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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 6, 10, 11, 15, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a(1) as being anticipated by Tsuda et al. (hereinafter Tsuda)(US 2020/0154332).
Regarding claim 1, Tsuda teaches a method performed by a first base station supporting an anchor carrier in a wireless communication system, the method comprising(P[0140], primary component carrier; P[0141], switching): obtaining location related information for a terminal(item S571 in Fig. 14; P[0207-0209]; also Fig. 19); identifying whether to switch on or switch off a data carrier for network energy saving based on the location related information(item S575 in Fig. 14; P[0207-0209], power saving mode; performing switching is determined; also Fig. 19); and transmitting, to a second base station supporting the data carrier, a message including identification information for the terminal and coverage information for the data carrier, based on the identification(item S577 in Fig. 14; P[0209]; P[0207-0209]; P[0177], component carriers; also Fig. 19).
Regarding claim 5, Tsuda teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the second base station supporting the data carrier, a request for a data carrier change; and transmitting, to the second base station supporting the data carrier, a response for the data carrier change(items S651 and S655 in Fig. 19).
Claims 6, 11 and 16 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 1.
Claims 10, 15 and 20 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 5.
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.
Claim(s) 2, 7, 12, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuda et al. (hereinafter Tsuda)(US 2020/0154332) in view of Sha et al. (hereinafter Sha)(US 2018/0352590).
Regarding claim 2, Tsuda teaches all the particulars of the claim except the method, wherein the second base station does not transmit a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) on the data carrier, and wherein the coverage information includes power offset information for determining a power for a downlink transmission on the data carrier, the downlink transmission including at least one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). However, Sha teaches in an analogous art wherein the second base station does not transmit a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) on the data carrier, and wherein the coverage information includes power offset information for determining a power for a downlink transmission on the data carrier, the downlink transmission including at least one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)(P[0022-0026], power offset for downlink radio coverage; coverage threshold configured by System Information Block(SSB); P[0026], power of reference signal; P[0186], PDSCH). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the second base station does not transmit a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) on the data carrier, and wherein the coverage information includes power offset information for determining a power for a downlink transmission on the data carrier, the downlink transmission including at least one of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in order to have efficient selection strategy.
Claims 7, 12 and 17 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 2.
Claim(s) 3, 8, 13, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuda et al. (hereinafter Tsuda)(US 2020/0154332) in view of Sha et al. (hereinafter Sha)(US 2018/0352590) and Wada et al. (hereinafter Wada)(US 2023/0090571).
Regarding claim 3, Tsuda teaches all the particulars of the claim except the method, wherein the location related information is obtained from physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions received from the terminal, synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) reference signal received power (RSRP) reports received from the terminal during an initial access, or SSB reports received from the terminal in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state. However, Sha teaches in an analogous art wherein the location related information is obtained from physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions received from the terminal, synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) reference signal received power (RSRP) reports received from the terminal during an initial access, or SSB reports received from the terminal in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state(P[0063], measurement of reference signal received power, RSRP; P[0025], NRSRP; PRACH; P[0182], SIB or RRC connection signaling; synchronization channel). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the location related information is obtained from physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions received from the terminal, synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) reference signal received power (RSRP) reports received from the terminal during an initial access, or SSB reports received from the terminal in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state in order to have improved precision.
The combination of Tsuda and Sha did not teach specifically the method, wherein the location related information includes distance information and direction information for the access carrier. However, Wada teaches in an analogous art wherein the location related information includes distance information and direction information for the access carrier(P[0139], position, direction(orientation), accuracy, characteristics of each antenna in the base station). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the location related information includes distance information and direction information for the access carrier in order to have efficient locate the device.
Claims 3, 8, 13 and 18 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 3.
Claim(s) 4, 9, 14, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuda et al. (hereinafter Tsuda)(US 2020/0154332) in view of Tu et al. (hereinafter Tu)(WO 2022/0120753 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Tsuda teaches all the particulars of the claim except the location related information includes position information for the access carrier, and wherein the position information includes global positioning system (GPS) information, positioning reference signal (PRS) based coordination information received from the terminal, or PRS based coordination information received from a location management function (LMF) entity. However, Tu teaches in an analogous art the location related information includes position information for the access carrier, and wherein the position information includes global positioning system (GPS) information, positioning reference signal (PRS) based coordination information received from the terminal, or PRS based coordination information received from a location management function (LMF) entity(Fig. 5, item 510; UE measure signal of the gNB and signal strength measurement report is fed back to the eNB). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the location related information includes position information for the access carrier, and wherein the position information includes global positioning system (GPS) information, positioning reference signal (PRS) based coordination information received from the terminal, or PRS based coordination information received from a location management function (LMF) entity in order to have improved mobility handling.
Claims 9, 14 and 19 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 4.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUTHUSWAMY GANAPATHY MANOHARAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5515. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30am-3:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alison T Slater can be reached at 571-270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MUTHUSWAMY G MANOHARAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647