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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/25/2026 has been entered.
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) 1, 5, 6, 10, 11, 15, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuda et al. (hereinafter Tsuda)(US 2020/0154332) in view of Wu et al. (hereinafter Wu)(US 2025/0193795) and Wang (US 2019/0166603).
Regarding claim 1, Tsuda teaches a method performed by a first base station supporting an access 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 of the UE 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).
Tsuda did not teach specifically wherein the location related information includes at least one of distance information, direction information or position information for the access carrier; wherein the coverage information is determined based on the location related information. However, Wu teaches in an analogous art wherein the location related information includes at least one of distance information, direction information or position information for the access carrier; wherein the coverage information is determined based on the location related information(P[0026], UE may transmit to the serving base station its location based on the direction as well as distance information; P[0023], serve the UE within the coverage). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the wherein the location related information includes at least one of distance information, direction information or position information for the access carrier; wherein the coverage information is determined based on the location related information in order to have improved precision.
Tsuda in view of WU did not teach specifically a plurality of data carriers; identifying at least one candidate data carrier from the plurality of data carriers, based on the location related information; identifying whether to switch on or switch off the at least one candidate data carrier based on reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement results the location related information; and wherein the coverage information is for determination of a transmission power of the data carrier.
However, Wang a plurality of data carriers; identifying at least one candidate data carrier from the plurality of data carriers, based on the location related information(item 602in Fig. 6, list of available carriers at a current location); identifying whether to switch on or switch off the at least one candidate data carrier, based on reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement results the location related information(P[0006], RSRP; expected KPI values(key performance indicator values include RSRP) and component CCs(component carriers at the current location; allocating carriers based on expected KPIs at the current location); and wherein the coverage information is for determination of a transmission power of the data carrier(P[0026], power consumption constraints; Fig. 1, Figs 5A and 5B coverage information).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use a plurality of data carriers; identifying at least one candidate data carrier from the plurality of data carriers, based on the location related information; identifying whether to switch on or switch off the at least one candidate data carrier based on reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement results the location related information; and wherein the coverage information is for determination of a transmission power of the data carrier in order to have improved efficiency.
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(s) 2-3, 7-8, 12-13, 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuda et al. (hereinafter Tsuda)(US 2020/0154332) in view of Wu et al. (hereinafter Wu)(US 2025/0193795), Wang (US 2019/0166603) and Sha et al. (hereinafter Sha)(US 2018/0352590).
Regarding claim 2, Tsuda in view of Wu and Wang 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(Wu: P[0026], UE may receive SSB from the serving BS; P[0027], other inactive BS or energy saving BS).
Tsuda in view of Wu did not teach specifically 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 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 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.
Regarding claim 3, Tsuda in view of Wu and Wang teaches wherein the distance information and the direction information for the access carrier location related information is obtained from physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions received from the UE(P[0025], direction and distance mapping; P[0065], sequence information transmitted to the serving network node via PRACH).
Tsuda in view of Wu teaches all the particulars of the claim except the method, , 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 UE 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 UE, synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) reference signal received power (RSRP) reports received from the UE 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 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 UE in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state in order to have improved precision.
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 Wu et al. (hereinafter Wu)(US 2025/0193795), Wang (US 2019/0166603) and Tu et al. (hereinafter Tu)(WO 2022/0120753 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Tsuda in view of Wu and Wang teaches all the particulars of the claim except wherein the position information includes global positioning system (GPS) information, positioning reference signal (PRS) based coordination information received from the UE, or PRS based coordination information received from a location management function (LMF) entity. However, Tu teaches in an analogous art wherein the position information includes global positioning system (GPS) information, positioning reference signal (PRS) based coordination information received from the UE, 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 wherein the position information includes global positioning system (GPS) information, positioning reference signal (PRS) based coordination information received from the UE 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 8/25/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
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/MUTHUSWAMY G MANOHARAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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