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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 4-25 and 31-35 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 31 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhou et al. (CN 1322767, Zhou hereafter).
RE claim 31, Zhou discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories (Inherent generic components), configured to: determine that a measurement associated with signal strength satisfies a threshold, wherein, to determine that the measurement satisfies the threshold, the one or more processors are configured to at least one of: transmit, to the network, the indication of the instantaneous SNR associated with the UE and receive, from the network, an indication of the measurement in response to the indication of the instantaneous SNR; and modify a parameter associated with a modem of the UE, based at least in part on the measurement satisfying the threshold, to reduce power consumption (Paragraph 40 discloses a system comprised of at least one terminal and a base station wherein the terminal performs closed loop Transmit Power Control upon direction from the base station. The terminal transmits a measurement report containing a measured signal-to-noise ratio. The base station then determines whether to perform closed-loop power control based on the signal-to-noise ratio in the measurement report and the calculated target signal-to-noise ratio. If conditions are met based on this comparison, the base station issues the command to the terminal to perform TPC.)
RE claim 35, Zhou discloses the apparatus of claim 31 as set forth above. Note that Zhou further discloses, wherein, to determine that the measurement satisfies the threshold, the one or more processors are configured to: transmit, to the network, the indication of the instantaneous SNR associated with the UE; and receive, from the network, the indication of the measurement in response to the indication of the instantaneous SNR (Paragraph 40 discloses a system comprised of at least one terminal and a base station wherein the terminal performs closed loop Transmit Power Control upon direction from the base station. The terminal transmits a measurement report containing a measured signal-to-noise ratio. The base station then determines whether to perform closed-loop power control based on the signal-to-noise ratio in the measurement report and the calculated target signal-to-noise ratio. If conditions are met based on this comparison, the base station issues the command to the terminal to perform TPC.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 32-34 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but may be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
RE claim 32, prior arts do not explicitly disclose, teach or suggest wherein, to determine that the measurement satisfies the threshold, the one or more processors are configured to: estimate the instantaneous SNR using the reference signal; and subtract the SNR requirement from the instantaneous SNR to calculate the measurement.
RE claim 33, the claim depends upon claim 32 and thereby incorporates the allowable matter set forth above.
RE claim 34, prior arts do not explicitly disclose, teach or suggest wherein, to determine that the measurement satisfies the threshold, the one or more processors are configured to: receive, from the network, the indication of the instantaneous SNR associated with the UE; and subtract the SNR requirement from the instantaneous SNR to calculate the measurement.
Claims 1 and 4-25 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
RE claim 1, prior arts do not explicitly disclose, teach or suggest determine that a measurement associated with signal strength satisfies a threshold, the measurement including a spare signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) calculated as a difference between an instantaneous SNR and an SNR requirement; and modify a parameter associated with a modem of the UE, based at least in part on the measurement satisfying the threshold, to reduce power consumption.
RE claims 2-13, the claims depend upon claim 1 and thereby incorporate the allowable matter set forth above.
RE claim 14, prior arts do not explicitly disclose, teach or suggest a UE configured to transmit an indication that the UE is configured to use spare signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to reduce power consumption; and modify a parameter associated with a modem of the UE based at least in part on the spare SNR satisfying a threshold.
RE claims 15-22, the claims depend upon claim 14 and thereby incorporate the allowable matter set forth above.
RE claim 24, prior arts do not explicitly disclose, teach or suggest a network configured to receive an indication that the UE is configured to use spare signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to reduce power consumption; and transmit at least one parameter associated with using the spare SNR to reduce power consumption.
RE claim 25, the claim depends upon claim 24 and thereby incorporates the allowable matter set forth above.
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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/James P Duffy/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461