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 .
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 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.
This communication is responsive to the Election made for a Restriction Requirement mailed 2/3/26. The Election was made on 3/18/26.
Applicants have elected, without traverse, to examine group I/II consisting of claims 1-11 & 23-27. Claims 12-22 & 28-30 are withdrawn from consideration.
Claim(s) 1-11 & 23-27 are presented for examination.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 1-11 & 23-27 is/are unclear to the examiner; what does it mean by stating “communicate a subset of reference signals of a set of reference signals, wherein the subset of reference signals omits at least one reference signal of the set of reference signals in association with a scheduled time associated with the at least one reference signal overlapping at least one of a non-active time of the C-DTX cycle or a non-active time of the C-DRX cycle and further in association with a configured use of the at least one reference signal”?
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 8-9, 23-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hu, U.S. Pub/Patent No. US 2024/0357700 A1.
As to claim 1, Hu teaches an user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:
a processing system that includes one or more processors and one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors, the processing system configured to cause the UE to:
receive configuration information indicative of a cell discontinuous transmission (C-DTX) configuration associated with a C-DTX cycle or a cell discontinuous reception (C-DRX) configuration associated with a C-DRX cycle (Hu, page 1, paragraph 12; i.e., [0012] When executed, the instructions cause the processor to receive a cell DTX/DRX configuration from a BS. The cell DTX/DRX configuration is defined by a DTX/DRX periodicity, a DTX/DRX starting slot or offset, and a DTX/DRX active period. a signal to enable or disable the cell DTX/DRX configuration at the UE, and enable or disable the cell DTX/DRX configuration at the UE based on the signal); and
communicate a subset of reference signals of a set of reference signals, wherein the subset of reference signals omits at least one reference signal of the set of reference signals in association with a scheduled time associated with the at least one reference signal overlapping at least one of a non-active time of the C-DTX cycle or a non-active time of the C-DRX cycle and further in association with a configured use of the at least one reference signal (Hu, page 1, paragraph 9-10; page 6, paragraph 73; i.e., [0009] deactivated/suspended during cell DTX and DRX (e.g., physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). It may be determined which VE-specific DL and UL signals may be assumed as deactivated/suspended during cell DTX and DRX (e.g., channel status information (CSI)-reference signal (RS) and sounding reference signal (SRS)). tracking reference signal (TRS), transmissions in cell DTX/DRX assumptions (e.g., gNB suspend cell DTX/DRX operation during random access (RA)), and how to handle the cell DTX/DRX and UE C-DRX misalignment; [0073] At 906, the UE may suspend monitoring, transmissions, and/or measurements in an inactive period based on the DTX/DRX configuration. The UE may suspend CSI measurement and beam management or suspend CSI reports in an inactive period. may suspend monitoring of a PDCCH in the inactive period. ) The UE may maintain a C-DRX configuration in an inactive period of the C-DRX configuration that overlaps an active period of the cell DTX/DRX configuration).
As to claim 2, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of reference signals comprises a set of tracking reference signals (TRSs), and wherein, to cause the UE to communicate the subset of reference signals, the processing system is configured to cause the UE to receive the subset of reference signals in association with the scheduled time associated with the at least one reference signal overlapping the non-active time of the C-DTX cycle (Hu, page 1, paragraph 9-10; page 6, paragraph 73; i.e., [0009] deactivated/suspended during cell DTX and DRX (e.g., physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). It may be determined which VE-specific DL and UL signals may be assumed as deactivated/suspended during cell DTX and DRX (e.g., channel status information (CSI)-reference signal (RS) and sounding reference signal (SRS)). tracking reference signal (TRS), transmissions in cell DTX/DRX assumptions (e.g., gNB suspend cell DTX/DRX operation during random access (RA)), and how to handle the cell DTX/DRX and UE C-DRX misalignment; [0073] At 906, the UE may suspend monitoring, transmissions, and/or measurements in an inactive period based on the DTX/DRX configuration. The UE may suspend CSI measurement and beam management or suspend CSI reports in an inactive period. may suspend monitoring of a PDCCH in the inactive period. ) The UE may maintain a C-DRX configuration in an inactive period of the C-DRX configuration that overlaps an active period of the cell DTX/DRX configuration).
