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 .
Status of the Claims
The office action is in response to the claim amendments and remarks filed on April 21, 2026 for the application filed June 13, 2023. Claims 1, 6, 16, and 21 are amended. Claims 1-30 are currently pending.
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.
Claims 6, 14-15, 21, 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agiwal (US2024/0121700A1) in view of Liu et al. (US2025/0063447A1), Polaganga (US2024/0298226A1), Jung et al. (US2015/0201343A1), and Anders Dahlén (US2016/0073304A1) hereinafter Anders.
Regarding claim 6, Agiwal teaches an apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor; memory; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to (Paragraph [0021]: In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system is provided. The UE includes a transceiver, at least one memory storing instructions for cell barring, and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions.)
receive from a network node an indication of a tracking area code (TAC) (Paragraph [0020]: The method further includes determining whether the cell belongs to the PLMN equivalent to the registered PLMN by acquiring system information block type 1 (SIB1) of the cell. Paragraph [0120]: Referring to FIG. 3 , in operation 310, the UE 100 acquires master information block (MIB) from the Network 200. MIB may include information that are needed to acquire System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1). Paragraph [0121]: In operation 320, UE 100 acquires SIB1. The UE 100 may acquire SIB1 based on MIB. Paragraph [0124]: system information block type 1 carries cell indemnity, tracking area code, cell barring information. Paragraph [0147]: (i.e. if this cell does not belong to UE's PLMN). Paragraph [0148]: That is, UE shall exclude this cell as a candidate for cell selection/reselection for a pre-defined period and may perform cell selection/reselection to other cells on this cell's frequency. The time period for which the cell is barred can also be signaled by gNB at operation 450. Paragraph [0151]: In an embodiment, UE can determine that the cell belongs to UE's PLMN based on the SIB1 of this cell. If the PLMN identity of UE's PLMN is included in PLMNIdentityList in acquired SIB1, UE can determine that cell belongs to UE's PLMN. Paragraph [0153]: In an alternate embodiment, a cell may provide a list of PCIs corresponding to a PLMN. This information can be provided for multiple PLMNs. This information can be signaled in system information. So, UE may have information about a list of PCIs corresponding to one or more PLMNs based on system information acquired from another cell. If this cell's PCI is included in that information, UE can identify the PLMN of this cell hence determine if this cell belongs to this PLMN or not. Paragraph [0156]: If UE is not able to determine that the cell belongs to its PLMN or not, it will simply bar this cell. It shall not bar other cells on frequency of this cell.)
Agiwal does not explicitly teach to receive a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell.
However, Liu teaches to receive a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell (Paragraph [0017]: The method includes receiving, from a base station, a master information block (MIB) of a serving cell, wherein the serving cell is determined as a barred cell; determining, whether a subcarrier spacing (SCS) provided by a first RRC parameter in the MIB corresponds to 15 kHz. Paragraph [0018]: and determining whether intra-frequency cell reselection on a same frequency as the barred cell or not by the UE. Paragraph [0198]: The parameter intraFreqReselection is used control cell selection/reselection to intra-frequency cells when the highest ranked cell is barred, or treated as barred by the UE. That is, the bases station may allow the UE whether to perform intra-frequency cell reselection on the same frequency as the barred cell, i.e. whether to perform cell reselection to other cells on the same frequency as the barred (highest ranked) cell. The UE may apply the parameter intraFreqReselection for intra-frequency cell reselection if the parameter cellBarred is set to ‘barred’.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, as taught by Liu in the system of Agiwal, so that determining frequency selection can improve communication flexibility and efficiency (Liu: Paragraphs [0004], [0017], [0018], [0198]).
The combination of Agiwal and Liu does not explicitly teach to selectively compute that a signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell satisfies a quality threshold.
However, Polaganga teaches to selectively compute that a signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell satisfies a quality threshold (Paragraph [0033]: The UE 102 performs one or more measurements of RF signals from neighboring base stations (shown at 310) and produces measurement data. The UE 102 may compile the measurement data into a measurement report 312 that includes identification information (e.g., such as the PCI) of neighboring radio access nodes stations that are candidate target access nodes (e.g., based on those candidate target access nodes having quality measurements that exceed a quality threshold). For example, the measurement report may include absolute radio-frequency channel number (ARFCN), E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN), and/or Physical Cell ID (PCI) information of the candidate target access nodes. As shown at 316, the handover preparation optimizer function 107 of the source access node 303 may check the barred neighbor data 210 to determine if the target access node 304 is indicated as a barred cell. If it is a barred cell, the source access node 303 may return to 314 and proceeds to determine the next preferred priority candidate target access node indicated by the quality measurements of the measurement report 312, and handover preparation optimizer function 107 checks the barred neighbor data 210 (at 316) to determine if that next highest priority target access node 304 is indicated as a barred cell in the barred neighbor data 210.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to selectively compute that a signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell satisfies a quality threshold, as taught by Polaganga in the combined system of Agiwal and Liu, so that the signal metric of the cell can be used to determine whether it is a target access node (Polaganga: Paragraph [0033]).
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, and Polaganga does not explicitly teach to refrain from transmitting to the network node, the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell.
However, Jung teaches to refrain from transmitting to the network node, the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell (Paragraph [0116]: For the intra-frequency cell reselection or the inter-frequency cell reselection, the network may provide a cell reselection black list used in the cell reselection to the UE. The UE does not perform the cell reselection with respect to the cell included in the black list. Paragraph [0163]: Accordingly, the UE continuously measures a quality for a serving cell that provides a current service and a quality for a neighbor cell. The UE reports a measurement result to a network at an appropriate time and a network provides optimal mobility to the UE through a handover, and the like. Commonly, the measurement for the purpose is called a radio resource management (RRM) measurement. Paragraph [0221]: The first type measurement and the second type measurement may be measurements having different types of radio resources to be used for the purpose of the measurement. For example, the first type measurement may be an RRM measurement (RSRP, RSRQ), and the second-type measurement may be a CSI-RS measurement (RSRP RSRQ). Paragraph [0257]: a) With respect to a reporting condition defining only an enter condition, if the first type measurement result does not satisfy the reporting condition,… the UE may omit the first type measurement result from the reporting object..)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to refrain from transmitting the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, and Polaganga, so that the signal metric is not transmitted if it does not satisfy the reporting condition (Jung: Paragraphs: [0116], [0163], [0257]).
