DETAILED ACTION
1. Applicant’s response filed on 12/11/2025 has been entered and made of record.
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 .
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Examiner has considered the references provided on the Information Disclosure Statement filed on 01/25/2024.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks (Page 10-11), filed on 12/11/2025, regarding Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 102 based on ZHU have been fully considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejections. For further details, please refer to the below rejection.
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.
Claim(s) Claim(s) 1-5, 7-13, 15-20, and 22-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qian et al. (US 2020/0266908 A1), hereinafter “Qian” in view of Haustein et al. (US 2023/0189382 A1), hereinafter “Haustein”.
Regarding claim 1, Qian discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a first network entity, comprising:
generating a message that includes information associated with a network energy saving (NES) mode of the first network in association with a timing of cross-link interference (CLI) measurement resources (see Qian [Pg. 9, ¶0137-138], “In step S301, the terminal device may receive time-frequency resource configuration information from the base station. Here, the time-frequency information may include configuration information of the measurement time-frequency resources for measuring the cross-link interference.”; also see Qian [Pg. 10, ¶0167-173], “… the time-frequency resource configuration information also includes at least one of: … separately configured time configuration for the measurement time-frequency resources … the base station may configure time-frequency resources for downlink measurement in the system information or the downlink control channel. The configuration information includes … After the terminal device knows the downlink time-frequency resources for measurement, it can measure the cross-link interference on the measurement time-frequency resources in step S303.”); and
transmitting the message to a second network entity (see Qian [Pg. 7, ¶0113], “receiving measurement time-frequency resource configuration information transmitted from the base station; measuring cross-link interference according to the measurement time-frequency resources configured by the base station …”).
Qian does not explicitly disclose wherein a first set of CLI measurement resources are indicated for the NES mode and a second set of CLI measurement resources are indicated for a non-NES mode.
Haustein discloses wherein a first set of CLI measurement resources are indicated for the NES mode and a second set of CLI measurement resources are indicated for a non-NES mode (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0174], “The device 20 may be configured for logging the measurements, i.e., to generate the log 24, in a state of being active (first operating mode), inactive or idle (e.g., a state being at least comparable to the second operating mode of device 10) in the wireless communication network.”; Note: It is understood that the active and idle states are comparable to the non-NES and NES modes of the claimed invention). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate separate sets of measurement resources as detailed by Haustein, onto the system of Qian, in order to provide a variety of system solution that can track and measure appropriate parameters for determining issues (see Haustein [Pg. 18, ¶0324], “Alternatively or in addition, embodiments provide for solutions that will track and measure the appropriate parameters which will help to determine the root cause of link or beam failure.”).
Regarding claim 2, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the message includes a CLI resource measurement configuration (see Qian [Pg. 7, ¶0113], “… measuring cross-link interference according to the measurement time-frequency resources configured by the base station; …”).
Regarding claim 3, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 2, wherein the CLI resource measurement configuration indicates the first set of CLI measurement resources for the NES mode and the second set of CLI measurement resources (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0174], “The device 20 may be configured for logging the measurements, i.e., to generate the log 24, in a state of being active (first operating mode), inactive or idle (e.g., a state being at least comparable to the second operating mode of device 10) in the wireless communication network.”), and
wherein the non-NES mode is a non-NES mode of the first network entity (see Haustein [], “That is, although logging is described in connection with device 20, device 10 may be implemented to generate a log accordingly. Vice versa, performing the measurements as described for device 10 may also be implemented at the device 20 such that one or more features described in connection with the device 10, device 20 respectively may be incorporated into device 20, device 10 respectively.”).
Regarding claim 4, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a CLI report from the second network entity that indicates an NES operating mode of the second network entity (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0175-0179], “Device 20 may be configured for including, to the measurement indicated in the measurement report 18, at least of an action in the wireless network determined by the device as such an action may be associated by the network to the link degrading event … a configuration of the device and/or devices.”).
Regarding claim 5, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the message indicates a full-duplex mode of the first network entity, a subband configuration of the first network entity, or a combination thereof (see Haustein [Pg. 32, ¶0632], “… the base station is configured for observing the slots, i.e., the radio resource, and parts of the spectrum associated with a link with the device; and for reporting information indicating a link quality or an interference information associated with the link to the device to obtain a bi-directional link information at the device together with the observation result. The spectrum component may be of importance to reduce or specify the allocated part of the spectrum (a number of resource blocks or a bandwidth part (BWP) or a sub-band.)”).