As to claim 3, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 2, wherein the set of TRSs is configured in association with a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource set, and wherein, to cause the UE to communicate the subset of reference signals, the processing system is configured to cause the UE to receive the subset of reference signals in association with the scheduled time associated with the at least one reference signal overlapping the non-active time of the C-DTX cycle (Hu, page 6, paragraph 67-68; i.e., [0068] C-DRX active period 810 overlaps the cell DTX inactive period 804, and the UE behavior may follow the cell DTX in an overlapping duration T2 816, or the UE behavior may be kept unspecified in the overlapping duration T2 816. Specifically, it may be up to network implementation to ensure there is no such
overlapping duration (e.g., a BS or gNB can release UE2 C-DRX).
As to claim 5, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of reference signals comprises a set of positioning reference signals (PRSs), and wherein, to cause the UE to communicate the subset of reference signals, the processing system is configured to cause the UE to receive the subset of reference signals in association with the scheduled time associated with the at least one reference signal overlapping the non-active time of the C-DTX cycle (Hu, page 6, paragraph 67-68; i.e., [0068] C-DRX active period 810 overlaps the cell DTX inactive period 804, and the UE behavior may follow the cell DTX in an overlapping duration T2 816, or the UE behavior may be kept unspecified in the overlapping duration T2 816. Specifically, it may be up to network implementation to ensure there is no such
overlapping duration (e.g., a BS or gNB can release UE2 C-DRX).
As to claim 8, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of reference signals comprises a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs), and wherein, to cause the UE to communicate the subset of reference signals, the processing system is configured to cause the UE to transmit the subset of reference signals in association with the scheduled time associated with the at least one reference signal overlapping the non-active time of the C-DRX cycle (Hu, page 1, paragraph 9-10; page 6, paragraph 73; i.e., [0009] deactivated/suspended during cell DTX and DRX (e.g., physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). It may be determined which VE-specific DL and UL signals may be assumed as deactivated/suspended during cell DTX and DRX (e.g., channel status information (CSI)-reference signal (RS) and sounding reference signal (SRS)). tracking reference signal (TRS), transmissions in cell DTX/DRX assumptions (e.g., gNB suspend cell DTX/DRX operation during random access (RA)), and how to handle the cell DTX/DRX and UE C-DRX misalignment; [0073] At 906, the UE may suspend monitoring, transmissions, and/or measurements in an inactive period based on the DTX/DRX configuration. The UE may suspend CSI measurement and beam management or suspend CSI reports in an inactive period. may suspend monitoring of a PDCCH in the inactive period. ) The UE may maintain a C-DRX configuration in an inactive period of the C-DRX configuration that overlaps an active period of the cell DTX/DRX configuration).
As to claim 9, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 8, wherein the subset of reference signals comprises a subset of SRSs of the set of SRSs, and wherein the subset of SRSs is configured in association with a positioning operation (Hu, page 5, paragraph 53; i.e., [0053] positioning signal).
Claim(s) 23-25, 26-27 is/are directed to a method claims and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 1-4, 9-10. Therefore, claim(s) 23-25, 26-27 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 1-4, 9-10.
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 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 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.
Claim(s) 4, 6-7, 10, 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu, U.S. Pub/Patent No. US 2024/0357700 A1 in view of Abreu, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2023/0262624 A1.
As to claim 4, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 2. But Hu failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a first TRS of the set of TRSs, and wherein the configured use is associated with a propagation delay compensation (PDC) operation.
However, Abreu teaches the limitation wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a first TRS of the set of TRSs, and wherein the configured use is associated with a propagation delay compensation (PDC) operation (Abreu, page 8, paragraph 104; i.e., [0104] a propagation delay compensation (PDC) process. The PDC process performed in block 410 may be based on RTT or TA (that is, on estimating RTT or TA and subsequently determining the propagation delay based on said RTT or TA). Configured tracking reference signal (TRS)/PRS and sounding reference signal (SRS)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Hu to substitute UMTS from Abreu for OPEX from Hu to Minimizing any timing uncertainty in the sidelink time synchronization (Abreu, page 1, paragraph 2).