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga and Jung does not explicitly teach to receive from a network node an indication of a forbidden tracking area code (TAC), receive, from the network node, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, wherein the cell is associated with the forbidden TAC; and refrain from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric based at least in part on the cell being associated with the forbidden TAC
However, Anders teaches to receive from a network node an indication of a forbidden tracking area code (TAC); receive, from the network node, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, wherein the cell is associated with the forbidden TAC (Paragraph [0043]: The area and access restriction information is stored in the UE context of the concerned UE in eNB 13 and may include serving PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) and Equivalent PLMNs as allowed PLMNs, forbidden tracking areas and location areas, and forbidden inter-RATs (radio Access technology). This information is used to determine whether a neighboring cell is allowed for handover. Paragraph [0046]: FIG. 5 illustrates a signaling diagram according to one embodiment of the invention. When the UE switches on, it receives system information 51 from the source eNB 13. The system information is included in a radio resource control (RRC) message and sent by the RRC sub-layer. The system information 51 is stored in the UE 12 and includes one or more PLMN identities, tacking area code, cell identity etc. In Idle state the UE 12 searches regularly for a better cell according to the cell reselection criteria, which involves measurements of the serving and neighbouring cells. The UE 12 listens to the broadcast information on a cell's broadcast channel and stores the current tracking area identity. If the received tracking area identity differs from the one stored by the UE 12, a tracking area update procedure 52 is triggered by the UE 12. When the UE 12 transfers from idle to active state, area and access restriction information 53 is sent from MME/S-GW 11 to the source eNB 13. The area and access restriction information is stored in the UE context in eNB 13 and includes for example serving PLMN and Equivalent PLMNs as allowed PLMNs, forbidden tracking areas and location areas, forbidden inter-RATs, and forbidden frequencies. The source eNB 13 configures the UE measurement procedures according to the received area restriction information 53 for the concerned UE and sends a measurement control message 54 to the UE 12. The UE 12 is triggered to send measurement reports 55 by the rules set by measurement control message 54 specification. Based on the received measurement reports 55 from the UE 12, the source eNB identifies a target cell. The source eNB 13 determines 56 whether the carrier frequency used by the identified target cell is forbidden according to the stored area and restriction information in the UE 12 context. If the identified carrier frequency is allowed, handover request with the stored area and access restriction area information is sent 57 to the target eNB 14 and, after target eNB has acknowledged 58 the handover, a handover command 59 is sent to the UE.)
and refrain from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric based at least in part on the cell being associated with the forbidden TAC (Paragraph [0048]: When the UE 12 transfers from idle to active state, area and access restriction information 73 is sent from MME/S-GW 11 to the source eNB 13. The area and access restriction information is stored in the UE context in eNB 13 and includes for example serving PLMN and Equivalent PLMNs as allowed PLMNs, forbidden tracking areas and location areas, forbidden inter-RATs, and forbidden frequencies. The source eNB 13 constructs the UE measurement control information 74 based on the forbidden frequencies included in the received area restriction information 73 for the concerned UE and sends a measurement control message 75 to the UE 12. The UE 12 is triggered to send measurement reports 76 by the rules set by measurement control message 75 specification.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive from a network node an indication of a forbidden tracking area code (TAC); receive, from the network node, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, wherein the cell is associated with the forbidden TAC, and refrain from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric based at least in part on the cell being associated with the forbidden TAC, as taught by Anders in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, and Jung, so that the base station can select allowed target cells for handover based on the received list of forbidden frequencies and area and restriction information (Anders: Paragraph [0023], [0043], [0045], [0046], [0047], [0048]).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions, to cause the apparatus to refrain from transmitting the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell, cause the apparatus to (see rejection for claim 6);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, and Anders does not explicitly teach to refrain from transmitting an entirety of a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration.
However, Jung teaches to refrain from transmitting an entirety of a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration (Paragraph [0163]: Accordingly, the UE continuously measures a quality for a serving cell that provides a current service and a quality for a neighbor cell. The UE reports a measurement result to a network at an appropriate time and a network provides optimal mobility to the UE through a handover, and the like. Commonly, the measurement for the purpose is called a radio resource management (RRM) measurement. Paragraph [0219]: When the UE reports the first measurement result and/or the second measurement result, the UE may perform a process associated with the specific time interval. Paragraph [0221]: The first type measurement and the second type measurement may be measurements having different types of radio resources to be used for the purpose of the measurement. For example, the first type measurement may be an RRM measurement (RSRP, RSRQ), and the second-type measurement may be a CSI-RS measurement (RSRP RSRQ). Paragraph [0247]: The UE may continuously perform a measurement with respect to a first type measurement object…. ….if it is determined that the first type measurement result does not satisfy the first type report condition…In this case, the UE may not report the first type measurement result. Paragraph [0250]: When the second type measurement result satisfies the second type reporting condition…., the UE may transmit the measurement reporting message. If it is determined that the second type measurement result satisfies the second type reporting condition. Paragraph [0255]: When the first type measurement result satisfying the reporting condition during operating the timer does not satisfy the first type reporting condition longer, the UE may omit the first type measurement result from the reporting object.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to refrain from transmitting an entirety of a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, and Anders, so that only certain selective measurement results be transmitted (Jung: Paragraphs: [0247], [0255]).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions, to cause the apparatus to refrain from transmitting the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell, cause the apparatus to (see rejection for claim 6);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polagnga, and Anders does not explicitly teach to omit the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell from a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration; and transmit the measurement report without the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell.
