakraborty discloses an apparatus (Aspects of the present disclosure provide various procedures and methods for accelerated secondary cell (SCell) activation and The scheduling entity further transmits to the UE a control message to initiate the accelerated SCell activation procedure, abstract and [0006]-[0007]), comprising: at least one processor; and
at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured, with the at least one processor (The UE includes a communication interface for wireless communication, a memory, and a processor operatively coupled with the memory and the communication interface, [0009] and figure 6), to cause the apparatus at least to perform:
receiving a secondary cell (SCell) activation command from a network node, wherein the secondary cell (SCell) activation command comprises an indication of at least one candidate secondary cell (SCell) targeted for activation (The scheduling entity further transmits to the UE a control message to initiate the accelerated SCell activation procedure to establish a connection between the UE and one or more SCells and For example, the PCell BS 1104 may transmit a MAC control element (CE) to the UE 1102 to activate one or more SCells, [0006]-[0007] and [0103] and [0092]-[0093] and [0112] and figure 10 and figure 13);
determining a set of secondary cells (SCells) requested for activation that are available or preferred for activation; and transmitting feedback to the network node, wherein the feedback comprises information on the available or preferred secondary cells (SCells) being activated (At block 1010, the scheduling entity may receive a measurement report…The measurement report indicates the best or preferred SCell(s) for a CA configuration. Based on the measurement report, the scheduling entity may configure the best or preferred SCells to be the active SCells in a CA configuration for the UE, [0093] and [0006]-[0007] and [0106] and [0112] and figure 10 and figure 11).
Regarding claim 60, 74, Chakraborty discloses wherein the secondary cell (SCell) activation command comprises a single or multiple medium access control (MAC)-control elements (CEs) (activation, deactivation, addition, and removal of SCells/CCs are performed by the PCell through…MAC control element signaling and the PCell BS 1104 may transmit a MAC control element (CE) to the UE 1102 to activate one or more SCells, [0027] and [0103]-[0104] and [0109] and [0092]-[0093] and [0112] and figure 10 and figure 13).
Regarding claim 76, Chakraborty discloses wherein the transmitting of the feedback comprises transmitting the information in a next channel state information (CSI) feedback to be sent by the user equipment (UE)(After the UE 1102 measured the UE-specific reference signals 1120, the UE may send a measurement report 1122 to the PCell BS 1104 to indicate the best or preferred SCell(s) and the UE-specific reference signal 1120 may be…channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), [0104]-[0106] and [0006]-[0007]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (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 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 nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 59, 73 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chakraborty et al., in view of Yang et al. (US 2022/0225251).
Regarding claim 59, 73, Chakraborty fails to disclose wherein the transmitting comprises providing an uplink grant with the secondary cell (SCell) activation command. However in a similar field of endeavor, Yang discloses providing an uplink grant with the secondary cell (SCell) activation command (the MAC layer command may indicate, for each of the at least one secondary cell to be activated, one or more of the following procedures: …(4) an uplink grant for CSI report is carried by the MAC layer command; (5) an uplink grant for CSI report is to be transmitted on the active serving cell,[0054]-[0055]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to incorporate the concept of providing an UL grant for CSI with the SCell activation command as disclosed by Yang into the method for accelerated SCell activation comprising CSI-RS as disclosed by Chakraborty in order to improve the system and flexibly provide a UE with the proper parameters for transmitting measurement reports indicating preferred SCells.
Claim(s) 61, 75 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chakraborty et al., in view of Papasakellariou (US 2022/0201726).