As to claim 6, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 5. But Hu failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the subset of reference signals comprises a subset of PRSs of the set of PRSs, and wherein the subset of PRSs is configured in association with a positioning operation.
However, Abreu teaches the limitation wherein the subset of reference signals comprises a subset of PRSs of the set of PRSs, and wherein the subset of PRSs is configured in association with a positioning operation (Abreu, page 8, paragraph 104; i.e., [0104] a propagation delay compensation (PDC) process. The PDC process performed in block 410 may be based on RTT or TA (that is, on estimating RTT or TA and subsequently determining the propagation delay based on said RTT or TA). Configured tracking reference signal (TRS)/PRS and sounding reference signal (SRS)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Hu to substitute UMTS from Abreu for OPEX from Hu to Minimizing any timing uncertainty in the sidelink time synchronization (Abreu, page 1, paragraph 2).
As to claim 7, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 5. But Hu failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a first PRS of the set of PRSs, and wherein the configured use is associated with a propagation delay compensation (PDC) operation.
However, Abreu teaches the limitation wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a first PRS of the set of PRSs, and wherein the configured use is associated with a propagation delay compensation (PDC) operation (Abreu, page 8, paragraph 104; i.e., [0104] a propagation delay compensation (PDC) process. The PDC process performed in block 410 may be based on RTT or TA (that is, on estimating RTT or TA and subsequently determining the propagation delay based on said RTT or TA). Configured tracking reference signal (TRS)/PRS and sounding reference signal (SRS)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Hu to substitute UMTS from Abreu for OPEX from Hu to Minimizing any timing uncertainty in the sidelink time synchronization (Abreu, page 1, paragraph 2).
As to claim 10, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 8. But Hu failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a first SRS of the set of SRSs, and wherein the configured use is associated with a propagation delay compensation (PDC) operation.
However, Abreu teaches the limitation wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a first SRS of the set of SRSs, and wherein the configured use is associated with a propagation delay compensation (PDC) operation (Abreu, page 8, paragraph 104; i.e., [0104] a propagation delay compensation (PDC) process. The PDC process performed in block 410 may be based on RTT or TA (that is, on estimating RTT or TA and subsequently determining the propagation delay based on said RTT or TA). Configured tracking reference signal (TRS)/PRS and sounding reference signal (SRS)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Hu to substitute UMTS from Abreu for OPEX from Hu to Minimizing any timing uncertainty in the sidelink time synchronization (Abreu, page 1, paragraph 2).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu, U.S. Pub/Patent No. US 2024/0357700 A1 in view of Si, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2024/0334354 A1.
As to claim 11, Hu teaches the UE as recited in claim 8. But Hu failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a first PRS of the set of PRSs, and wherein the configured use is associated with an operation comprising at least one of a codebook-based closed-loop spatial multiplexing operation, a reciprocity-based downlink precoding operation, or a quasi co-location operation in association with at least one of a reference signal or a physical channel.
However, Si teaches the limitation wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a first PRS of the set of PRSs, and wherein the configured use is associated with an operation comprising at least one of a codebook-based closed-loop spatial multiplexing operation, a reciprocity-based downlink precoding operation, or a quasi co-location operation in association with at least one of a reference signal or a physical channel (Si, page 7, paragraph 89; i.e., [0089] the LP-RSRP can be measurement among the signals corresponding to the same quasi co-location (QCL) assumption (e.g., QCLed to the same RS)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Hu to substitute MIMO from Si for OPEX from Hu to perform a first radio resource management (RRM) measurement based on the LP-SS (Si, page 1, paragraph 2).
Listing of Relevant Arts
Ruffini, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20220141786 A1 discloses propagation delay compensation and positioning reference signal, tracking reference signals.
Kim, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20210360732 A1 discloses disabling reference signal, C-DRX.
Contact Information
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
THUONG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3864. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:00-6:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached on 571-270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THUONG NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
Prosecution Insights