However, Jung teaches to omit the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell from a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration; and transmit the measurement report without the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell (Paragraph [0163]: Accordingly, the UE continuously measures a quality for a serving cell that provides a current service and a quality for a neighbor cell. The UE reports a measurement result to a network at an appropriate time and a network provides optimal mobility to the UE through a handover, and the like. Commonly, the measurement for the purpose is called a radio resource management (RRM) measurement. Paragraph [0219]: When the UE reports the first measurement result and/or the second measurement result, the UE may perform a process associated with the specific time interval. Paragraph [0221]: The first type measurement and the second type measurement may be measurements having different types of radio resources to be used for the purpose of the measurement. For example, the first type measurement may be an RRM measurement (RSRP, RSRQ), and the second-type measurement may be a CSI-RS measurement (RSRP RSRQ). Paragraph [0247]: The UE may continuously perform a measurement with respect to a first type measurement object…. ….if it is determined that the first type measurement result does not satisfy the first type report condition…In this case, the UE may not report the first type measurement result. Paragraph [0250]: When the second type measurement result satisfies the second type reporting condition…., the UE may transmit the measurement reporting message. If it is determined that the second type measurement result satisfies the second type reporting condition. Paragraph [0255]: When the first type measurement result satisfying the reporting condition during operating the timer does not satisfy the first type reporting condition longer, the UE may omit the first type measurement result from the reporting object.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to omit the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell from a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration; and transmit the measurement report without the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, and Anders, so that only certain selective measurement results be transmitted (Jung: Paragraphs: [0247], [0255]).
Regarding claim 21, Agiwal teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving from a network node, an indication of a tracking area code (TAC); receiving a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell (see rejection for claim 6);
Agiwal does not explicitly teach receiving a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell.
However, Liu teaches receiving a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell (see rejection for claim 6);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, as taught by Liu in the system of Agiwal, so that determining frequency selection can improve communication flexibility and efficiency (Liu: Paragraphs [0004], [0017], [0018], [0198]).
The combination of Agiwal and Liu does not explicitly teach selectively computing that a signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell satisfies a quality threshold.
However, Polaganga teaches selectively computing that a signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell satisfies a quality threshold (see rejection for claim 6);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to selectively compute that a signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell satisfies a quality threshold, as taught by Polaganga in the combined system of Agiwal and Liu, so that the signal metric of the cell can be used to determine whether it is a target access node (Polaganga: Paragraph [0033]).
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, and Polaganga does not explicitly teach refraining from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell.
However, Jung teaches refraining from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell (see rejection for claim 6);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to refrain from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, and Polaganga, so that the signal metric is not transmitted if it does not satisfy the reporting condition (Jung: Paragraphs: [0116], [0163], [0257]).
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga and Jung does not explicitly teach receiving from a network node an indication of a forbidden tracking area code (TAC); receiving, from the network node, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, wherein the cell is associated with the forbidden TAC; and refraining from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric based at least in part on the cell being associated with the forbidden TAC.
However, Anders teaches receiving from a network node an indication of a forbidden tracking area code (TAC); receiving, from the network node, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, wherein the cell is associated with the forbidden TAC; and refraining from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric based at least in part on the cell being associated with the forbidden TAC (see rejection for claim 6);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive from a network node an indication of a forbidden tracking area code (TAC); receive, from the network node, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, wherein the cell is associated with the forbidden TAC, and refraining from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric based at least in part on the cell being associated with the forbidden TAC, as taught by Anders in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, and Jung, so that the base station can select allowed target cells for handover based on the received list of forbidden frequencies and area and restriction information (Anders: Paragraph [0023], [0043], [0045], [0046], [0047], [0048]).
Regarding claim 29, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders teaches the method of claim 21, wherein refraining from transmitting the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell comprises (see rejection for claim 21);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, and Anders does not explicitly teach refraining from transmitting an entirety of a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration.
However, Jung teaches refraining from transmitting an entirety of a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration (see rejection for claim 14);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide refraining from transmitting an entirety of a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, and Anders, so that only certain selective measurement results be transmitted (Jung: Paragraphs: [0247], [0255]).
Regarding claim 30, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders teaches the method of claim 21, wherein refraining from transmitting the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell comprises (see rejection for claim 21);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, and Anders does not explicitly teach omitting the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell from a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration; and transmitting the measurement report without the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell.
However, Jung teaches omitting the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell from a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration; and transmitting the measurement report without the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell (see rejection for claim 15);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide omitting the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell from a measurement report that is associated with the measurement configuration; and transmitting the measurement report without the signal metric associated with the frequency and the cell, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, and Anders, so that only certain selective measurement results be transmitted (Jung: Paragraphs: [0247], [0255]).
Claims 7-13, 22-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agiwal (US2024/0121700A1) in view of Liu et al. (US2025/0063447A1), Polaganga (US2024/0298226A1), Jung et al. (US2015/0201343A1), Anders Dahlén (US2016/0073304A1) hereinafter Anders, and further in view of Jin et al. (US2023/0247545A1).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions, to cause the apparatus to receive the indication of the forbidden TAC (see rejection for claim 6);
Agiwal further teaches to cause the apparatus to recover the indication at a non-stratum access (NAS) layer of a protocol stack (Paragraph [0152]: In an alternate embodiment a cell may provide a list of PLMNs operating on neighboring carrier frequency. This information can be provided for multiple carrier frequencies. This information can be signaled in system information. So, UE may have information about a list of PLMNs operating on carrier frequency of this cell based on system information acquired from another cell. Alternately, UE can receive this information from core network in NAS signaling. If the UE's PLMN is not included in this list, UE can determine that this cell does not belong to UE's PLMN.)
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to: forward, by the NAS layer of the protocol stack, the indication to a radio resource control (RRC) layer of the protocol stack.
