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 communication filed on 02/02/2026.
The applicant elected without traverse claims 1-23. The claims 24-37 have been canceled.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-12, 15-17 and 20-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Da Silva et al. (U.S. Pub. 20240040461).
Regarding claim 1 Da Silva disclose, a first network node for wireless communication, comprising: a memory read as: “a memory 2313” see para. 992”; and at least one processor read as: “a processor 2310 in the UE 401” see para. 991 coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
generate measurement information corresponding to a set of signals received from a second network node, wherein the set of signals corresponds to a set of beams para. 234, “For example, the UE 401 may feed the RNN with the last “N” signal measurements, e.g., RSRP, RSRQ or SINR, and the RNN may be able to output signal measurements shifted by “Y” measurement periods”;
generate, based on the measurement information, first predicted information, wherein the first predicted information corresponds to at least one beam with which to communicate with the second network node para. 237, “Real or current measurements” may be as input parameters to the prediction model such as e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR at a certain point in time TO for the same cells the UE 401 perform predictions, from the serving and/or neighbor cells and/or serving or neighbor beams”;
determine, based on the first predicted information, that one or more conditions are satisfied para. 172-173, Fig. 5, “Step 503, The UE 401 predicts mobility information. The predicted mobility information indicates a prediction of the UE's mobility in the communications network 400 for a future time”; and
transmit, to the second network node based on the determination, a first report including second predicted information, wherein the second predicted information includes the first predicted information or the second predicted information is a subset of the first predicted information para. 175-176, Fig. 5, “Step 504, The UE 401 determines whether one or multiple conditions are fulfilled or not. At least part of the predicted mobility information from step is used as input to the one or multiple conditions”.
Regarding claim 2 Da Silva disclose, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, from the second network node, a configuration associated with the first report, wherein at least one of the transmission of the first report or the second predicted information is based on the configuration para. 205, “The UE 401 may receive and process an RRC message comprising configurations for predictions of mobility information even if security has not been activated”.
Regarding claim 3 Da Silva disclose, wherein, to transmit the first report, the at least one processor is configured to para. 474, “That reporting configuration, i.e. the message transmission configuration, may be associated to a measurement object and to a measurement identifier or measurement prediction identifier”:
transmit uplink control information (UCI) including the first report on a periodic resource or a semi-persistent resource (SPS) para. 479, “The IE ReportConfigNR specifies criteria for triggering of an NR measurement reporting event or an NR prediction reporting event. Measurement reporting events are based on cell measurement results, which can either be derived based on SS/PBCH block or CSI- RS”;or
transmit a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) including the first report. The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the first of the alternatives.
Regarding claim 5 Da Silva disclose, wherein the periodic resource or the SPS resource is shared with a second report, and the second report is one of:
multiplexed with the first report on the one of the periodic resource para. 804-808, “if reportType is set to periodical: 2> if a single reporting quantity is set to true in reportQuantityRS-Indexes; 3> consider the configured single quantity as the sorting quantity, set rsIndexResults to include up to maxNrofRS-IndexesToReport SS/PBCH block indexes or CSI-RS indexes in order of decreasing sorting quantity”
or the SPS resource,
or unscheduled on the one of the periodic resource
or the SPS resource based a first priority associated with the first report and a second priority associated with the second report. The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the first of the alternatives.
Regarding claim 6 Da Silva disclose, wherein the one or more conditions are least one of:
based on an output of a function para. 185, Fig. 6, “i.e. based on the fulfillment of the conditions. The output of the event trigger 603 is the measurement prediction report 605 transmitted from the UE 401 to the network node 403”,
or included in a non-signaled configuration of the first network node. The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the first of the alternatives.
