DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
This communication is in response to the amendment of 3/11/2026. All changes made to the claims have been entered. Accordingly, Claims 1-17, 27-28 are currently pending in the application and 18-26, 29-30 withdrawn.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the amended subject matter of “transmit, to a network node, a communication including a measurement gap (MG) skipping indication associated with skipping measurements to be performed within a skipped MG occasion, wherein the MG skipping indication indicates at least one utilized MG occasion based on a status of a buffer of the UE” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 7, 8, 15, 27, 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US 2022/0078650).
Regarding claim 1, 27, Lee discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (a user equipment (UE) of transmitting uplink signals in a wireless communication system, [0006] and figure 2 and figure 8), comprising:
one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, configured to cause the UE to (The UE comprises: a transceiver; at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations, [0006] and figure 2):
transmit, to a network node, a communication including a measurement gap (MG) skipping indication associated with skipping measurements to be performed within a skipped MG occasion (receiving configuration information regarding a measurement gap (MG); transmitting a MG skip indication associated with the MG and indicating the measurement gap skip to the network and if the MG skip signaling has been transmitted, the UE may not or does not perform the measurement during the measurement gap associated with the transmitted MG skip signaling, [0006] and [0201] and [0205]-[0213] and [0216] and [0233] and figure 8), wherein the MG skipping indication indicates at least one utilized MG occasion based on a status of a buffer of the UE (The UE may trigger the MG skip when URLLC data arrives at the UE buffer. A UE transmits a measurement gap (MG) skip signaling (S802), if the UE buffer for the URLLC data (e.g., RLC buffer of a logical channel for URLLC, and/or HARQ buffer including the logical channel for URLLC) is not empty (correlating to status of a buffer) and transmitting the uplink signals during the MG and a UE transmits UL data or scheduling request (SR), or receives UL grant, DL assignment, or DL data during the associated measurement gap (correlating to utilized MG occasion), [0205] and [0261] and [0006] and [0201] and [0205]-[0213] and [0233] and figure 8 ); and
perform a wireless communication operation in association with the MG skipping indication (transmitting the uplink signals during the MG, [0006] and [0205]-[0213] and [0233] and figure 8).
Regarding claim 2, Lee discloses wherein the MG skipping indication indicates the skipped MG occasion based on a determination that the buffer of the UE contains data to be transmitted (The UE may trigger the MG skip when URLLC data arrives at the UE buffer. A UE transmits a measurement gap (MG) skip signaling (S802), if the UE buffer for the URLLC data (e.g., RLC buffer of a logical channel for URLLC, and/or HARQ buffer including the logical channel for URLLC) is not empty, [0205] and [0261]).
Regarding claim 7, Lee discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to receive, from the network node, an indication associated with MG configuration information, wherein the one or more processors, to cause the UE to perform the wireless communication operation, are configured to cause the UE to perform the wireless communication operation based on the indication (receiving configuration information regarding a measurement gap (MG) and The UE may configure UL resources for the MG skip based on the configuration information, [0006] and [0204] and [0214] and [0274]-[0275] and [0287]).
Regarding claim 8, 28, Lee discloses wherein the communication comprises an uplink control information (UCI) communication (indicating the measurement gap skip to the network and A UE transmits a measurement gap (MG) skip signaling (S802) and REs carrying uplink control information (UCI), [0201] and [0205]-[0214] and [0073] and [0070] and [0105] and figure 8).
Regarding claim 15, Lee discloses wherein the communication comprises at least one of a physical uplink shared channel communication or a physical uplink control channel communication (the resources for the MG skip signaling may be periodically allocated on the physical channel (e.g. PUCCH), [0216] and [0230] and [0233] and [0073]).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 4, 5, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al., in further view of Cui et al. (US 2022/0132527).
Regarding claim 4, Lee fails to disclose the UE to perform a measurement operation associated with at least one MG occasion based on a priority associated with the at least one MG occasion. However in a similar field of endeavor, Cui discloses the UE to perform a measurement operation associated with at least one MG occasion based on a priority associated with the at least one MG occasion (if the UL transmission is colliding with the SSB based intra-frequency neighbor cell measurement within MG (measurement gap), this intra-frequency measurement shall be prioritized over UL transmission due to UE behavior definition during MG, [0047] and [0053]-[0054] and [0028] and [0038]-[0044] and [0228]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of having measurement gaps corresponding to SSB based intra-frequency neighbor cell measurement be prioritized over UL transmissions as disclosed by Cui into the method of transmitting UL data of the UE that may be performed during a measurement gap as disclosed by Lee in order to improve the system and provide flexible scenarios when measurement gaps may not be skipped.
Regarding claim 5, Lee fails to disclose based on the priority, cause a radio frequency component to measure at least one synchronization signal block associated with at least one neighbor network node. However in a similar field of endeavor, Cui discloses based on the priority, cause a radio frequency component to measure at least one synchronization signal block associated with at least one neighbor network node (if the UL transmission is colliding with the SSB based intra-frequency neighbor cell measurement within MG (measurement gap), this intra-frequency measurement shall be prioritized over UL transmission due to UE behavior definition during MG, [0047] and [0053]-[0054] and [0028] and [0038]-[0044] and [0228]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of having measurement gaps corresponding to SSB based intra-frequency neighbor cell measurement be prioritized over UL transmissions as disclosed by Cui into the method of transmitting UL data of the UE that may be performed during a measurement gap as disclosed by Lee in order to improve the system and provide flexible scenarios when measurement gaps may not be skipped.