However, Jin teaches wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to: forward, by the NAS layer of the protocol stack, the indication to a radio resource control (RRC) layer of the protocol stack (Paragraph [0155]: The NAS layer may provide an equivalent PLMN list to the AS layer through the PLMN selection procedure 1 e-21. The equivalent PLMN list refers to the list of PLMNs selected by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover and PLMNs considered as equivalent (List of PLMNs considered as equivalent by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover according to the information provided by NAS). Paragraph [0310]: More specifically, the operation of the UE in operation 1 h-20 may mean an operation of referring to information received from the NAS layer to determining whether the selected first TAC exists in the forbidden-TA list and whether the selected first cell identity exists in the forbidden-cell list. Also, the UE may compare whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TA list and determine whether the TA update is required, based on whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TAC.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to: forward, by the NAS layer of the protocol stack, the indication to a radio resource control (RRC) layer of the protocol stack, as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, to determine whether the selected TA and cell are barred and whether TA update is required (Jin: Paragraphs [0155], [0310]).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to: receive, at the RRC layer of the protocol stack and from the NAS layer of the protocol stack, the indication of the forbidden TAC (see rejection for claim 7);
Agiwal further teaches wherein the indication from the NAS layer indicates that the identifier is associated with the forbidden TAC (Paragraph [0152]: In an alternate embodiment a cell may provide a list of PLMNs operating on neighboring carrier frequency. This information can be provided for multiple carrier frequencies. This information can be signaled in system information. So, UE may have information about a list of PLMNs operating on carrier frequency of this cell based on system information acquired from another cell. Alternately, UE can receive this information from core network in NAS signaling. If the UE's PLMN is not included in this list, UE can determine that this cell does not belong to UE's PLMN. Paragraph [0153]: In an alternate embodiment, a cell may provide a list of PCIs corresponding to a PLMN. This information can be provided for multiple PLMNs. This information can be signaled in system information. So, UE may have information about a list of PCIs corresponding to one or more PLMNs based on system information acquired from another cell. If this cell's PCI is included in that information, UE can identify the PLMN of this cell hence determine if this cell belongs to this PLMN or not.)
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach to
recover, at the RRC layer of the protocol stack and based at least in part on receiving the indication from the NAS layer of the protocol stack, a system information block (SIB) prior to transmitting a measurement report associated with the measurement configuration, wherein the SIB indicates an identifier associated with the signal metric.
However, Jin teaches to recover, at the RRC layer of the protocol stack and based at least in part on receiving the indication from the NAS layer of the protocol stack, a system information block (SIB) prior to transmitting a measurement report associated with the measurement configuration, wherein the SIB indicates an identifier associated with the signal metric (Paragraph [0154]: The UE 1 e-01 may include one or more PLMN identities for a given cell in the system information SIB1 signaled through a broadcast channel. In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE 1 e-01 may receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell (In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE can receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell). Paragraph [0155]: The result of the PLMN selection procedure performed by the NAS layer is an identifier of the selected PLMN (The result of the PLMN selection performed by NAS is an identifier of the selected PLMN). The NAS layer may provide an equivalent PLMN list to the AS layer through the PLMN selection procedure 1 e-21. The equivalent PLMN list refers to the list of PLMNs selected by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover and PLMNs considered as equivalent (List of PLMNs considered as equivalent by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover according to the information provided by NAS). Paragraph [0310]: More specifically, the operation of the UE in operation 1 h-20 may mean an operation of referring to information received from the NAS layer to determining whether the selected first TAC exists in the forbidden-TA list and whether the selected first cell identity exists in the forbidden-cell list. Also, the UE may compare whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TA list and determine whether the TA update is required, based on whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TAC.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recover, at the RRC layer of the protocol stack and based at least in part on receiving the indication from the NAS layer of the protocol stack, a system information block (SIB) prior to transmitting a measurement report associated with the measurement configuration, wherein the SIB indicates an identifier associated with the signal metric, as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, to determine whether the identifier is for a forbidden TAC (Jin: Paragraphs [0154], [0155], [0310]).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to (see rejection for claim 6);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach to recover, at a radio resource control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack, cell context information associated with the cell; and store, in memory at the UE, the cell context information as at least part of forbidden TAC context information.
However, Jin teaches to recover, at a radio resource control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack, cell context information associated with the cell; and store, in memory at the UE, the cell context information as at least part of forbidden TAC context information (Paragraph [0154]: The UE 1 e-01 may include one or more PLMN identities for a given cell in the system information SIB1 signaled through a broadcast channel. In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE 1 e-01 may receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell (In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE can receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell). Paragraph [0155]: The result of the PLMN selection procedure performed by the NAS layer is an identifier of the selected PLMN (The result of the PLMN selection performed by NAS is an identifier of the selected PLMN). The NAS layer may provide an equivalent PLMN list to the AS layer through the PLMN selection procedure 1 e-21. The equivalent PLMN list refers to the list of PLMNs selected by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover and PLMNs considered as equivalent (List of PLMNs considered as equivalent by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover according to the information provided by NAS). Paragraph [0285]: In operation 1 h-10, the UE may perform an operation of identifying parameters included in SIB1, particularly CellAccessRelatedInfo, and then storing parameters to be used to determine whether to use system information stored in another cell (determining validity of system information). This corresponds to an operation in which the UE selects and stores particular information included in SIB1, and the following values may be included in the particular information included in SIB1. Paragraph [0289]: cellIdentity: This stores the cellIdentity value included in PLMN-IdentityInfoList including the selected PLMN-Identity and NPN-Identity. That is, cellIdentity corresponds to a cellIdentity value included in the first PLMN-IdentityInfo or NPN-IdentityInfo among a plurality of PLMN-identity values included in PLMN-IdentityInfoList. Paragraph [0310]: In operation 1 h-20, the UE may use the first TAC and the first cell identity selected in operation 1 h-15 to perform an operation of determining whether the selected TA and cell are barred and whether TA update is required. More specifically, the operation of the UE in operation 1 h-20 may mean an operation of referring to information received from the NAS layer to determining whether the selected first TAC exists in the forbidden-TA list and whether the selected first cell identity exists in the forbidden-cell list. Also, the UE may compare whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TA list and determine whether the TA update is required, based on whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TAC.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recover, at a radio resource control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack, cell context information associated with the cell; and store, in memory at the UE, the cell context information as at least part of forbidden TAC context information, as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, so that the cell context information can be used for cell selection/reselection (Jin: Paragraphs [0154], [0155], [0285], [0289], [0310]).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions, to cause the apparatus to recover the cell context information, cause the apparatus to (see rejection for claim 9);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach to recover the cell context information based at least in part on a system information block (SIB).
