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 Amendment
Examiner acknowledges receipt of Applicant’s amendment filled 11/26/2025.
In the amendment, Applicant amended claims 1,3-5,7-8, 10, 12, 14, 16-18, and 20.
Applicant cancelled claims 2, 11, and 15.
Claims 1,3-10,12-14 and 16-20 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filled on 10/26/2025 has been fully considered.
Applicant’s remarks/arguments (page 8-9) with respect to 35 USC 102 (a) (2) rejection of amended claims 1, and 10 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 Objections
Claim 16 and claim 17 are objected to for depending on a canceled claim 15.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3-4, 14, 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vangala et al. (US20230189113-A1, hereinafter, Vangala) in view of LEE; Oanyong (US 20230043593-A1, hereinafter, Lee, as disclosed in Search report (WO2021/153954)).
Regarding Claim 1, Vangala discloses, a method for initiating one of a cell selection and a handover for a User Equipment (UE) (Fig. 3, UE 320a), the method comprising:
identifying, by the UE, a plurality of candidate cells for one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE ("...In some examples, at least one mobility-based cell selection factor may indicate that a relatively lower cell mobility corresponds with a relatively longer time between actual or expected instances of cell reselection or handover for the UE during a time interval. According to some examples, at least one mobility-based cell selection factor may indicate that a relatively lower cell mobility corresponds with relatively less variation in actual or expected RSRP during a time interval." [¶0073], see also, "In some examples, method 400 may involve performing, by the UE and based at least in part on the first measurement configuration, a RSRP evaluation of the two or more cells. In some such examples, the cell selection or reselection process may be associated with one or more RSRP evaluation results." [¶0078] see also, "...According to some examples, the cell selection or reselection process may involve one or more measurements, based at least in part on the first measurement configuration, of two or more candidate cells."[¶0075]); and
initiating, by the UE, one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE using the at least one candidate cell that supports relaxed measurement ("According to this example, block 430 involves performing a cell selection or reselection process associated with the one or more mobility-based cell selection factors and the first measurement configuration. In some examples, the cell selection or reselection process may involve a cell reselection process…According to some examples, the cell selection or reselection process may involve one or more measurements, based at least in part on the first measurement configuration, of two or more candidate cells."[¶0075], see also, "...In some such examples, method 400 may involve implementing the reduced threshold for determining the RLF associated with (for example, based in part on) a current serving cell corresponding with a high-mobility state. In some implementations, the UE 620a may be configured to trigger an RLF associated with determining that one or more neighbor cells correspond with one or more relatively more relaxed measurement parameters than those of the serving cell." [¶0100], see also, "4. The method of any one of clauses 1-3, where at least one mobility-based cell selection factor indicates that a relatively lower cell mobility corresponds with a relatively longer time between actual or expected instances of cell reselection or handover for the UE during a time interval." [¶0106]).
Vangala doesn’t explicitly disclose, receiving and analyzing information broadcast by each of the plurality of candidate cells;
based on the analysis of the information for each of the plurality of candidate cells, identifying, by the UE, at least one candidate cell that supports relaxed measurement from among the plurality of candidate cells;
Lee, in related art relates, receiving and analyzing information broadcast by each of the plurality of candidate cells (Fig. 10, see also, "In step S1003, the wireless device may identify a representative cell of each of a plurality of frequencies for measurement." [¶0196]).
based on the analysis of the information for each of the plurality of candidate cells, (Fig. 10, 11, see also, "In step S1005, the wireless device may obtain a representative cell quality for each of the plurality of frequencies based on a measurement on the representative cell of each of the plurality of frequencies." [¶0197]), identifying, by the UE, at least one candidate cell that supports relaxed measurement from among the plurality of candidate cells (Fig. 10, 11, see also, “In step S1007, the wireless device may perform a relaxed measurement on the plurality of frequencies based on a determination that a triggering condition for the relaxed measurement is satisfied. For example, the triggering condition may comprise a first condition that a number of frequencies for which representative cell quality is higher than the first cell quality threshold among the plurality of frequencies is lower than the first triggering threshold. For another example, the triggering condition may comprise a second condition that a number of frequencies for which representative cell quality is lower than the second cell quality threshold among the plurality of frequencies is higher than the second triggering threshold. The triggering condition may comprise at least one of the first condition or the second condition.” [¶0198]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Vangala with the idea of having an UE, which identifies candidate cells supporting relaxed measurements by decoding System Information Blocks (SIB2 or other broadcast messages) as disclosed by Lee. The rationale for doing this is that, these measurements help reduce power consumption, especially when the UE is not actively transferring data.