Regarding claim 6, Lee discloses wherein the one or more processors, to cause the UE to perform the wireless communication operation, are configured to cause the UE to skip the at least one MG occasion based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) associated with a serving cell satisfying an RSRP threshold (For example, if the UE could skip the measurement gap to transmit/receive the URLLC data and channel quality of the serving cell is above the threshold specified by the network, the UE does not perform the measurement and may transmit and/or receive URLLC data during the measurement gap and the threshold value(s) for the MG skip may be configured for RSRP, [0273]-[0274] and [0276]-[0282] and [0287]-[0288]).
Claim(s) 13, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al., in further view of Li et al. (US 2024/0236735).
Regarding claim 13, Lee fails to disclose wherein the communication comprises a bitmap that indicates the skipped MG occasion. However in a similar field of endeavor, Li discloses wherein the communication comprises a bitmap that indicates the skipped MG occasion (a bitmap string with each bit corresponding to a MG of a number of MGs…For example, if the indicator is a bitmap string like {1, 1, 0, 0, . . . , 0, 0},…the first and second MGs…shall not be cancelled and the rest N-2 MGs (where N equals a lengths of the bitmap string)…shall be cancelled, [0090] and [0093] and [0105]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of using a bitmap to indicate skipped/cancelled MGs as disclosed by Li into the method of a UE transmitting a MG skip indication associated with the MG as disclosed by Lee in order to improve the system and provide flexible means of transmitting MG skip indications, such as via a bitmap.
Regarding claim 14, Lee fails to disclose wherein the communication comprises a codepoint that indicates the skipped MG occasion. However in a similar field of endeavor, Li discloses wherein the communication comprises a codepoint that indicates the skipped MG occasion (a bitmap string with each bit corresponding to a MG of a number of MGs…For example, if the indicator is a bitmap string like {1, 1, 0, 0, . . . , 0, 0}(correlating to codepoint),…the first and second MGs…shall not be cancelled and the rest N-2 MGs (where N equals a lengths of the bitmap string)…shall be cancelled, [0090] and [0093] and [0105]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of using a bitmap/codepoint to indicate skipped/cancelled MGs as disclosed by Li into the method of a UE transmitting a MG skip indication associated with the MG as disclosed by Lee in order to improve the system and provide flexible means of transmitting MG skip indications, such as via a bitmap/codepoint.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al., in further view of Zhou et al. (US 2023/0145848).
Regarding claim 16, Lee fails to disclose the UE to receive, from the network node, an acknowledgement communication indicative of at least one of an MG skipping indication associated with at least one MG, an MG occasion pattern associated with at least one MG, or a radio resource control configuration associated with the at least one MG. However in a similar field of endeavor, Zhou discloses the UE to receive, from the network node, an acknowledgement communication indicative of at least one of an MG skipping indication associated with at least one MG, an MG occasion pattern associated with at least one MG, or a radio resource control configuration associated with the at least one MG (The user equipment (UE) may conduct RRM measurements within an SMTC window defined by the various parameters and transmitting the request 510b after which the UE may skip RRM measurement during the configured SMTC windows…after reception of an acknowledgment at 512 when the UE may skip the RRM measurements during the configured SMTC windows. In some aspects, the acknowledgment may be sent from the base station 404 in PDCCH. In some aspects, the acknowledgment may be sent from the base station 404 in a dedicated feedback channel as downlink feedback information…Subsequent SMTC windows 516a, 516b, 516c, etc., may be skipped based on the specific temporary or persistent change requested by the UE. The subsequent SMTC windows 516a, 516b, 516c, etc. may be used for data transmission between the base station and the UE, [0005] and [0057]-[0058] and abstract [0066] and [0074] and [0078]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of having a UE receive an acknowledgment to skipping measurements requested by a UE as disclosed by Zhou into the method of a UE transmitting a MG skip indication such that communication between the UE and base station may be transmitted as disclosed by Lee in order to improve the system and provide flexible means of determining when to skip measurements, such as via a receipt of an acknowledgement.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al., in further view of Abraham et al. (US 2024/0251304).
Regarding claim 17, Lee fails to disclose wherein the communication comprises at least one of UE assistance information or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE). However in a similar field of endeavor, Abraham discloses the communication comprises at least one of UE assistance information or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) (uplink (UL) medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) requesting activation or deactivation of a first measurement gap, [0010] and [0040]-[0042] and [0059]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of using a MAC CE to deactivate measurement gaps (correlating to skipping measurements) as disclosed by Abraham into the method of a UE transmitting a MG skip indication such that communication between the UE and base station may be transmitted as disclosed by Lee in order to improve the system and provide flexible means of indicating when to skip a measurement gap, such as via MAC CE.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3, 9-12 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/11/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant submits that Lee does not disclose “wherein the MG skipping indication indicates at least one utilized MG occasion based on a status of a buffer of the UE” (remarks page 10-11). Examiner however respectfully disagrees as Lee discloses “The UE may trigger the MG skip when URLLC data arrives at the UE buffer. A UE transmits a measurement gap (MG) skip signaling (S802), if the UE buffer for the URLLC data (e.g., RLC buffer of a logical channel for URLLC, and/or HARQ buffer including the logical channel for URLLC) is not empty (Examiner correlating to status of a buffer) and transmitting the uplink signals during the MG and a UE transmits UL data or scheduling request (SR), or receives UL grant, DL assignment, or DL data during the associated measurement gap (Examiner correlating to utilized MG occasion)” ([0205] and [0261] and [0006] and [0201] and [0205]-[0213] and [0233] and figure 8). Examiner thus correlates such teachings to “wherein the MG skipping indication indicates at least one utilized MG occasion based on a status of a buffer of the UE”.
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 NGUYEN HOANG NGO whose telephone number is (571)272-8398. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang Yao can be reached at 571-272-3182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NGUYEN H NGO/Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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