Regarding claim 7, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the message includes transmitting the message based at least in part on detection of a triggering event (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0181], “Device 10 and/or device 20 may be configured for logging the measurements in at least one of … an instructed manner, an event-based manner, a trigger-based manner …”).
Regarding claim 8, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the message includes transmitting the message via wireless signaling (see Haustein [Pg. 15, ¶0297], “The request signal 36 may be a wired or wireless signal.”).
Regarding claim 9, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the message includes transmitting the message via a backhaul between the first network entity and the second network entity (see Haustein [Pg. 22, ¶0410], “As outlined in above, the current CLI framework for BS-BS interference is relying on a backhaul-based coordination between the gNBs to tackle CLI for gNBs and UEs alike.”; also see Haustein [Pg. 44, ¶1069], “The wireless communication system according to one of pervious aspects, wherein the wireless communication system comprises an integrated access and backhaul, IAB, network, wherein the base station is a gNB of the IAB network.”).
Regarding claim 10, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the message includes transmitting the message via a central coordinator (see Haustein [Pg. 11-12, ¶0245], “Multiple MLRD operation may require orchestration wherein a central entity distributes or allocates measurement command sand tasks to a plurality of MLRDs. The central entity can be thought of as a conductor of an orchestra and is thus a node or a device in the active link – this could also include the core network ‘behind’ the radio link.”; also see Haustein [Pg. 10, ¶0204], “By deploying MLRDs, e.g., device 10 and/or 20, …”).
Regarding claim 11, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the message includes transmitting the message via a central unit (CU) for the first network entity (see Haustein [Pg. 24, ¶0445], “The evaluation procedure is started either based on earlier provided configuration or a trigger signal by e.g. a DU or a CU.”).
Regarding claim 12, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising performing CLI measurements while the first network entity is in the NES mode (see Haustein [Pg. 2, ¶0034], “For logged MDT, the network sends logged measurement configuration to the UE in connected mode, and then the UE collects measurements in RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE.”).
Regarding claim 13, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the NES mode includes an adaptation of power, an operating bandwidth, a quantity of antenna elements, beam selection, or any combination thereof (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0183-193], “In connection with logging measurements, device 10 and/or device 20 may be configured for logging measurements for the measurement report together with a header, identifier, marker or stamp, i.e., additional information, containing one or more of: … a beam ID of a beam in the wireless communication network, an antenna pattern related to the beam and/or beam ID …”).
Regarding claim 15, Qian combined with Haustein discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a second network entity, comprising:
receiving a message that includes information associated with a network energy saving (NES) mode of a first network entity in association with a timing of cross-link interference (CLI) measurement resources (see Qian [Pg. 9, ¶0137-138], “In step S301, the terminal device may receive time-frequency resource configuration information from the base station. Here, the time-frequency information may include configuration information of the measurement time-frequency resources for measuring the cross-link interference.”; also see Qian [Pg. 10, ¶0167-173], “… the time-frequency resource configuration information also includes at least one of: … separately configured time configuration for the measurement time-frequency resources … the base station may configure time-frequency resources for downlink measurement in the system information or the downlink control channel. The configuration information includes … After the terminal device knows the downlink time-frequency resources for measurement, it can measure the cross-link interference on the measurement time-frequency resources in step S303.”).
Qian does not completely disclose performing CLI measurements based at least in part on the information and an energy status of the second network entity.
Haustein discloses performing CLI measurement based at least in part on the information and an energy status of the second network entity (see Haustein [Pg. 5, ¶0137], “In the first operating mode, the device is configured for obtaining a set 14 of measurement results 14t. For obtaining a measurement result, device 10 may measure a radio link parameter 16 of the wireless communication network.”; also see Haustein [Pg. 12, ¶0253], “The device 10 and/or 20 may operate in accordance with the received instructions. However, in case signal 28 and/or 32 requests for measurement reports exceeding the capability or willingness of the device, the device may skip the request or may operate in accordance with the request at least in parts. For example, the device may exclude requested measurements for which no sufficient capabilities (or energy or the like) are implemented or available but may provide for the rest of the requested information instead of refusing to follow the instruction.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate performing CLI measurement based at least in part on the information and an energy status of the second network entity as detailed by Haustein, onto the system of Qian, in order to provide a variety of system solution that can track and measure appropriate parameters for determining issues (see Haustein [Pg. 18, ¶0324], “Alternatively or in addition, embodiments provide for solutions that will track and measure the appropriate parameters which will help to determine the root cause of link or beam failure.”).