Regarding Claim 3, Combination of Vangala and Lee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1.
Vangala further discloses, wherein the information broadcasted in each of the plurality of candidate cells is for one of the cell selection and the handover ("Whether operating in idle mode or in connected mode, the UE 320a may periodically measure the strength of signals from a serving cell and neighbor cells, which may include the BSs 310a-310c in this example. In some examples, the UE 320a may measure the signal strengths according to measurement configuration information that has previously been received from a network via a BS. For example, the UE 320a may have received system information (such as information in a system information block (SIB)) that includes criteria for the UE to use for signal strength measurements, such as reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements." [¶0057], see also, In some examples, the UE 320a may receive (or may have received) from the network a measurement configuration including one or more relaxed measurement conditions..." [¶0065]). Here, cell selection usually happens during idle mode and handover happens during connected mode of operation.
Regarding Claim 4, The method as claimed in claim 1,
Vangala also teaches, further comprising: determining whether the information includes at least one relaxed measurement parameter for each of the plurality of candidate cells, wherein the at least one relaxed measurement parameter indicates a relaxation method for a cell measurement in the corresponding candidate cell of the plurality of candidate cells ("...In some implementations, the UE 620a may be configured to trigger an RLF associated with determining that one or more neighbor cells correspond with one or more relatively more relaxed measurement parameters than those of the serving cell." [¶0100]); and
wherein identifying the at least one candidate cell comprises identifying, by the UE, the at least one candidate cell that supports relaxed measurement based on a determination that the information includes the at least one relaxed measurement parameter for each of the at least one candidate cell ("In this example, block 420 involves receiving (in this example, by the UE and from the network) a first measurement configuration including one or more relaxed measurement conditions. According to this example, at least one of the one or more relaxed measurement conditions corresponds with a relatively higher measurement periodicity (in other words, a relatively longer time interval between measurements) associated with selection of the relatively lower-mobility cell." [¶0074], see also, "... According to some examples, the cell selection or reselection process may involve one or more measurements, based at least in part on the first measurement configuration, of two or more candidate cells." [¶0075]).
Regarding claims [14, 16-17] “System”, are rejected under the same reasoning as claims [1, 3-4] “Method”, where Vangala/ Lee teaches Method/System.
Claims 5, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vangala and Lee in view of Cheng; Chien-Chun (US20250016700-A1, hereinafter, Cheng).
Regarding Claim 5, Combination of Vangala and Lee disclose the method as claimed in claim 4.
Vangala don’t explicitly disclose, further comprising: wherein the information comprises a System Information Block2 (SIB2) Information Element (IE), and
wherein the SIB2 IE is received by the UE during one of a cell selection/reselection, a conditional handover, a Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) handover, redirection, and mobility to New Radio (NR) from Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA).
Cheng, in relates art relates, further comprising: wherein the information comprises a System Information Block2 (SIB2) Information Element (IE), and
wherein the SIB2 IE is received by the UE during one of a cell selection/reselection, a conditional handover, a Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) handover, redirection, and mobility to New Radio (NR) from Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA) ( "...Scenario 1000 illustrates an example on access procedure associated with alternative 2 for LP cell. The UE in the camped state may receive SIB2. SIB2 may contain cell re-selection information for intra-frequency cell selection..." [¶0073], see also, "...Scenario 200 involves a plurality of network nodes (e.g., a macro base station and a micro base station) and a UE, which may be a part of a wireless communication network (e.g., an LTE network, a 5G/NR network, an IoT network or a 6G network). Scenario 200 illustrates an example of alternative 1 for accessing the LP cell. For alternative 1, the UE may establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection via the normal cell by the initial cell search procedure. Once the UE establish the RRC connection successfully, the network node may provide access to a long-periodicity cell by one of the following procedure: (1) handover (HO), (2) conditional HO (CHO), (3) dual active protocol stack (DASP), (4) carrier arrogation (CA), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA)-New Radio (NR)..." [¶0042]). During LP, that is "long periodicity" the network signals to the UE that it can begin relaxed measurements, the UE can increase the time interval between its RRM measurements. Instead of the standard, more frequent measurements, the UE can monitor neighboring cells much less often. This effectively increases the "periodicity" of measurements and the time spent in a low-power state.
