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 .
Election/Restrictions
Based on the office action sent on 10/02/2025, applicant has elected Group 1 corresponding to claim 1-11, without traverse (see response to Election/Restriction of 12/01/2025). Thus, claims 12-20 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner. Claim 1-11 are now presented for further examination.
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 nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goel et al., US 2021/0337481 A1 (using US provisional applications filing dates of April 23, 2020 related to provisional applications 63/014,396 and 63/014,368 respectively; referred to as Goel hereinafter), in view of Dahod et al., US 2014/0233459 A1 (using US application publication date of August 21, 2014; referred to as Dahod hereinafter), in view of ZACHARIAS et al., US 2022/0338302 A1 (using PCT application filing date of September 29, 2019 corresponding to PCT/CN2019/108986; referred to as Zacharias hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claim.
Regarding claim 1, Goel discloses a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection release control method implemented by a terminal (Goel, paragraph [0005], the described techniques enable a user equipment (UE) to trigger a connection release before expiration of an inactivity timer maintained by the network), wherein the RRC connection release control method comprises:
storing a timing duration of a first timer corresponding to a first application type (Goel, paragraph [0113], In some cases, one or more traffic profiles may be related to UE-specific historical data. For example, the traffic profile component may store historical data such as the type of data being communicated, the type of applications commonly running on the device 305, data activity related to the time of day, or which applications or data are most frequently present), wherein the timing duration comprises at least two duration values (Goel, Fig. 19, step 1910, paragraph [0263], At 1910, the UE may initiate a first inactivity timer and a second inactivity timer based on the application usage information, the second inactivity timer longer than the first inactivity timer), wherein the first timer starts timing when the terminal is in an RRC connected state and is reset when the terminal receives data from a network device (Goel, paragraph [0052], the UE may be in a connected mode ( e.g., an RRC connected state) and may be in active communication with one or more base stations. The network may maintain an inactivity timer of a given time duration for the UE such that, after a period of inactivity, the UE may transition to an inactive mode (e.g., an RRC inactive state) or an idle mode (e.g., an RRC idle state). The timer may be initiated after the most recent traffic occurs and may reset if additional traffic occurs prior to the expiration of the timer);
determining a second application type of a first application of the terminal when the first application runs in a foreground (Goel, paragraph [0015], identifying application usage information of one or more applications operating on the UE, where the application usage information includes a name of the one or more applications, an identifier of the one or more applications (i.e., first and second application type), a foreground or background operation status of the one or more applications, a traffic profile of one or more applications, an activity mode of the one or more applications, or a combination thereof);
determining whether the second application type is the first application type (Goel, paragraph [0319], wherein the application usage information is based at least in part on a traffic activity level, or a traffic type, or a priority level, or information received from an application processor, or an application type, or an application identifier, or a combination thereof, for each application); … and requesting the network device to release the RRC connection when a timing value of the first timer exceeds the first duration value (Goel, paragraph [0054], the UE may trigger an early RRC connection release (e.g., transmit a preferred state indication to the base station) based on information available to the UE … the UE may use a traffic profile (e.g., traffic burst statistics) of an application and a screen status (e.g., whether the screen is inactive) to predict a duration of inactivity. If the predicted duration is above a threshold, the UE may determine a shortened inactivity timer (e.g., shorter than the inactivity timer maintained by the base station), initiate a shortened inactivity timer, or both, which may be used to request the RRC release without waiting for expiration of the network-maintained inactivity timer).