However, Jin teaches to recover the cell context information based at least in part on a system information block (SIB) (Paragraph [0154]: The UE 1 e-01 may include one or more PLMN identities for a given cell in the system information SIB1 signaled through a broadcast channel. In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE 1 e-01 may receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell (In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE can receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell). Paragraph [0155]: The result of the PLMN selection procedure performed by the NAS layer is an identifier of the selected PLMN (The result of the PLMN selection performed by NAS is an identifier of the selected PLMN). The NAS layer may provide an equivalent PLMN list to the AS layer through the PLMN selection procedure 1 e-21. The equivalent PLMN list refers to the list of PLMNs selected by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover and PLMNs considered as equivalent (List of PLMNs considered as equivalent by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover according to the information provided by NAS). Paragraph [0285]: In operation 1 h-10, the UE may perform an operation of identifying parameters included in SIB1, particularly CellAccessRelatedInfo, and then storing parameters to be used to determine whether to use system information stored in another cell (determining validity of system information). This corresponds to an operation in which the UE selects and stores particular information included in SIB1, and the following values may be included in the particular information included in SIB1. Paragraph [0289]: cellIdentity: This stores the cellIdentity value included in PLMN-IdentityInfoList including the selected PLMN-Identity and NPN-Identity. That is, cellIdentity corresponds to a cellIdentity value included in the first PLMN-IdentityInfo or NPN-IdentityInfo among a plurality of PLMN-identity values included in PLMN-IdentityInfoList. Paragraph [0291]: ValueTag: This is a parameter indicating whether system information has changed from a previously broadcast value and is defined as a value between 0 and 31. The corresponding values are also set for each SIB and is included in an SIB-TypeInfo IE in si-SchedulingInfo, and the UE stores all values. Paragraph [0310]: In operation 1 h-20, the UE may use the first TAC and the first cell identity selected in operation 1 h-15 to perform an operation of determining whether the selected TA and cell are barred and whether TA update is required. More specifically, the operation of the UE in operation 1 h-20 may mean an operation of referring to information received from the NAS layer to determining whether the selected first TAC exists in the forbidden-TA list and whether the selected first cell identity exists in the forbidden-cell list. Also, the UE may compare whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TA list and determine whether the TA update is required, based on whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TAC.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recover the cell context information based at least in part on a system information block (SIB), as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, so that the cell context information received from the SIB is based on the recent broadcast value, to be used for cell selection/reselection (Jin: Paragraphs [0154], [0155], [0285], [0289], [0291], [0310]).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to (see rejection for claim 9);
Agiwal further teaches the potential cell is/being associated with the forbidden TAC (Paragraph [0020]: The method further includes determining whether the cell belongs to the PLMN equivalent to the registered PLMN by acquiring system information block type 1 (SIB1) of the cell. Paragraph [0120]: Referring to FIG. 3 , in operation 310, the UE 100 acquires master information block (MIB) from the Network 200. MIB may include information that are needed to acquire System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1). Paragraph [0121]: In operation 320, UE 100 acquires SIB1. The UE 100 may acquire SIB1 based on MIB. Paragraph [0124]: system information block type 1 carries cell indemnity, tracking area code, cell barring information. Paragraph [0147]: (i.e. if this cell does not belong to UE's PLMN). Paragraph [0148]: That is, UE shall exclude this cell as a candidate for cell selection/reselection for a pre-defined period and may perform cell selection/reselection to other cells on this cell's frequency. The time period for which the cell is barred can also be signaled by gNB at operation 450. Paragraph [0151]: In an embodiment, UE can determine that the cell belongs to UE's PLMN based on the SIB1 of this cell. If the PLMN identity of UE's PLMN is included in PLMNIdentityList in acquired SIB1, UE can determine that cell belongs to UE's PLMN. Paragraph [0153]: In an alternate embodiment, a cell may provide a list of PCIs corresponding to a PLMN. This information can be provided for multiple PLMNs. This information can be signaled in system information. So, UE may have information about a list of PCIs corresponding to one or more PLMNs based on system information acquired from another cell. If this cell's PCI is included in that information, UE can identify the PLMN of this cell hence determine if this cell belongs to this PLMN or not. Paragraph [0156]: If UE is not able to determine that the cell belongs to its PLMN or not, it will simply bar this cell. It shall not bar other cells on frequency of this cell.)
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Anders, and Jin does not explicitly teach to refrain, based at least in part on a determination, from transmitting a second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell.
However, Jung teaches to refrain, based at least in part on a determination, from transmitting a second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell (Paragraph [0116]: For the intra-frequency cell reselection or the inter-frequency cell reselection, the network may provide a cell reselection black list used in the cell reselection to the UE. The UE does not perform the cell reselection with respect to the cell included in the black list. Paragraph [0163]: Accordingly, the UE continuously measures a quality for a serving cell that provides a current service and a quality for a neighbor cell. The UE reports a measurement result to a network at an appropriate time and a network provides optimal mobility to the UE through a handover, and the like. Commonly, the measurement for the purpose is called a radio resource management (RRM) measurement. Paragraph [0221]: The first type measurement and the second type measurement may be measurements having different types of radio resources to be used for the purpose of the measurement. For example, the first type measurement may be an RRM measurement (RSRP, RSRQ), and the second-type measurement may be a CSI-RS measurement (RSRP RSRQ). Paragraph [0257]: a) With respect to a reporting condition defining only an enter condition, if the first type measurement result does not satisfy the reporting condition,… the UE may omit the first type measurement result from the reporting object..)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to refrain, based at least in part on a determination, from transmitting a second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Anders, and Jin, so that the signal metric is not transmitted if it does not satisfy the reporting condition (Jung: Paragraphs: [0116], [0163], [0257]).
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach to recover second cell context information that is associated with a potential cell; compare the second cell context information to the forbidden TAC context information; determine, based at least in part on a comparison of the second cell context information to the forbidden TAC context information, that the potential cell is associated with the forbidden TAC.