After receiving System Information Block Type 2 (SIB2), a User Equipment (UE) proceeds with the random access procedure by transmitting a random access preamble (Msg1), which informs the base station (eNodeB/gNB) of the UE's need to establish an RRC connection.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Vangala and Lee with the idea of using SIB 2 for cell selection, handover, etc. as disclosed by Cheng. The rationale is specifically concerning power-saving enhancements in 4g/5g network, as SIB2 can contain parameters related to relaxed measurements. The UE confirms the presence of these parameters by reviewing the contents of the SIB2 broadcast.
Regarding claim [18] “System”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim [5] “Method”, where Cheng/Lee/ teaches Method/System.
Claims 6, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vangala and Lee in view of Li et al. (US 20240172120 A1, hereinafter, Li).
Regarding Claim 6, Combination of Vangala and Lee disclose the method as claimed in claim 4. Vangala explicitly doesn’t teach, wherein the at least one relaxed measurement parameter for a candidate cell indicates support for relaxation of frequency measurements in one of an idle and inactive state of the UE, based on the UE being served by the candidate cell.
Li, in related art relates, wherein the at least one relaxed measurement parameter for a candidate cell indicates support for relaxation of frequency measurements in one of an idle and inactive state of the UE, based on the UE being served by the candidate cell ("...The terminal device in the first state performs idle-state behavior such as relaxed intra-frequency measurement, relaxed inter-frequency measurement, relaxed cell measurement, and/or relaxed cell reselection. The relaxed intra-frequency measurement/inter-frequency measurement/cell measurement means that, compared with intra-frequency measurement/inter-frequency measurement/cell measurement in the idle state or the inactive state defined in the existing protocol, the relaxed intra-frequency measurement/inter-frequency measurement/cell measurement has a longer measurement period..." [¶0016]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Vangala and Lee with the idea of using at least one relaxed measurement parameter for a candidate cell in idle /inactive state as disclosed by Li. The rationale for doing so is to reduce power consumption, "...The relaxed cell reselection means that, compared with cell reselection in an idle state or an inactive state defined in the existing protocol, the relaxed cell reselection has a lower threshold for triggering cell reselection or triggering cell measurement. Behavior of the terminal device in the first state is limited, so that power consumption of the terminal device is further reduced." [¶0016].
Regarding claim [19] “System”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim [6] “Method”, where Vangala/Lee/Li teaches Method/System.
Claims 7, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vangala and Lee in view of Huang et al. (US 20250142407 A1, hereinafter, Huang).
Regarding Claim 7, Combination of Vangala and Lee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1.
Vangala doesn’t explicitly disclose, wherein initiating one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE using the at least one candidate cell that supports relaxed measurement comprises:
selecting the at least one candidate cell for camping on, in response to a determination that the UE needs to initiate the cell selection; and
sending measurement report for the at least one candidate cell in response to a determination that the UE needs to initiate the handover.
Huang, in related art relates, wherein initiating one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE using the at least one candidate cell that supports relaxed measurement comprises:
selecting the at least one candidate cell for camping on, in response to a determination that the UE needs to initiate the cell selection ("For the case of conditional handover, if the UE considers the entry condition for a measurement event is satisfied for a cell (e.g., candidate cell), the UE could apply a stored (or configured, or preconfigured) handover command (e.g., condRRCReconfig) to initiate a handover (e.g., RRC reconfiguration with sync) procedure toward the candidate cell (as a target cell)..." [¶0329], see also, "For the case of cell reselection, if the UE considers the condition for a measurement event is satisfied for a cell (e.g., neighbor cell), the UE may reselect to the cell (e.g., neighbor cell) and/or camp to the cell (e.g., neighbor cell)." [¶0331]); Here, candidate cells are selected from the neighbor cell. and
sending measurement report for the at least one candidate cell in response to a determination that the UE needs to initiate the handover ("For the case of conditional handover, if the UE considers the entry condition for a measurement event is satisfied for a cell (e.g., candidate cell), the UE could apply a stored (or configured, or preconfigured) handover command (e.g., condRRCReconfig) to initiate a handover (e.g., RRC reconfiguration with sync) procedure toward the candidate cell (as a target cell)...The UE could initiate a measurement reporting procedure if the entering condition for a measurement event is satisfied. The UE may initiate a measurement reporting procedure if the leaving condition for a measurement event is satisfied. “Satisfied” as described above could mean that the condition is (continuously) satisfied during a configurable timer period (e.g., timeToTrigger)." [¶0329]”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of Vangala and Lee with the idea of specific actions taken depend on the UE's state, either idle (leading to cell selection) or connected (leading to handover) as disclosed by Huang. The rationale for following the strategy for a User Equipment (UE) to save power by relaxing measurement requirements when conditions are good during cell selection or handover.