Goel does not explicitly disclose setting a first duration value from the at least two duration values as the timing duration when the second application type is the first application type;
establishing an RRC connection to the network device when detecting a preset operation for the first application;
starting the first timer when establishing the RRC connection to the network device;
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Dahod discloses a method related to coordinating communication of data packets between a user device and an application server that comprises setting a first duration value from the at least two duration values as the timing duration when the second application type is the first application type (Dahod, paragraph [0072], user inactivity based idle timeout is based on an inactivity time that is specific to an application or group of applications (i.e., first and second applications), rather than a generic activity time. For example, if the application is an IM chat (e.g. iMessage, Google chat, WhatsApp etc.), the inactivity time is measured based on the duration between two message exchanges. If the duration is less than the application specific inactivity time (i.e., first and second time duration for the same sized/type application are the same), e.g., the parties engaged in the chat session are typing and responding actively, the RRC connection remains intact, e.g., the LTE session remains in RRC Connected state);
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Goel by using the features, as taught by Dahod, in order to support methods for determining an idle state transition time based on the application type of the data packets transferred in a communication session (see Dahod, abstract and paragraph [0002]).
Goel and Dahod do not explicitly disclose establishing an RRC connection to the network device when detecting a preset operation for the first application;
starting the first timer when establishing the RRC connection to the network device;
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Zacharias discloses a method related to techniques for releasing RRC connection by a user equipment that comprises establishing an RRC connection to the network device when detecting a preset operation for the first application (Zacharias, Fig. 1 and paragraph [0034], As shown in FIG. 1, the UE 120a includes an RRC manager 122. The RRC manager 122 may be configured to establish an RRC connection);
starting the first timer when establishing the RRC connection to the network device (Zacharias, Fig. 1 and paragraph [0034], The RRC manager 122 may be configured to establish an RRC connection, determine a time duration for a release timer (i.e., starting a first timer when establishing RRC connection), reset the release timer);
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Goel and Dahod by using the features, as taught by Zacharias, in order to support methods for reducing power consumption of UEs by decreasing the amount of time the UE remains in a connected state (see Zacharias, abstract and paragraph [0005]).
Claim(s) 2-4, 6, 8 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goel et al., US 2021/0337481 A1 (using US provisional applications filing dates of April 23, 2020 related to provisional applications 63/014,396 and 63/014,368 respectively; referred to as Goel hereinafter), in view of ZACHARAIS et al., US 2022/0338302 A1 (using PCT application filing date of September 29, 2019 corresponding to PCT/CN2019/108986; referred to as Zacharias hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claim.
Regarding claim 2, Goel discloses a method implemented by a terminal (Goel, abstract, Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) operating in a connected mode may identify application usage information or UE operation information and may determine a preference to transition to an idle or inactive mode), wherein the method comprises:
determining a first timing duration of a first timer corresponding to a first application of the terminal when the first application runs in a foreground (Goel, paragraph [0005], the described techniques enable a user equipment (UE) to trigger a connection release before expiration of an inactivity timer maintained by the network. The triggering may be based on application usage information at the UE such that the UE uses application-specific information or UE operation information to predict or determine a period of inactivity (i.e., determine the first timing duration of the first application) at the UE … the UE may determine to initiate a shortened inactivity timer (e.g., a timer that is shorter than the network-maintained inactivity timer) after which the UE may transmit a message to the network indicating a preference of the UE to enter an inactive or idle mode. Also see paragraph [0100], A UE 115 operating in an active or connected mode (e.g., an RRC connected mode or state) may determine a preference to enter an idle or inactive mode ( e.g., an RRC inactive mode or state, or an RRC idle mode or state) based on information available to the UE 115. For example, the UE 115 may identify application usage information related to an application operating on the UE 115, and based on the application usage information, may transmit an indication of the preference to enter idle mode or inactive mode to a base station 105. The application usage information may include whether the application is running in the foreground or background at the UE), wherein the first timer starts timing when the terminal is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state (Goel, paragraph [0117], In FIG. 4A, a UE may be in an RRC state 410 (e.g., RRC connected mode) and may transmit or receive UE traffic 405. The UE may be in a connected state 410-a and may be transmitting or receiving bursts of UE traffic 405. As described herein, the UE may determine