Regarding claim 16, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 15, wherein performing the CLI measurements includes adjusting the CLI measurements during the NES mode of the first network entity (see Haustein [Pg. 8, ¶0165], “… the device may perform measurements but may report only a part thereof, e.g., based on requested results or based on own decisions at the device.”).
Regarding claim 17, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 15, wherein performing the CLI measurements includes using a first CLI measurement configuration during the NES mode of the first network entity and a second CLI measurement configuration during a non-NES mode of the first network entity (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0174], “The device 20 may be configured for logging the measurements, i.e., to generate the log 24, in a state of being active (first operating mode), inactive or idle (e.g., a state being at least comparable to the second operating mode of device 10) in the wireless communication network.”).
Regarding claim 18, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the message includes a CLI resource measurement configuration (see Qian [Pg. 7, ¶0113], “… measuring cross-link interference according to the measurement time-frequency resources configured by the base station; …”).
Regarding claim 19, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 18, wherein the CLI resource measurement configuration indicates a first set of CLI measurement resources for the NES mode of the first network entity and a second set of CLI measurement resources for a non-NES mode of the first network entity (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0174], “The device 20 may be configured for logging the measurements, i.e., to generate the log 24, in a state of being active (first operating mode), inactive or idle (e.g., a state being at least comparable to the second operating mode of device 10) in the wireless communication network.”), and
wherein performing the CLI measurements includes measuring CLI using the first set of CLI measurement resources during the NES mode and measuring other CLI using the second set of CLI measurement resources during the non-NES mode (see Haustein [Pg. 11, ¶0227], “MLRD logging can be configured in active, inactive and idle mode. For example. Measure on blank pilots of neighbouring and serving cells for CLI.”).
Regarding claim 20, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting a CLI report from the second network entity that indicates an NES operating mode of the second network entity (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0175-0179], “Device 20 may be configured for including, to the measurement indicated in the measurement report 18, at least of an action in the wireless network determined by the device as such an action may be associated by the network to the link degrading event … a configuration of the device and/or devices.”).
Regarding claim 22, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the message indicates a full-duplex mode of the first network entity, a subband configuration of the first network entity, or a combination thereof (see Haustein [Pg. 32, ¶0632], “… the base station is configured for observing the slots, i.e., the radio resource, and parts of the spectrum associated with a link with the device; and for reporting information indicating a link quality or an interference information associated with the link to the device to obtain a bi-directional link information at the device together with the observation result. The spectrum component may be of importance to reduce or specify the allocated part of the spectrum (a number of resource blocks or a bandwidth part (BWP) or a sub-band.)”).
Regarding claim 23, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting a CLI report that indicates a subset of antenna elements used for measuring CLI (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0183-193], “In connection with logging measurements, device 10 and/or device 20 may be configured for logging measurements for the measurement report together with a header, identifier, marker or stamp, i.e., additional information, containing one or more of: … a beam ID of a beam in the wireless communication network, an antenna pattern related to the beam and/or beam ID …”).
Regarding claim(s) 24-27, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the limitations set forth in claim(s) 1-4 which are substantially identical to claim(s) 24-27 from the perspective of an apparatus of a first network entity for wireless communication, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors individually or collectively configured to perform the disclosed limitations (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0202], “Device 10 and/or device 20 may include or incorporate or comprise sensor elements and/or calculation units such as processors or the like …”; also see Haustein [Pg. 8, ¶0167], “That is, device 10 may store one or more measurement results and may recall those results, e.g., from an internal memory or the like, …”; also see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0202], “For example, the received measurement result may be stored in the log 24 which may be stored in a memory to which device 20 has access.”).
