DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 5-6 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
As per claims 5 and 16, the limitation “monitoring, by the UE, the power-saving signal in a case that the UE does not receive the indication information transmitted by the network-side device …”, is not further limiting on the positively recited limitation of “receiving, by a user equipment (UE), indication information transmitted by a network-side device” of claims 1 and 12, from which claims 5 and 16, respectively, depend.
Claims 6 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) based on their dependency to claims 5 and 16, respectively.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 7-14, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Mazloum et al. (US 2021/022077)(“Mazloum”).
As per claim 1, Mazloum teaches a power-saving signal monitoring method, comprising:
receiving, by a user equipment (UE) (see Fig. 10, ref. 101), indication information (i.e., configuration data, see Fig. 10, ref. 4001) transmitted by a network-side device (i.e., BS 112)(see ¶0012); and
monitoring, by the UE, a power-saving signal in a case that the UE determines that a last serving cell is a first cell based on the indication information (i.e., monitoring a wake-up signal, see Fig. 10, ref. 3004, also see ¶0124, wherein BS 112 is of the service cell 161);
wherein the network-side device is a network-side device corresponding to the first cell, and the first cell is a current camping cell (see ¶0124, wherein BS 112 is of the service cell 161, in which the UE 101 is currently camping on).
As per claim 2, Mazloum further teaches wherein the method further comprises:
skipping monitoring, by the UE, the power-saving signal in a case that the UE determines that the last serving cell is not the first cell based on the indication information (see ¶0057, which anticipates other cells (i.e., not the first cell / cell 116) of the cellular network not supporting WUS transmission, where impliedly the UE would therefore skip monitoring of WUS transmission on cells that lack such support).
As per claim 3, Mazloum further teaches wherein before the receiving, by a user equipment (UE), indication information transmitted by a network-side device, the method further comprises:
receiving, by the UE, a target message transmitted by the network-side device, wherein the target message carries the indication information and the target message comprises at least one of: a broadcast message (see ¶0047).
As per claim 7, Mazloum further teaches wherein the power-saving signal comprises any one of: a wake-up signal (WUS) (see Fig. 10, ref. 4003).
Claims 8-10, 12-14, and 18-20 are rejected under the same rationale as claims 1-3 and 7 since they recite substantially identical subject matter. Any differences between the claims do not result in patentably distinct claims and all of the limitations are taught by the above cited art.
As per claim 11, Mazloum further teaches wherein the transmitting, by a network-side device, indication information to a user equipment (UE) comprises:
determining, by the network-side device, to transmit the indication information to the user equipment UE based on target information; wherein the target information comprises at least one of: … geographical location of a cell (i.e., based on a sub-area and/or tracking area, see abstract and ¶0081, respectively).
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 of this title, 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 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mazloum, in further view of Wang et al. (US 2023/0038417)(“Wang”).
As per claims 4 and 15, Mazloum does not expressly teach wherein before the receiving, by the UE, a target message transmitted by the network-side device, the method further comprises: reporting, by the UE to the network-side device, an active area of the UE and/or preference information of the UE about cell(s) from which the UE expects to receive the indication information.
Nevertheless, in the same art of UE tracking, Wang teaches a UE sending to a network-side device, a registration request or a tracking area update request, including, inter alia, an active area of the UE (e.g., “last visited registered TAI”, see ¶0430).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the earliest effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the UE in Mazloum to send a registration request or a tracking area update request to the network-side device, including information on an active area of the UE (e.g., “last visited registered TAI”, see ¶0430, i.e., active areas). The obvious motivation for doing so would have been for UE tracking purposes.
Claims 5-6 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mazloum, in further view of Li (US 2022/0150834)(“Li”).
As per claim 5, Mazloum further wherein the method further comprises:
monitoring, by the UE, the power-saving signal in a case that the …the UE is camping on a cell in a default cell range (i.e., within a particular sub-area, see abstract, and/or tracking area 160, see ¶0081, read as default cell range).
As per claim 5, Mazloum does not expressly teach not receiving the indication information transmitted by the network-side device.
Nevertheless, in the same art of WUS configuring, Li teaches, as opposed to informing a UE through system information or a dedicated signaling, preconfiguring or predefining (i.e., without transmitting/receiving indicating information from a network-side device), according to a manner specified by an agreement, a pattern for monitoring WUS (i.e., WUS configuration/indication information) (see ¶0108).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the earliest effective filing date of the claimed invention, to preconfigure/predefine, according to a manner specified by an agreement, the indication information at the UE (i.e., without transmitting/receiving indicating information from a network-side device). The obvious motivation for doing so would have been to reduce network signaling.
As per claim 6, Mazloum further teaches wherein the default cell range comprises at least one of: … a cell corresponding to a tracking area list of the UE (see ¶0081).
Claims 16-17 are rejected under the same rationale as claims 5-6 since they recite substantially identical subject matter. Any differences between the claims do not result in patentably distinct claims and all of the limitations are taught by the above cited art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (see PTO 892).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Brendan Higa whose telephone number is (571)272-5823. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James Hwang can be reached at (571) 272-4036. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRENDAN Y HIGA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2441
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