to transition to an inactive or idle mode (e.g., 410-b). A transition 415 and a transition 420 may be determined based on an inactivity timer (i.e., starts timing) or fast dormancy techniques. For example, the UE may utilize a network-configured default inactivity timer, which may begin counting after receiving a burst of traffic 405. The UE may wait for the inactivity timer to expire before transitioning (e.g., at 420) to an inactive or idle state 410-c) and is reset when an information exchange is performed between the terminal and a network device (Goel, paragraph [0052], the UE may be in a connected mode ( e.g., an RRC connected state) and may be in active communication with one or more base stations. The network may maintain an inactivity timer of a given time duration for the UE such that, after a period of inactivity, the UE may transition to an inactive mode (e.g., an RRC inactive state) or an idle mode (e.g., an RRC idle state). The timer may be initiated after the most recent traffic occurs and may reset if additional traffic occurs prior to the expiration of the timer); … and
requesting the network device to release the RRC connection when a timing value of the first timer exceeds the first timing duration (Goel, paragraph [0054], the UE may trigger an early RRC connection release (e.g., transmit a preferred state indication to the base station) based on information available to the UE … the UE may use a traffic profile (e.g., traffic burst statistics) of an application and a screen status (e.g., whether the screen is inactive) to predict a duration of inactivity. If the predicted duration is above a threshold, the UE may determine a shortened inactivity timer (e.g., shorter than the inactivity timer maintained by the base station), initiate a shortened inactivity timer, or both, which may be used to request the RRC release without waiting for expiration of the network-maintained inactivity timer).
Goel and Dahod do not explicitly disclose establishing an RRC connection to the network device when detecting a preset operation for the first application;
starting the first timer when establishing the RRC connection;
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Zacharias discloses a method related to techniques for releasing RRC connection by a user equipment that comprises establishing an RRC connection to the network device when detecting a preset operation for the first application (Zacharias, Fig. 1 and paragraph [0034], As shown in FIG. 1, the UE 120a includes an RRC manager 122. The RRC manager 122 may be configured to establish an RRC connection);
starting the first timer when establishing the RRC connection (Zacharias, Fig. 1 and paragraph [0034], The RRC manager 122 may be configured to establish an RRC connection, determine a time duration for a release timer (i.e., starting a first timer when establishing RRC connection), reset the release timer);
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Goel by using the features, as taught by Zacharias, in order to support methods for reducing power consumption of UEs by decreasing the amount of time the UE remains in a connected state (see Zacharias, abstract and paragraph [0005]).
Regarding claim 3, Goel discloses wherein the information exchange comprises at least one of: receiving downlink data from the network device;
receiving downlink signaling from the network device;
sending uplink data to the network device; or
sending uplink signaling to the network device (Goel, paragraph [0068], The communication links 125 shown in the wireless communications system 100 may include uplink transmissions from a UE 115 to a base station 105, or downlink transmissions from a base station 105 to a UE 115. Also see paragraph [0055], In some cases, the UE may monitor a wireless link continuously for an indication that the UE has downlink data to receive).
Regarding claim 4, Goel discloses wherein determining the first timing duration comprises determining the first timing duration corresponding to a first application type of the first application (Goel, paragraph [0006], the UE 115-a may utilize application-specific information (i.e., application type) or UE operation information to predict an inactivity duration (i.e., determine timing duration). Based on the information, the UE 115-a may determine to initiate a shortened inactivity timer ( e.g., a timer shorter than the default inactivity timer)).
Regarding claim 6, Goel discloses further comprising:
collecting statistics about a data transmission volume of the terminal in the RRC connected state to obtain a statistical result (Goel, paragraph [0153], the application analyzer 715 may analyze an application running on the UE and determine usage information inputs for the C-D RX adaptation manager 730. Such application usage information may be based on, or otherwise associated with, the traffic activity level, traffic type, priority level, application type, application identifier, or any other information received from the application processor 705, for the one or more applications operating on the UE. For example, the application analyzer 715 may receive traffic related information from the traffic profile component 725 of the modem 710 in order to determine the application usage information. Also see paragraph [0123]-0124], At 505, the UE 115-b may be operating in or may enter into a connected mode (e.g., an RRC connected mode) and may be in communication with the base station 105-b … At 510, the UE 115-b may identify applications running on the UE 115-b and may identify corresponding usage information. For example, the UE 115-b may identify an application name or identifier, a traffic profile, an activity mode, or a foreground or background operation status, or any combination thereof. The traffic profile may include traffic burst statistics, a packet size for one or more data packets, or the like).