Regarding claim 7 Da Silva disclose, wherein the first report includes at least one of:
at least one identifier (ID) associated with the set of signals, at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, at least one index of an output of a function used to determine the first predicted information, at least one predicted reference signal received power (RSRP) value para. 201, “Reporting predictions of mobility information to the network node 403. The UE 401 performs predictions of mobility information, which may corresponds to at least one of the following: predictions of measurements, such as predictions of RSRP, RSRQ, SINR and/or any other predicted mobility related information”, at least one predicted signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) value, at least one confidence score associated with the first predicted information,
or at least one predicted value and at least one of: a probability or a likelihood that the at least one predicted value will fall below a threshold, or at least one timestamp associated with the at least one predicted value. The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen only one of the alternatives.
Regarding claim 8 Da Silva disclose, wherein the one or more conditions are based on at least one of:
comparison of the at least one predicted value with a first reporting threshold, at least one output of the function para. 231, “the network node 403 may update the NN weights based on new UEs' measurement reports. The network node 403 may compare the predicted values at instant “t” to the measured values at instant “t+X””,
comparison of the at least one confidence score with a second reporting threshold, comparison of a number of confidence scores of the at least one confidence score that satisfy a confidence threshold before expiry of a timer with a third reporting threshold, comparison of the at least one probability with a fourth reporting threshold, or comparison of a difference between a first predicted value of the at least one predicted value and a second predicted value of the at least one predicted value with a fifth reporting threshold. The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the first one of the alternatives.
Regarding claim 9 Da Silva disclose, wherein the measurement information includes first measurement information corresponding to a first signal of the set of signals, and wherein the one or more conditions include at least one of:
the first measurement information is less than a first threshold para. 231, “;
the first measurement information is less than the first threshold by a first threshold amount; the first measurement information is greater than a second threshold; or the first measurement information is greater than the first threshold by a second threshold amount. The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the first one of the alternatives.
Regarding claim 10 Da Silva disclose, wherein the first signal corresponds to a serving beam of the set of beams or a non-serving beam of the set of beams. para. 191, “Configuring the UE 401 to perform predictions of mobility related information, such as predictions of radio quality such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR in a given frequency, e.g. per cell, per beam”. The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the first one of the alternatives.
Regarding claim 11 Da Silva disclose, wherein the first measurement information is a first RSRP value corresponding to the first signal. para. 106, “the UE 401 performs mobility predictions, such as measurement predictions 308 for Reference Signals Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), or Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR). And, when a measurement report 305 is triggered, e.g. a measurement identity (measId) associated to a reporting configuration”. The examiner notes that there is no specification of which is the first signal, nonetheless, in a general order, when the measurements of RSRP are performed to one or several signals based on the configuration the first one measured will be the first value obtained to report.
Regarding claim 12 Da Silva disclose, wherein the measurement information includes a standard deviation corresponding to a plurality of RSRP values, and wherein the one or more conditions include the standard deviation is greater than or less than a threshold. para. 233, “It may be standardized at least one prediction model to be implemented at the UE 401 and configured by the network node 403, with a set of parameters. For example: with a NN, the UE 401 may already know that it will implement a NN of “L” layers, where each layer “i” has “N.sub.i” nodes, and each node “j” has a set of weights “W.sub.j”, but the values of “L”, “N.sub.i” and “W.sub.j” are set by the network node 403”. The comparison with threshold can be easily chosen based on average values or estimated ones that are used to establish the channel conditions as the mathematical generalities are known in the art unless is a detailed and specific formula what it is being used.
Regarding claim 15 Da Silva disclose, wherein the first report includes non-predicted information, wherein the non-predicted information is associated with at least one of the measurement information or one or more signals of the set of signals. para. 71, “the A3 event is one of a plurality of events which may trigger a measurement report. The measurement report is triggered by whether the measured value crosses, goes higher or goes lower, a certain target value.”