However, Jin teaches to recover second cell context information that is associated with a potential cell; compare the second cell context information to the forbidden TAC context information; determine, based at least in part on a comparison of the second cell context information to the forbidden TAC context information, that the potential cell is associated with the forbidden TAC (Paragraph [0147]: Condition 3: A case in which the cell is not barred according to information that is most recently provided from the NAS layer, and the cell is part of at least one tracking area (TA) that is not part of the list of “forbidden tracking areas” which belongs to a PLMN that satisfies Condition 1 (The cell is part of at least one TA that is not part of the list of “forbidden Tracking Areas” which belongs to a PLMN that fulfils the first bullet above). Paragraph [0154]: The UE 1 e-01 may include one or more PLMN identities for a given cell in the system information SIB1 signaled through a broadcast channel. In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE 1 e-01 may receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell (In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE can receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell). Paragraph [0155]: The result of the PLMN selection procedure performed by the NAS layer is an identifier of the selected PLMN (The result of the PLMN selection performed by NAS is an identifier of the selected PLMN). The NAS layer may provide an equivalent PLMN list to the AS layer through the PLMN selection procedure 1 e-21. The equivalent PLMN list refers to the list of PLMNs selected by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover and PLMNs considered as equivalent (List of PLMNs considered as equivalent by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover according to the information provided by NAS). Paragraph [0285]: In operation 1 h-10, the UE may perform an operation of identifying parameters included in SIB1, particularly CellAccessRelatedInfo, and then storing parameters to be used to determine whether to use system information stored in another cell (determining validity of system information). This corresponds to an operation in which the UE selects and stores particular information included in SIB1, and the following values may be included in the particular information included in SIB1. Paragraph [0289]: cellIdentity: This stores the cellIdentity value included in PLMN-IdentityInfoList including the selected PLMN-Identity and NPN-Identity. That is, cellIdentity corresponds to a cellIdentity value included in the first PLMN-IdentityInfo or NPN-IdentityInfo among a plurality of PLMN-identity values included in PLMN-IdentityInfoList. Paragraph [0310]: In operation 1 h-20, the UE may use the first TAC and the first cell identity selected in operation 1 h-15 to perform an operation of determining whether the selected TA and cell are barred and whether TA update is required. More specifically, the operation of the UE in operation 1 h-20 may mean an operation of referring to information received from the NAS layer to determining whether the selected first TAC exists in the forbidden-TA list and whether the selected first cell identity exists in the forbidden-cell list. Also, the UE may compare whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TA list and determine whether the TA update is required, based on whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TAC.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recover second cell context information that is associated with a potential cell; compare the second cell context information to the forbidden TAC context information; determine, based at least in part on a comparison of the second cell context information to the forbidden TAC context information, that the potential cell is associated with the forbidden TAC, as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, so that the cell context information received from the SIB can to be used to avoid selecting a cell associated with a forbidden TAC (Jin: Paragraphs [0147], [0154], [0155], [0285], [0289], [0310]).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to (see rejection for claim 11);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach to store the second cell context information as at least part of the forbidden TAC context information.
However, Jin teaches to store the second cell context information as at least part of the forbidden TAC context information (Paragraph [0147]: Condition 3: A case in which the cell is not barred according to information that is most recently provided from the NAS layer, and the cell is part of at least one tracking area (TA) that is not part of the list of “forbidden tracking areas” which belongs to a PLMN that satisfies Condition 1 (The cell is part of at least one TA that is not part of the list of “forbidden Tracking Areas” which belongs to a PLMN that fulfils the first bullet above). Paragraph [0154]: The UE 1 e-01 may include one or more PLMN identities for a given cell in the system information SIB1 signaled through a broadcast channel. In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE 1 e-01 may receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell (In the system information on the broadcast channel, the UE can receive one or more multiple ‘PLMN identity’ in a given cell). Paragraph [0155]: The result of the PLMN selection procedure performed by the NAS layer is an identifier of the selected PLMN (The result of the PLMN selection performed by NAS is an identifier of the selected PLMN). The NAS layer may provide an equivalent PLMN list to the AS layer through the PLMN selection procedure 1 e-21. The equivalent PLMN list refers to the list of PLMNs selected by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover and PLMNs considered as equivalent (List of PLMNs considered as equivalent by the UE for cell selection, cell reselection, and handover according to the information provided by NAS). Paragraph [0285]: In operation 1 h-10, the UE may perform an operation of identifying parameters included in SIB1, particularly CellAccessRelatedInfo, and then storing parameters to be used to determine whether to use system information stored in another cell (determining validity of system information). This corresponds to an operation in which the UE selects and stores particular information included in SIB1, and the following values may be included in the particular information included in SIB1. Paragraph [0289]: cellIdentity: This stores the cellIdentity value included in PLMN-IdentityInfoList including the selected PLMN-Identity and NPN-Identity. That is, cellIdentity corresponds to a cellIdentity value included in the first PLMN-IdentityInfo or NPN-IdentityInfo among a plurality of PLMN-identity values included in PLMN-IdentityInfoList. Paragraph [0310]: In operation 1 h-20, the UE may use the first TAC and the first cell identity selected in operation 1 h-15 to perform an operation of determining whether the selected TA and cell are barred and whether TA update is required. More specifically, the operation of the UE in operation 1 h-20 may mean an operation of referring to information received from the NAS layer to determining whether the selected first TAC exists in the forbidden-TA list and whether the selected first cell identity exists in the forbidden-cell list. Also, the UE may compare whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TA list and determine whether the TA update is required, based on whether the selected first TAC is included in the valid TAC.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to store the second cell context information as at least part of the forbidden TAC context information, as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, so that the forbidden TAC context information of the can be used to determine that the cell is associated with a forbidden TAC (Jin: Paragraphs [0147], [0154], [0155], [0285], [0289], [0310]).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to (see rejection for claim 11);
Agiwal further teaches based at least in part on the determination that the potential cell is associated with the forbidden TAC (Paragraph [0020]: The method further includes determining whether the cell belongs to the PLMN equivalent to the registered PLMN by acquiring system information block type 1 (SIB1) of the cell. Paragraph [0120]: Referring to FIG. 3 , in operation 310, the UE 100 acquires master information block (MIB) from the Network 200. MIB may include information that are needed to acquire System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1). Paragraph [0121]: In operation 320, UE 100 acquires SIB1. The UE 100 may acquire SIB1 based on MIB. Paragraph [0124]: system information block type 1 carries cell indemnity, tracking area code, cell barring information. Paragraph [0147]: (i.e. if this cell does not belong to UE's PLMN). Paragraph [0148]: That is, UE shall exclude this cell as a candidate for cell selection/reselection for a pre-defined period and may perform cell selection/reselection to other cells on this cell's frequency. The time period for which the cell is barred can also be signaled by gNB at operation 450. Paragraph [0151]: In an embodiment, UE can determine that the cell belongs to UE's PLMN based on the SIB1 of this cell. If the PLMN identity of UE's PLMN is included in PLMNIdentityList in acquired SIB1, UE can determine that cell belongs to UE's PLMN. Paragraph [0153]: In an alternate embodiment, a cell may provide a list of PCIs corresponding to a PLMN. This information can be provided for multiple PLMNs. This information can be signaled in system information. So, UE may have information about a list of PCIs corresponding to one or more PLMNs based on system information acquired from another cell. If this cell's PCI is included in that information, UE can identify the PLMN of this cell hence determine if this cell belongs to this PLMN or not. Paragraph [0156]: If UE is not able to determine that the cell belongs to its PLMN or not, it will simply bar this cell. It shall not bar other cells on frequency of this cell.)