Regarding claim 8, Goel discloses wherein after determining the first timing duration, the method further comprises:
sending, by a first system of the terminal, a first instruction to a second system of the terminal (Goel, paragraph 0005], the UE may determine to initiate a shortened inactivity timer (e.g., a timer that is shorter than the network-maintained inactivity timer) after which the UE may transmit a message to the network indicating a preference of the UE to enter an
inactive or idle mode), wherein the first instruction carries indication information indicating the first timing duration (Goel, paragraph [0125], At 515, the UE 115-b may optionally initiate one or more inactivity timers. The timers may be based on the application usage information. In some cases, the UE 115-b may initiate a first inactivity timer and a second inactivity timer, where the second inactivity timer is longer than the first inactivity timer); and
setting, by the second system based on the indication information, the first timing duration (Goel paragraph [0005], In response, a base station may transmit a connection release message to the UE instructing the UE to enter the inactive or idle mode prior to expiration of the network-maintained inactivity timer. By entering inactive or idle mode early (e.g., prior to expiration of the network-maintained inactivity timer), the UE may conserve power and extend the battery life, among other performance benefits).
Regarding claim 10, Goel discloses wherein the method further comprises:
running the first application in the foreground (Goel, paragraph [0015], identifying application usage information of one or more applications operating on the UE, where the application usage information includes a name of the one or more applications, an identifier of the one or more applications, a foreground or background operation status of the one or more applications, a traffic profile of one or more applications, an activity mode of the one or more applications, or a combination thereof);
determining that the first timing duration is a first duration value when the first application runs for a first time period (Goel, paragraph [0013], identifying application usage information of the one or more applications operating on the UE, initiating a first inactivity timer); and
determining that the first timing duration is a second duration value when the first application runs for a second time period, wherein the first duration value is different from the second duration value (Goel, paragraph [0013], identifying application usage information of the one or more applications operating on the UE, initiating a first inactivity timer and a second inactivity timer based on the application usage information, the second inactivity timer longer than the first inactivity timer, and operating in the idle mode or the inactive mode after expiration of the first inactivity timer and before expiration of the second inactivity timer).
Regarding claim 11, Goel discloses wherein the first application comprises an application type (Goel, paragraph [0158], The activity mode for the applications may correspond to whether the application is a web browsing application, gaming application, video streaming application, a music streaming have application, and the like. That is, an application type generally refers to the type of application operating on the UE, e.g., a video streaming application type vs. a web browsing application type, a gaming application type vs. an online shopping application type, etc.), wherein the application type corresponds to at least two duration values (Goel, paragraph [0006], the UE 115-a may utilize application-specific information (i.e., application type) or UE operation information to predict an inactivity duration (i.e., determine timing duration). Based on the information, the UE 115-a may determine to initiate a shortened inactivity timer ( e.g., a timer shorter than the default inactivity timer)), and wherein the method further comprises:
setting a maximum value in the at least two duration values as the first timing duration; or
setting a first duration value of the at least two duration values as the first timing duration, wherein first duration value is less than or equal to a second timing duration of an inactive timer that is configured on the network device (Goel, paragraph [0022], The method may include determining requested values for a set of parameters for a C-DRX state of the UE, the requested values for the set of parameters based on application usage information and an activity mode of one or more applications operating on the UE, transmitting, to a base station, an indication of the requested values for the set of parameters, receiving, at least in part a response to the transmitted indication of the requested values for the set of parameters, a signal indicating configured values for the set of parameters for the C-DRX state for the UE, and operating in the C-DRX state according to the configured parameters).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goel et al., US 2021/0337481 A1 (using US provisional applications filing dates of April 23, 2020 related to provisional applications 63/014,396 and 63/014,368 respectively; referred to as Goel hereinafter), in view of ZACHARAIS et al., US 2022/0338302 A1 (using PCT application filing date of September 29, 2019 corresponding to PCT/CN2019/108986; referred to as Zacharias hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Dahod et al., US 2014/0233459 A1 (using US application publication date of August 21, 2014; referred to as Dahod hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claim.