Regarding claim 16 Da Silva disclose, wherein the first predicted information includes at least one predicted value, and wherein a first condition of the one or more conditions is based on at least one of at least one measured error associated with the at least one predicted value or at least one predicted error associated with the at least one predicted value para. 106, “FIG. 3b illustrates a method where the UE 401 performs mobility predictions, such as measurement predictions 308 for Reference Signals Received Power (RSRP), etc. when a measurement report 305 is triggered, related to a frequency where reference signals to be measured are transmitted, the UE 401 includes measurement predictions 308 on it, so that they are made available at the network” also see para 894, Fig. 20 for error management.
Regarding claim 17 Da Silva disclose, wherein at least one of: the at least one measured error comprises at least one difference between the at least one predicted value and at least one measured value that corresponds to a same beam as the at least one predicted value, or
the at least one predicted error comprises at least one of at least one standard deviation, at least one variance, at least one probability, or
at least one likelihood. para. 226, “The prediction of the mobility information may comprise at least an indication of the likelihood or probability of the UE 401 moving to a given cell, beam or coverage of a given RS type, e.g. SSB identifier,”.
Regarding claim 20 Da Silva disclose, wherein the first predicted information includes at least one predicted value, and wherein the first report includes at least one of:
at least one index of at least one output of a function used to determine the at least one predicted value para. 490, “reportQuantityRS-Indexes Indicates which measurement information per RS index the UE shall include in the measurement report. If this is a prediction report, indicates which predicted information per RS index the UE shall include in the prediction report”,
at least one measured value corresponding to the at least one beam to which the at least one predicted value corresponds, or
at least one input of the function used to determine the at least one predicted value. The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the first one of the alternatives.
Regarding claim 21 Da Silva disclose, wherein the first predicted information includes at least one predicted value para. 231, “the network node 403 may update the NN weights based on new UEs' measurement reports. The network node 403 may compare the predicted values at instant “t” to the measured values at instant “t+X””, and wherein the one or more conditions comprises at least one of:
a respective condition for each respective output port of a plurality of output ports of a function used to determine the at least one predicted value para. 92, “Evaluating results from prediction outputs such as moving direction 208, transition probability 209, future location 210, user trajectory 211 and the next cell ID 212 are provided to the performance matrices”;
or a same condition for all of the plurality of output ports of the function. The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the first one of the alternatives.
Regarding claim 22 Da Silva disclose, wherein the at one or more conditions are based on at least one of:
at least two conditions specific to at least two of the plurality of output ports that are of a different type,
at least two thresholds specific to at least two of the plurality of output ports that are different para. 488, Table 2, “Threshold value associated to the selected trigger quantity (e.g. RSRP, RSRQ, SINR) per RS Type (e.g. SS/PBCH block, CSI-RS) to be used in NR measurement or prediction report triggering condition for event number aN. If multiple thresholds are defined for event number aN, the thresholds are differentiated by M”,
a maximum predicted value of the at least one predicted value across the plurality of output ports,
a minimum predicted value of the at least one predicted value across the plurality of output ports,
or an average predicted value of the at least one predicted value across the plurality of output ports.
Regarding claim 23 Da Silva disclose, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive, from the second network node, information configuring communication with the second network node via one of the set of beams based on the first report para. 221-222, “The predicted beam information may be associated to other beams of the serving cell, non-serving cell, etc. Beam information, e.g. for the serving, may be used by the network node 403 to… beam switching, Radio Link Monitoring, beam reporting”; and
communicate with the second network node via the one of the set of beams. para. 222, “beam switching”.
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 of this title, 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(s) 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Da Silva et al. (U.S. Pub. 20240040461) in view of Yuan et al. (U.S. Pub. 20200322030).
Regarding claim 4 Da Silva does not specifically disclose, wherein the periodic resource is on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). However, Yuan teach, para. 86, Fig. 8, “For the indicator value “000”, it denotes that the beam reporting (including periodic, semi-persistent, and aperiodic beam reporting)” or the SPS resource is on the PUCCH or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The claim list features in the alternative. While the claim lists a number of optional limitations only one limitation from the list is required and needs to be met by the prior art. The Examiner has chosen the first of the alternatives.