Regarding claim [20] “System”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim [7] “Method”, where Vangala/Lee/ Huang teaches Method/System.
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vangala and Lee in view of Lee et al. (US 20240163765 A1, hereinafter, Lee-3765).
Regarding Claim 8, Combination of Vangala and Lee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1.
Vangala further teaches, wherein initiating one of the cell selection and the handover comprises: determining at least two candidate cells that support relaxed measurement from among the plurality of candidate cells ("...the cell selection or reselection process may involve a cell reselection process. Block 430 may, for example, be performed by one or more elements of a UE control system, such as the controller/processor 280 of FIG. 2. According to some examples, the cell selection or reselection process may involve one or more measurements, based at least in part on the first measurement configuration, of two or more candidate cells." [¶0075]);
Vangala doesn’t explicitly disclose, comparing a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and a bandwidth of the at least two candidate cells to determine a selected candidate cell with a higher RSRP and the bandwidth; and
initiating, by the UE, one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE using the selected candidate cell.
Lee-3765, in related art relates, comparing a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and a bandwidth of the at least two candidate cells to determine a selected candidate cell with a higher RSRP and the bandwidth ("The method of claim 1, wherein the neighbor cells comprise target cells for a conditional mobility, wherein the method further comprises: performing a measurement on each of the target cells to obtain a signal quality of each of the target cells; and determining the cell having a highest signal quality among the selected one or more cells based on the signal quality of each of the target cells, and wherein the performing of the cell reselection to the cell comprises performing a conditional mobility to the cell based on a mobility command related to the cell." [Claim 4]); Here the highest signal quality means having highest RSRP and higher BW; and
initiating, by the UE, one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE using the selected candidate cell (Fig 12, see also, "In step S1207, the UE may perform a cell reselection to a cell among the selected one or more cells." [¶0214]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Vangala and Lee with the idea of using both Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and bandwidth to decide which cell to connect to during cell selection and handover procedures as disclosed by Lee-3765. The rationale for using both Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and bandwidth to decide is to ensures the best possible connectivity, balancing strong signal strength with high data throughput.
Regarding Claim 9, Combination of Vangala and Lee disclose the method as claimed in claim 1.
Vangala doesn’t explicitly teach, further comprising: detecting that a signal strength of a UE connected with a first cell is reduced below a specified threshold level; and
identifying the plurality of candidate cells having a signal strength above another specified threshold level in response to detecting that the signal strength of the UE connected with the first cell decreases below the specified threshold level.
Lee-3765, in related art relates, further comprising: detecting that a signal strength of a UE connected with a first cell is reduced below a specified threshold level ("For example, the mobility condition for a target cell may comprise event A5 condition. The event A5 condition may be related to a serving cell threshold and a target cell threshold. The event A5 condition for a target cell may be satisfied if a signal quality for the target cell is better than the target cell threshold and a signal quality for the serving cell is lower than the serving cell threshold." 0183]); and
identifying the plurality of candidate cells having a signal strength above another specified threshold level in response to detecting that the signal strength of the UE connected with the first cell decreases below the specified threshold level ("...The UE may calculate the remaining accessible/service time of each cell in the first neighbor cell list whose measured cell quality is higher than a threshold. The UE may calculate a distance between the UE and each cell in the second neighbor cell list whose measured cell quality is higher than a threshold. The UE may perform a cell reselection to a neighbor cell whose cell quality is the highest, among the cells whose calculated remaining service time is the longest among the cells in the first neighbor cell list and calculated distance is the shortest among the cells in the second neighbor cell list." [¶0226]). Here “signal strength” could be used for “cell quality” as signal strength is a fundamental part of overall cell quality.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Vangala and Lee with the idea of setting up a condition for a target cell that may be satisfied if a signal quality for the target cell is better than the target cell threshold as disclosed by Lee-3765. The rationale for using candidate cells having a signal strength above a specified threshold level is to ensures that "...The UE may perform a cell reselection to a neighbor cell whose cell quality is the highest..." [¶0226].