Regarding claim 5, Goel and Zacharias disclose the method of claim 4. Goel and Zacharias do not explicitly disclose further comprising:
setting, when the first application type is a second application type, the first timing duration as a second timing duration corresponding to the second application type; and
setting, when the first application type is a third application type different from the second application type, the first timing duration as a third timing duration corresponding to the third application type.
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Dahod discloses a method related to coordinating communication of data packets between a user device and an application server that comprises further comprising:
setting, when the first application type is a second application type, the first timing duration as a second timing duration corresponding to the second application type (Dahod, paragraph [0072], user inactivity based idle timeout is based on an inactivity time that is specific to an application or group of applications (i.e., first and second applications), rather than a generic activity time. For example, if the application is an IM chat (e.g. iMessage, Google chat, WhatsApp etc.), the inactivity time is measured based on the duration between two message exchanges. If the duration is less than the application specific inactivity time (i.e., first and second time duration for the same sized/type application are the same), e.g., the parties engaged in the chat session are typing and responding actively, the RRC connection remains intact, e.g., the LTE session remains in RRC Connected state); and
setting, when the first application type is a third application type different from the second application type, the first timing duration as a third timing duration corresponding to the third application type (Dahod, paragraph [0072], user inactivity based idle timeout is based on an inactivity time that is specific to an application or group of applications, rather than a generic activity time. For example, if the application is an IM chat (e.g. iMessage, Google chat, WhatsApp etc.), the inactivity time is measured based on the duration between two message exchanges … if the duration between messages is more than the application specific inactivity time (i.e., first application is different from the second application), the eNodeB sends a RRCConnectionRelease message to the UE and the LTE session state machine transitions to the idle state. Also see paragraph [0004], the computer processor is configured to assign a first inactivity time to a data packet having a first application type, and assign a second inactivity time to a data packet having a second application type. The first inactivity time is different than the second inactivity time, and the first application type is different than the second application type (i.e., different time duration is assigned to a packet of different size)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Goel and Zacharias by using the features, as taught by Dahod, in order to support methods for determining an idle state transition time based on the application type of the data packets transferred in a communication session (see Dahod, abstract and paragraph [0002]).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goel et al., US 2021/0337481 A1 (using US provisional applications filing dates of April 23, 2020 related to provisional applications 63/014,396 and 63/014,368 respectively; referred to as Goel hereinafter), in view of ZACHARAIS et al., US 2022/0338302 A1 (using PCT application filing date of September 29, 2019 corresponding to PCT/CN2019/108986; referred to as Zacharias hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Anderson et al., US 2014/0321371 A1 (using US application publication date of October 30, 2014; referred to as Anderson hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claim.
Regarding claim 9, Goel and Zacharias disclose the method of claim 4. Goel and Zacharias do not explicitly disclose further comprising continuously running the first application in the foreground. In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Anderson discloses suspending a connection in a wireless communication system that comprises further comprising continuously running the first application in the foreground (Anderson, paragraph [0024], Many UE applications require or benefit from so called always-on connectivity, such that a seamless and continuous connection experience is delivered to the user when using the UE and the applications running thereon).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Goel and Zacharias by using the features, as taught by Anderson, in order to support systems and methods which are able to reduce these system resource and control overheads such that overall system and power efficiencies are improved when attempting to deliver a seamless user or service experience at the application level via the communications network (see Anderson, abstract and paragraph [0024]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 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
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/OBAIDUL HUQ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473 Dated: 02/07/2026