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Anders, and Jin does not explicitly teach to refrain, from generating the second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell.
However, Jung teaches to refrain, from generating the second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell (Paragraph [0116]: For the intra-frequency cell reselection or the inter-frequency cell reselection, the network may provide a cell reselection black list used in the cell reselection to the UE. The UE does not perform the cell reselection with respect to the cell included in the black list. Paragraph [0163]: Accordingly, the UE continuously measures a quality for a serving cell that provides a current service and a quality for a neighbor cell. The UE reports a measurement result to a network at an appropriate time and a network provides optimal mobility to the UE through a handover, and the like. Commonly, the measurement for the purpose is called a radio resource management (RRM) measurement. Paragraph [0216]: The UE may perform a measurement base on the measurement setting to obtain a second measurement result. Further, the UE evaluates whether a reporting condition of the second measurement result has been satisfied (S1530). Accordingly, the UE may confirm that the second measurement result satisfies the reporting condition. Paragraph [0221]: The first type measurement and the second type measurement may be measurements having different types of radio resources to be used for the purpose of the measurement. For example, the first type measurement may be an RRM measurement (RSRP, RSRQ), and the second-type measurement may be a CSI-RS measurement (RSRP RSRQ). Paragraph [0257]: a) With respect to a reporting condition defining only an enter condition, if the first type measurement result does not satisfy the reporting condition,… the UE may omit the first type measurement result from the reporting object..)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to refrain, from generating the second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Anders, and Jin, so that the signal metric is not transmitted if it does not satisfy the reporting condition (Jung: Paragraphs: [0116], [0163], [0257]).
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders teaches the method of claim 21, wherein receiving the indication of the forbidden TAC comprises (see rejection for claim 21);
Agiwal further teaches recovering the indication at a non-stratum access (NAS) layer of a protocol stack, and the method further comprises (see rejection for claim 7);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach forwarding, by the NAS layer of the protocol stack, the indication to a radio resource control (RRC) layer of the protocol stack.
However, Jin teaches forwarding, by the NAS layer of the protocol stack, the indication to a radio resource control (RRC) layer of the protocol stack (see rejection for claim 7);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide forwarding, by the NAS layer of the protocol stack, the indication to a radio resource control (RRC) layer of the protocol stack, as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, to determine whether the selected TA and cell are barred and whether TA update is required (Jin: Paragraphs [0155], [0310]).
Regarding claim 23, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the method of claim 22, further comprising: receiving, at the RRC layer of the protocol stack and from the NAS layer of the protocol stack, the indication of the forbidden TAC (see rejection for claim 22);
Agiwal further teaches wherein the indication from the NAS layer indicates that the identifier is associated with the forbidden TAC (see rejection for claim 8);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach
recovering, at the RRC layer of the protocol stack and based at least in part on receiving the indication from the NAS layer of the protocol stack, a system information block (SIB) prior to transmitting a measurement report associated with the measurement configuration, wherein the SIB indicates an identifier associated with the signal metric, and wherein the indication from the NAS layer indicates that the identifier is associated with the forbidden TAC.
However, Jin teaches recovering, at the RRC layer of the protocol stack and based at least in part
on receiving the indication from the NAS layer of the protocol stack, a system information block (SIB) prior to transmitting a measurement report associated with the measurement configuration, wherein the SIB indicates an identifier associated with the signal metric, and wherein the indication from the NAS layer indicates that the identifier is associated with the forbidden TAC (see rejection for claim 8);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to provide recovering, at the RRC layer of the protocol stack and based at least in part on receiving the indication from the NAS layer of the protocol stack, a system information block (SIB) prior to transmitting a measurement report associated with the measurement configuration, wherein the SIB indicates an identifier associated with the signal metric, and wherein the indication from the NAS layer indicates that the identifier is associated with the forbidden TAC, as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, to determine whether the identifier is for a forbidden TAC (Jin: Paragraphs [0154], [0155], [0310]).
Regarding claim 24, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders teaches the method of claim 21, further comprising (see rejection for claim 21);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach
recovering, at a radio resource control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack, cell context information associated with the cell; and storing, in memory at the UE, the cell context information as at least part of forbidden TAC context information.
However, Jin teaches recovering, at a radio resource control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack, cell context information associated with the cell; and storing, in memory at the UE, the cell context information as at least part of forbidden TAC context information (see rejection for claim 9);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide recovering, at a radio resource control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack, cell context information associated with the cell; and storing, in memory at the UE, the cell context information as at least part of forbidden TAC context information, as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, so that the cell context information can be used for cell selection/reselection (Jin: Paragraphs [0154], [0155], [0285], [0289], [0310]).
Regarding claim 25, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the method of claim 24, wherein recovering the cell context information comprises (see rejection for claim 24);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly recovering the cell context information based at least in part on a system information block (SIB).