Regarding Claim 10, Vangala discloses, a method for initiating one of a cell selection and a handover for a User Equipment (UE) (Fig. 3, UE 320a), the method comprising:
identifying, by the UE, a plurality of candidate cells for one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE ("...In some examples, at least one mobility-based cell selection factor may indicate that a relatively lower cell mobility corresponds with a relatively longer time between actual or expected instances of cell reselection or handover for the UE during a time interval. According to some examples, at least one mobility-based cell selection factor may indicate that a relatively lower cell mobility corresponds with relatively less variation in actual or expected RSRP during a time interval." [¶0073], see also, "In some examples, method 400 may involve performing, by the UE and based at least in part on the first measurement configuration, a RSRP evaluation of the two or more cells. In some such examples, the cell selection or reselection process may be associated with one or more RSRP evaluation results." [¶0078] see also, "...According to some examples, the cell selection or reselection process may involve one or more measurements, based at least in part on the first measurement configuration, of two or more candidate cells."[¶0075]);;
Vangala doesn’t disclose, receiving and analyzing information broadcast by each of the plurality of candidate cells;
based on the analysis of the information for each of the plurality of candidate cells, identifying, by the UE, at least one candidate cell that supports relaxed measurement from among the plurality of candidate cells, and at least one other candidate cell that does not support relaxed measurement from among the plurality of candidate cells;
determining whether a signal strength of the at least one other candidate cell is higher than the signal strength of the at least one candidate cell by a specified threshold; and
initiating, by the UE, one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE based on the determination.
Lee, in related art relates, receiving and analyzing information broadcast by each of the plurality of candidate cells(Fig. 10, see also, "In step S1003, the wireless device may identify a representative cell of each of a plurality of frequencies for measurement." [¶0196]).
based on the analysis of the information for each of the plurality of candidate cells, (Fig. 10, 11, see also, "In step S1005, the wireless device may obtain a representative cell quality for each of the plurality of frequencies based on a measurement on the representative cell of each of the plurality of frequencies." [¶0197]), identifying, by the UE, at least one candidate cell that supports relaxed measurement from among the plurality of candidate cells (Fig. 10, 11, see also, “In step S1007, the wireless device may perform a relaxed measurement on the plurality of frequencies based on a determination that a triggering condition for the relaxed measurement is satisfied. For example, the triggering condition may comprise a first condition that a number of frequencies for which representative cell quality is higher than the first cell quality threshold among the plurality of frequencies is lower than the first triggering threshold. For another example, the triggering condition may comprise a second condition that a number of frequencies for which representative cell quality is lower than the second cell quality threshold among the plurality of frequencies is higher than the second triggering threshold. The triggering condition may comprise at least one of the first condition or the second condition.” [¶0198]), and at least one other candidate cell that does not support relaxed measurement from among the plurality of candidate cells ("The above relaxed measurements and no measurement may not be applicable for frequencies that are included in VarMeasIdleConfig, if configured and for which the UE supports dual connectivity or carrier aggregation between those frequencies and the frequency of the current serving cell." [0191]);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Vangala with the idea of having an UE, which identifies candidate cells supporting relaxed measurements by decoding System Information Blocks (SIB2 or other broadcast messages) as disclosed by Lee. The rationale for doing this is that, these measurements help reduce power consumption, especially when the UE is not actively transferring data.
Lee-3765, in related art relates, determining whether a signal strength of the at least one other candidate cell is higher than the signal strength of the at least one candidate cell by a specified threshold ("...The UE may calculate the remaining accessible/service time of each cell in the first neighbor cell list whose measured cell quality is higher than a threshold. The UE may calculate a distance between the UE and each cell in the second neighbor cell list whose measured cell quality is higher than a threshold. The UE may perform a cell reselection to a neighbor cell whose cell quality is the highest, among the cells whose calculated remaining service time is the longest among the cells in the first neighbor cell list and calculated distance is the shortest among the cells in the second neighbor cell list." [¶0226]). Here “signal strength” could be used for “cell quality” as signal strength is a fundamental part of overall cell quality; and
initiating, by the UE, one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE based on the determination ("The R.sub.s may also be referred to as a cell ranking value for a serving cell. The R.sub.n may also be referred to as a cell ranking value for neighbour cell. The UE shall perform ranking of all cells that fulfil the cell selection criterion S." [¶0170], see also, "...If there are multiple such cells, the UE shall perform cell reselection to the highest ranked cell among them." [¶0173]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Vangala and Lee with the idea of setting up a condition for a candidate cell that may be satisfied if a signal quality for the candidate cell is better than the candidate cell threshold as disclosed by Lee-3765. The rationale for using candidate cells having a signal strength above a specified threshold level is to ensures that "...The UE may perform a cell reselection to a neighbor cell whose cell quality is the highest..." [¶0226].