Da Silva and Yuan are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to transmission parameters and measuring and reporting beam performance while handling mobility information.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Yuan in the system of Da Silva so the system can accurately predict results by sending measurement reports periodically. The motivation for doing so would have been to use the method of Yuan by using the short PUCCH to include the report given that beam reporting may carry less information and as a consequence reducing power consumption .
Claim(s) 13-14 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Da Silva et al. (U.S. Pub. 20240040461) in view of Echigo et al. (WIPO. Pub. WO2023013001).
Regarding claim 13 Da Silva does not specifically disclose, wherein the measurement information or the first predicted information includes a failure probability of at least one beam of the set of beams. However, Echigo teach, “The UE may detect future beam failures/beam candidates depending on whether the future specific radio link quality is below or above a threshold for one or more (eg, all) of the above specific RSs”, see para. 66.
Echigo further teach, wherein the one or more conditions include the failure probability being greater than a threshold. para. 66, “For example, the UE, for one or more of the specific RSs, when the future specific radio link quality falls below a threshold, determines that a predicted beam failure has occurred”
Da Silva and Echigo are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to transmission parameters and measuring and reporting beam performance while handling mobility information.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Echigo in the system of Da Silva to improve the accuracy of channel measurement and estimation. The motivation for doing so would have been to use the method of Echigo by using the short PUCCH to include the report given that beam reporting may carry less information and as a consequence reducing power consumption.
Regarding claim 14 Da Silva does not specifically disclose, wherein the one or more conditions include a counter reaching a particular value, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to reset, increment, or decrement the counter based on at least one of the measurement information and the first predicted information para. 231, “The UE may determine that a predicted beam failure occurs when a counter counted based on the reception of this instance exceeds a certain value at the MAC layer”.
Da Silva and Echigo are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to transmission parameters and measuring and reporting beam performance while handling mobility information.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Echigo in the system of Da Silva to add implement Echigo’s method to anticipate possible data disruptions by initiating beam switching, handoff before the current link completely fails. The motivation for doing so would have been proactively act to beam management to avoid degrading the user experience while maintaining high quality of services.
Regarding claim 18 Da Silva does not specifically disclose, wherein the first condition is based on a maximum measured error of the at least one measured error in comparison with a reporting threshold, and wherein the maximum measured error corresponds to a beam of the set of beams. para. 231, “he UE may also calculate the average error between the measured RSRP and the predicted RSRP at three time instants in the illustrated period and report this as the average performance error (past prediction accuracy information) to the base station”.
Da Silva and Echigo are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to transmission parameters and measuring and reporting beam performance while handling mobility information.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Echigo in the system of Da Silva to improve the accuracy of channel measurement and estimation. The motivation for doing so would have been to use the method of Echigo by using the short PUCCH to include the report given that beam reporting may carry less information and as a consequence reducing power consumption.
Regarding claim 19 Da Silva does not specifically disclose, wherein the first condition is based on an average measured error across the at least one measured error in comparison with a reporting threshold. para. 231, “The UE may detect beam failures/candidate beams for predicted BFR if conditions based on at least one of the following are met. Parameters related to the above thresholds (for example, rlmInSyncOutOfSyncThreshold, rsrp-ThresholdSSB, rsrp-ThresholdBFR)”.
Da Silva and Echigo are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to transmission parameters and measuring and reporting beam performance while handling mobility information.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Echigo in the system of Da Silva to add implement Echigo’s method to anticipate possible data disruptions by initiating beam switching, handoff before the current link completely fails. The motivation for doing so would have been proactively act to beam management to avoid degrading the user experience while maintaining high quality of services.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Mondal et al. (U.S. Pub. 20180019790) which disclose(s) method and apparatus for performing radio-resource-management measurements.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAUL RIVAS whose telephone number is (571)270–5590. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday, from 8:30am to 5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy K. Kundu, can be reached on (571) 272 - 8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571–272–8300.
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/R.R/ Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471