Regarding claim(s) 28-30, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the limitations set forth in claim(s) 15-17 which are substantially identical to claim(s) 28-30 from the perspective of an apparatus of a first network entity for wireless communication, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors individually or collectively configured to perform the disclosed limitations (see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0202], “Device 10 and/or device 20 may include or incorporate or comprise sensor elements and/or calculation units such as processors or the like …”; also see Haustein [Pg. 8, ¶0167], “That is, device 10 may store one or more measurement results and may recall those results, e.g., from an internal memory or the like, …”; also see Haustein [Pg. 9, ¶0202], “For example, the received measurement result may be stored in the log 24 which may be stored in a memory to which device 20 has access.”).
Claim(s) 6 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qian et al. (US 2020/0266908 A1), hereinafter “Qian” in view of Haustein et al. (US 2023/0189382 A1), hereinafter “Haustein” in further view of Su et al. (US 11,736,213 B2), hereinafter “Su”.
Regarding claim 6, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1.
Qian combined with Haustein does not explicitly disclose further comprising receiving a CLI report from the second network entity that indicates a full-duplex mode of the second network entity.
Su discloses further comprising receiving a CLI report from the second network entity that indicates a full-duplex mode of the second network entity (see Su [Col. 91, Ln. 9-18], “For example, the base station may first determine whether the terminal can be configured in the full-duplex mode according to the terminal capability information reported by the terminal and the feedback information related to the self-interference measurement fed back by the terminal, and in a case where the terminal can be configured in the full-duplex mode, the duplex mode of the terminal is determined according to the terminal capability related to the full-duplex mode indicated by the terminal capability information.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate indicating a full-duplex mode capability of the second network entity as detailed by Su, onto the combined system of Qian and Haustein, in order to improve overall efficiency (see Su [Pg. 91, Ln. 24-29], “In some embodiments, for the terminal operating in the full-duplex mode, when a high-reliability, low-latency service (uplink service or downlink service) with a higher priority occurs, it can be considered to switch the duplex mode of the terminal to improve overall efficiency of the system.”).
Regarding claim 21, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 15.
Qian combined with Haustein does not explicitly disclose further comprising transmitting a CLI report from the second network entity that indicates a full-duplex mode of the second network entity associated with the performing of the CLI measurements.
Su discloses further comprising transmitting a CLI report from the second network entity that indicates a full-duplex mode of the second network entity associated with the performing of the CLI measurements (see Su [Col. 91, Ln. 9-18], “For example, the base station may first determine whether the terminal can be configured in the full-duplex mode according to the terminal capability information reported by the terminal and the feedback information related to the self-interference measurement fed back by the terminal, and in a case where the terminal can be configured in the full-duplex mode, the duplex mode of the terminal is determined according to the terminal capability related to the full-duplex mode indicated by the terminal capability information.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate indicating a full-duplex mode capability of the second network entity as detailed by Su, onto the combined system of Qian and Haustein, in order to improve overall efficiency (see Su [Pg. 91, Ln. 24-29], “In some embodiments, for the terminal operating in the full-duplex mode, when a high-reliability, low-latency service (uplink service or downlink service) with a higher priority occurs, it can be considered to switch the duplex mode of the terminal to improve overall efficiency of the system.”).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qian et al. (US 2020/0266908 A1), hereinafter “Qian” in view of Haustein et al. (US 2023/0189382 A1), hereinafter “Haustein” in further view of Trivelpiece et al. (US 11,176,335 B2), hereinafter “Trivelpiece”.
Regarding claim 14, Qian combined with Haustein discloses the method of claim 1.
Qian combined with Haustein does not explicitly disclose wherein the NES mode includes an energy harvesting (EH) mode and the non-NES mode includes a non-EH mode.
Trivelpiece discloses wherein the NES mode includes an energy harvesting (EH) mode and the non-NES mode includes a non-EH mode (see Trivelpiece [Col. 1, Ln. 52-55], “In some scenarios, the first operational mode comprises (a) a power recharging mode in which a rechargeable power source is charged using harvested energy or (b) power save mode.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate x as detailed by Trivelpiece, onto the combined system of Qian and Haustein, in order to improve system efficiency and accuracy (see Trivelpiece [Col. 5, Ln. 25-28], “… the present solution also allows for a very efficient and accurate inventory. In this regard, the present solution comprises the following novel features.”).
Conclusion
A shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. An extension of time may be obtained under 37 CFR 1.136(a). However, in no event, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
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/J.D./Examiner, Art Unit 2462
/YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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