Regarding claim 61, 75, Chakraborty fails to disclose wherein the receiving of the feedback comprises receiving the information jointly with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)- acknowledgment (ACK) of the secondary cell (SCell) activation command, informing the network node that the secondary cell (SCell) activation command was correctly received. However in a similar field of endeavor, Papasakellariou discloses receiving of the feedback comprises receiving the information jointly with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)- acknowledgment (ACK) of the secondary cell (SCell) activation command, informing the network node that the secondary cell (SCell) activation command was correctly received (Based on the HARQ-ACK information for the…MAC CE command, a serving gNB can be informed whether the UE correctly received the…MAC CE command and can know whether the UE applies an activated or deactivated state for an SCell…The UE can construct a Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook by considering only activated SCells, [0156]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to incorporate the concept receiving HARQ-ACK for an SCell activation command as disclosed by Papasakellariou into the method for accelerated SCell activation comprising CSI-RS as disclosed by Chakraborty in order to improve the system and flexibly indicate if a UE correctly receives a command and whether activation is accomplished.
Claim(s) 62, 63, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chakraborty et al., in view of Yang et al. (US 2022/0225251), in view of Lee et al. (US 2015/0319773).
Regarding claim 62, Chakraborty discloses wherein the receiving of the feedback comprises receiving feedback from the at least one user equipment (UE) with information on at least one of the secondary cells (SCells) that are available for activation or the at least one user equipment's preferred list of secondary cells (SCells) to be activated (At block 1010, the scheduling entity may receive a measurement report…The measurement report indicates the best or preferred SCell(s) for a CA configuration. Based on the measurement report, the scheduling entity may configure the best or preferred SCells to be the active SCells in a CA configuration for the UE, [0093] and [0006]-[0007] and [0106] and [0112] and figure 10 and figure 11).
Chakraborty fails to disclose via the uplink grant. However in a similar field of endeavor, Yang discloses providing an uplink grant (the MAC layer command may indicate, for each of the at least one secondary cell to be activated, one or more of the following procedures: …(4) an uplink grant for CSI report is carried by the MAC layer command; (5) an uplink grant for CSI report is to be transmitted on the active serving cell, [0054]-[0055]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to incorporate the concept of providing an UL grant for reporting by a UE with the SCell activation command as disclosed by Yang into the method for accelerated SCell activation comprising CSI-RS as disclosed by Chakraborty in order to improve the system and flexibly provide a UE with the proper parameters for transmitting measurement reports indicating preferred SCells.
Chakraborty and Yang fails to disclose layer 2 (L2) with respects to feedback. Chakraborty however discloses activation of SCells/CCs are performed by the PCell through MAC control element signaling ([0027] and [0103] and [0109]). In a similar field of endeavor, Lee discloses layer 2 (L2) with respects to feedback (the UE reports the activation/deactivation status of all configured sCell, i.e., sCell1, sCell2, and sCell3, to the eNB using an MAC signaling including a bitmap of the sCells and A medium access control (MAC) layer…be located in a second layer , [0118] and [0036] and [0080] and [0122] and [0010]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to incorporate the concept of correlating MAC signaling to layer 2 (L2) in which is used for reporting activation of sCells as disclosed by Lee into the method for accelerated SCell activation comprising MAC control element signaling as disclosed by Chakraborty and Yang in order to improve the system and flexibly provide different nomenclature for MAC signaling such as layer 2 signaling.
Regarding claim 63, Lee discloses a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE) comprising a bitmap for each secondary cell (SCell) configured wherein each field of the bitmap indicates available or preferred secondary cells (SCells) for activation (the UE reports the activation/deactivation status of all configured sCell, i.e., sCell1, sCell2, and sCell3, to the eNB using an MAC signaling including a bitmap of the sCells and A medium access control (MAC) layer…be located in a second layer, [0118] and [0036] and [0080] and [0122] and [0010]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to incorporate the concept of using a bitmap for reporting activation of sCells as disclosed by Lee into the method for accelerated SCell activation comprising MAC control element signaling as disclosed by Chakraborty and Yang in order to improve the system and flexibly provide an efficient way to report activation of SCells, such as via a bitmap.
Claim(s) 64, 79 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chakraborty et al., in view of Yang et al. (US 2022/0225251), in view of Lee et al. (US 2015/0319773), in further view of Uchino et al. (US 2016/0073360).