However, Jin teaches recovering the cell context information based at least in part on a system information block (SIB) (see rejection for claim 10);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide recovering the cell context information based at least in part on a system information block (SIB), as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, so that the cell context information received from the SIB is based on the recent broadcast value, to be used for cell selection/reselection (Jin: Paragraphs [0154], [0155], [0285], [0289], [0291], [0310]).
Regarding claim 26, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the method of claim 24 wherein the cell context information is first cell context information, the signal metric is a first signal metric, the cell is a first cell, and the method further comprises: (see rejection for claim 24);
Agiwal further teaches the potential cell is/being associated with the forbidden TAC (see
rejection for claim 11);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, and Polaganga, Anders, and Jin does not explicitly teach refraining, based at least in part on the determining, from transmitting a second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell.
However, Jung teaches refraining, based at least in part on the determining, from transmitting a second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell (see rejection for claim 11);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide refraining, based at least in part on the determining, from transmitting a second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Anders, and Jin, so that the signal metric is not transmitted if it does not satisfy the reporting condition (Jung: Paragraphs: [0116], [0163], [0257]).
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach recovering second cell context information that is associated with a potential cell; comparing the second cell context information to the forbidden TAC context information; determining, based at least in part on the comparing, that the potential cell is associated with the forbidden TAC.
However, Jin teaches recovering second cell context information that is associated with a potential cell; comparing the second cell context information to the forbidden TAC context information; determining, based at least in part on the comparing, that the potential cell is associated with the forbidden TAC (see rejection for claim 11);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide recovering second cell context information that is associated with a potential cell; comparing the second cell context information to the forbidden TAC context information; determining, based at least in part on the comparing, that the potential cell is associated with the forbidden TAC, as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, so that the cell context information received from the SIB can to be used to avoid selecting a cell associated with a forbidden TAC (Jin: Paragraphs [0147], [0154], [0155], [0285], [0289], [0310]).
Regarding claim 27, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the method of claim 26, wherein the potential cell is a second cell that is different from the first cell, and the method further comprises (see rejection for claim 26);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders does not explicitly teach storing the second cell context information as at least part of the forbidden TAC context information.
However, Jin teaches storing the second cell context information as at least part of the forbidden TAC context information (see rejection for claim 12);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide storing the second cell context information as at least part of the forbidden TAC context information., as taught by Jin in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders, so that the forbidden TAC context information of the can be used to determine that the cell is associated with a forbidden TAC (Jin: Paragraphs [0147], [0154], [0155], [0285], [0289], [0310]).
Regarding claim 28, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, Anders, and Jin teaches the method of claim 26, further comprising (see rejection for claim 26);
Agiwal further teaches based at least in part on the determining (see rejection for
claim 13);
The combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Anders, and Jin do not explicitly teach to refraining, from generating the second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell.
However, Jung teaches refraining, from generating the second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell (see rejection for claim 13);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention refraining, from generating the second signal metric that is associated with the potential cell, as taught by Jung in the combined system of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Anders, and Jin, so that the signal metric is not transmitted if it does not satisfy the reporting condition (Jung: Paragraphs: [0116], [0163], [0257]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 and 16-20 are allowable over the prior art arts of record. The prior arts of record do not teach or disclose “an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive, from a network node, after initiating a barred cell timer associated with a barred cell and prior to expiration of the barred cell timer that is associated with the barred cell, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure a frequency that is associated with the barred cell; compute that a signal metric associated with the frequency and the barred cell satisfies a quality threshold; and selectively refrain from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric based at least in part on a state of the barred cell timer”, recited in independent claim 1, and “a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a network node, after initiating a barred cell timer associated with a barred cell and prior to expiration of the barred cell timer that is associated with the barred cell, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure a frequency that is associated with the barred cell; computing that a signal metric associated with the frequency and the barred cell satisfies a quality threshold; and selectively refraining from transmitting, to the network node, the signal metric based at least in part on a state of the barred cell timer”, recited in independent claim 16. Claims 2-5 are allowable due to their dependency on claim 1, and claims 17-20 are allowable due to their dependency on claim 16.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed April 21, 2026 with respect to claims 1-30 being rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been fully considered. Therefore, the rejection of claims 1-30 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) is withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed April 21, 2026 with respect to claims 1-4, and 16-19 being rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agiwal (US2024/0121700), in view of Polaganga (US2024/0298226), Jung et al. (US2015/0201343), and Sfar (US2015/0296444A1), have been fully considered and they are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection of claims 1-4, and 16-19, and also dependent claims 5 and 20, under 35 U.S.C. 103 is withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed April 21, 2026 with respect to claims 6, 14, 15, 21, 29, and 30 being rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agiwal (US2024/0121700), in view of Liu et al. (US2025/0063447A1), Polaganga (US2024/0298226), and Jung et al. (US2015/0201343), have been fully considered.
Applicant submits that the combination of Agiwal, Polaganga, and Jung does not disclose each and every feature recited in clam 6 which recites in part "receive, from a network node, an indication of a forbidden tracking area code (TAC); receive, from the network node, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, wherein the cell is associated with the forbidden TAC”, and similar features recited in independent claim 21. However, Anders Dahlén (US2016/0073304A1) hereinafter Anders, teaches "receive, from a network node, an indication of a forbidden tracking area code (TAC); receive, from the network node, a measurement configuration that indicates to measure at least one frequency associated with a cell, wherein the cell is associated with the forbidden TAC”. Anders teaches that the source eNB stores the area and access restriction information in UE context of the concerned UE, which includes forbidden tracking areas and location areas. The source eNB configures the UE measurement procedures according to the received area restriction information for the concerned UE and sends a measurement control message to the UE, which is then triggered to send measurement reports by the rules set by measurement control message specification. Based on the received measurement reports from the UE, and according to the stored area and restriction information in the UE context, the source eNB determines whether the carrier frequency used by the identified target cell is forbidden or allowed, and identifies a target cell.
Thus, the combination of Agiwal, Liu, Polaganga, Jung, and Anders teaches amended independent claims 6 and 21. Dependent claims 7-15, 22-30 are taught by a combination of the cited references.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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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/L.C./Examiner, Art Unit 2461
/HUY D VU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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