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vangala, Lee, and Lee-3765 and further in view of Cheng.
Regarding Claim 12, Combination of Vangala, Lee and Lee-3765 disclose the method as claim 10.
Vangala doesn’t explicitly teach, wherein the information broadcasted in each of the plurality of candidate cells is for one of the cell selection and the handover.
Cheng, in related art relates, wherein the information broadcasted in each of the plurality of candidate cells is for one of the cell selection and the handover (Fig. 10, see also, "...Scenario 1000 involves a network node, a UE and an LP cell, which may be a part of a wireless communication network (e.g., an LTE network, a 5G/NR network, an IoT network or a 6G network). Scenario 1000 illustrates an example on access procedure associated with alternative 2 for LP cell. The UE in the camped state may receive SIB2. SIB2 may contain cell re-selection information for intra-frequency cell selection. The cell 1 re-selection information for intra-frequency cell selection may include intraFreqCell ReselectionInfo..." [¶0073]). During LP, that is "long periodicity" the network signals to the UE that it can begin relaxed measurements, the UE can increase the time interval between its RRM measurements. Instead of the standard, more frequent measurements, the UE can monitor neighboring cells much less often. This effectively increases the "periodicity" of measurements and the time spent in a low-power state.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the idea of Vangala, Lee and Lee-3765 with the idea of using SIB 2 for cell selection, handover, etc. as disclosed by Cheng. The rationale is specifically concerning power-saving enhancements in 4g/5g network, as SIB2 can contain parameters related to relaxed measurements. The UE confirms the presence of these parameters by reviewing the contents of the SIB2 broadcast.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vangala, Lee and Lee-3765 and further in view of Huang.
Regarding Claim 13, Combination of Vangala, Lee and Lee-3765 disclose the method as claim 10.
Vangala does not explicitly disclose, wherein initiating one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE using the at least one candidate cell that support relaxed measurement comprises:
selecting the at least one candidate cell for camping on, in response to a determination that the UE needs to initiate the cell selection; and
sending measurement report for the at least one candidate cell in response to a determination that the UE needs to initiate the handover.
Huang, in related art relates, wherein initiating one of the cell selection and the handover for the UE using the at least one candidate cell that support relaxed measurement comprises:
selecting the at least one candidate cell for camping on, in response to a determination that the UE needs to initiate the cell selection ("For the case of conditional handover, if the UE considers the entry condition for a measurement event is satisfied for a cell (e.g., candidate cell), the UE could apply a stored (or configured, or preconfigured) handover command (e.g., condRRCReconfig) to initiate a handover (e.g., RRC reconfiguration with sync) procedure toward the candidate cell (as a target cell)..." [¶0329], see also, "For the case of cell reselection, if the UE considers the condition for a measurement event is satisfied for a cell (e.g., neighbor cell), the UE may reselect to the cell (e.g., neighbor cell) and/or camp to the cell (e.g., neighbor cell)." [¶0331]); Here, candidate cells are selected from the neighbor cell. and
sending measurement report for the at least one candidate cell in response to a determination that the UE needs to initiate the handover ("For the case of conditional handover, if the UE considers the entry condition for a measurement event is satisfied for a cell (e.g., candidate cell), the UE could apply a stored (or configured, or preconfigured) handover command (e.g., condRRCReconfig) to initiate a handover (e.g., RRC reconfiguration with sync) procedure toward the candidate cell (as a target cell)...The UE could initiate a measurement reporting procedure if the entering condition for a measurement event is satisfied. The UE may initiate a measurement reporting procedure if the leaving condition for a measurement event is satisfied. “Satisfied” as described above could mean that the condition is (continuously) satisfied during a configurable timer period (e.g., timeToTrigger)." [¶0329]”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of Vangala, Lee and Lee-3765 with the idea of specific actions taken depend on the UE's state, either idle (leading to cell selection) or connected (leading to handover) as disclosed by Huang. The rationale for following the strategy for a User Equipment (UE) to save power by relaxing measurement requirements when conditions are good during cell selection or handover.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUHAMMAD AINUL HUDA whose telephone number is (703)756-1594. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 - 6:30 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, HASSAN PHILLIPS can be reached on (571)272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MUHAMMAD AINUL HUDA/Examiner, Art Unit 4126
/HASSAN A PHILLIPS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467