Regarding claim 64, 79 Chakraborty, Yang, and Lee fails to disclose a modified power headroom report (PHR) or modified power headroom report (PHR) trigger, wherein the power headroom report (PHR) comprises information on available or preferred secondary cells (SCells) for activation. However in similar field of endeavor, Uchino discloses a modified power headroom report (PHR) or modified power headroom report (PHR) trigger, wherein the power headroom report (PHR) comprises information on available or preferred secondary cells (SCells) for activation (UE 100 receives an activation command for SCells…Upon receiving the activation command, the UE 100 sends a PHR of the activated SCells and a trigger event detector configured to monitor whether transmission of a power headroom report has been triggered, [0008] and [0015] and [0051] and [0070]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to incorporate the concept of transmitting PHR comprising information of activated SCells disclosed by Uchino into the method for accelerated SCell activation comprising MAC control element signaling as disclosed by Chakraborty, Yang, and Lee in order to improve the system and flexibly provide information with respects to the activation of SCells at a UE.
Claim(s) 65, 80 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chakraborty et al., in view of Lee et al. (US 2015/0319773).
Regarding claim 65, 80, Chakraborty discloses wherein the receiving of the feedback comprises receiving periodical or event based feedback on secondary cell (SCell) status or secondary cell (SCell) activation preference via medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE) (activation, deactivation, addition, and removal of SCells/CCs are performed by the PCell through…MAC control element signaling and the PCell BS 1104 may transmit a MAC control element (CE) to the UE 1102 to activate one or more SCells (correlating to event based), [0027] and [0103] and [0109]).
Chakraborty fails to disclose layer 2 (L2) with respects to feedback. Chakraborty however discloses activation of SCells/CCs are performed by the PCell through MAC control element signaling ([0027] and [0103] and [0109]). In a similar field of endeavor, Lee discloses layer 2 (L2) with respects to feedback (the UE reports the activation/deactivation status of all configured sCell, i.e., sCell1, sCell2, and sCell3, to the eNB using an MAC signaling including a bitmap of the sCells and A medium access control (MAC) layer…be located in a second layer , [0118] and [0036] and [0080] and [0122] and [0010]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to incorporate the concept of correlating MAC signaling to layer 2 (L2) in which is used for reporting activation of sCells as disclosed by Lee into the method for accelerated SCell activation comprising MAC control element signaling as disclosed by Chakraborty in order to improve the system and flexibly provide different nomenclature for MAC signaling such as layer 2 signaling.
Claim(s) 68 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chakraborty et al., in view of Liu et al. (US 2024/0063991).
Regarding claim 68, Chakraborty fails to disclose secondary cells (SCells) that are known to the user equipment (UE). In a similar field of endeavor, Liu discloses secondary cells (SCells) that are known to the user equipment (UE) (UE to report the SCell status of known/unknown so that the activation may be based on the correct status update, which may shorten the activation process, [0362]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to incorporate the concept having SCells that are known to the UE as disclosed by Liu into the method for accelerated SCell activation as disclosed by Chakraborty in order to improve the system and activate a variety of cells, such as known or unknown SCells.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 58, 66, 67, 70, 71, 72, 77, 78, 81, 82 is 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liu et al. (US 2016/0316466) disclosing a secondary cell activation method and apparatus, a communications system, a base station, and user equipment, which reduces time required for activating a secondary cell ([0006]).
Axmon et al. (US 2024/0056960) disclosing a signal to activate a plurality of secondary cells, SCells and responsive to receiving the signal, the UE uses a temporal characteristic and a spatial characteristic of a reference cell, selected from the plurality of SCells, to activate the reference cell and at least one other of the SCells in parallel (abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NGUYEN HOANG NGO whose telephone number is (571)272-8398. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang Yao can be reached at 571-272-3182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NGUYEN H NGO/Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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