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 § 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 11-12 and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2026/0189970) in view of Hosseini (US 2022/0110058).
Zhang discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 1, an apparatus (see Terminal device in Fig. 11) configured for wireless communications, comprising:
one or more memories comprising processor-executable instructions (see “memory” recited in paragraph [0804]); and
one or more processors (see “processor” recited in paragraph [0804]) configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to a network entity, a DSR report (see Fig. 11, wherein the terminal device transmits a status report in step S611 to a network device; wherein “the status report may be a DSR” as shown in paragraph [0382]) comprising:
one or more fields indicating whether or not delay information is present in the DSR for one or more LCGs (see DSR data structure shown in Fig. 3b, wherein the delay index “indicates whether there is a data amount of data of the LCG in a corresponding time interval” according to paragraph [0216]); and
delay information for at least one LCG of the one or more LCGs for which the one or more fields indicate delay information is present in the DSR, the at least one LCG comprising a first LCG (see “For example, each LCG in the MAC CE corresponds to a table index field, a delay information indication field, and a buffer size field…The delay information indication field indicates a remaining transmission delay budget” recited in paragraph [0219]).
Regarding claim 11, wherein to transmit the DSR, the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to transmit the DSR multiplexed in a MAC PDU (see “the DSR may also be a MAC CE” recited in paragraph [0189], wherein a MAC CE must be carries inside a MAC PDU).
Regarding claim 29, a method for wireless communication by an apparatus (see Terminal device in Fig. 11) comprising: transmitting, to a network entity, a DSR report (see Fig. 11, wherein the terminal device transmits a status report in step S611 to a network device; wherein “the status report may be a DSR” as shown in paragraph [0382]) comprising: one or more fields indicating whether or not delay information is present in the DSR for one or more LCGs (see DSR data structure shown in Fig. 3b, wherein the delay index “indicates whether there is a data amount of data of the LCG in a corresponding time interval” according to paragraph [0216]); and delay information for at least one LCG of the one or more LCGs for which the one or more fields indicate delay information is present in the DSR, the at least one LCG comprising a first LCG (see “For example, each LCG in the MAC CE corresponds to a table index field, a delay information indication field, and a buffer size field…The delay information indication field indicates a remaining transmission delay budget” recited in paragraph [0219]).
Zhang does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 1 and 29, based on transmission of the DSR, perform a first action comprising to at least one of: monitor at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion of one or more PDCCH that the apparatus was previously indicated to stop monitoring; or exit a CDRX inactive state; regarding claim 12, wherein the first action comprises to monitor the at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion.
Hosseini discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 1 and 29, based on transmission of the DSR, perform a first action comprising to at least one of: monitor at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion of one or more PDCCH that the apparatus was previously indicated to stop monitoring (see “When a UE is awake, or in other words in a DRX ON duration, the UE may monitor for signaling that may be received, such as, for example, PDCCH transmissions from a BS” recited in paragraph [0060] and see “If packet delay budget is small a DRX ON period may be extended to allow data to be transmitted in a current (extended) DRX ON period, as the small delay may not allow waiting until a subsequent DRX ON period” recited in paragraph [0071]; that is, based on the packet delay budget that may be included in the DSR transmission, which is also triggered by the delay budget when compared with a threshold as shown in Fig. 11 and paragraph [0394] of Zhang, the UE may extend the DRX ON duration, during which a PDCCH is monitored, wherein the extended DRX ON duration include at least a portion of a previous DRX OFF duration, during which a PDCCH is not monitored); or exit a CDRX inactive state.
Regarding claim 12, wherein the first action comprises to monitor the at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion (see “When a UE is awake, or in other words in a DRX ON duration, the UE may monitor for signaling that may be received, such as, for example, PDCCH transmissions from a BS” recited in paragraph [0060] and see “If packet delay budget is small a DRX ON period may be extended to allow data to be transmitted in a current (extended) DRX ON period, as the small delay may not allow waiting until a subsequent DRX ON period” recited in paragraph [0071]; wherein the UE monitors the PDCCH monitoring occasion during the DRX ON duration and extends the monitoring based on the packet delay budget).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang using features, as taught by Hosseini, in order to allow packets to be communicated within its delay budget (see paragraph [0071] of Hosseini).
Claim(s) 2, 4-5 and 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Hosseini as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nagano (US 2026/0150101).
Zhang and Hosseini disclose the features as shown above.
Zhang also discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 2, wherein the delay information for the at least one LCG comprises firs delay information for the first LCG (see “For example, each LCG in the MAC CE corresponds to a table index field, a delay information indication field, and a buffer size field…The delay information indication field indicates a remaining transmission delay budget” recited in paragraph [0219]).
Regarding claim 3, wherein the first delay information comprises a first buffer size indicating an amount of data buffered for the first LCG (see “For example, each LCG in the MAC CE corresponds to a table index field, a delay information indication field, and a buffer size field” recited in paragraph [0219]).
Hosseini also discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 5, the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform the first action based on the first priority level of the first LCG (see “the UE may decide to extend the DRX ON duration only for packet priorities below a certain threshold (i.e., more important packets)” recited in paragraph [0085]).
Zhang does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 2, the delay information comprising a first remaining time indicating a shortest remaining value among one or more discard timers associated with one or more data units buffered for the first LCG; Regarding claim 4, wherein to transmit the DSR, the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor executable instructions and cause the apparatus to: transmit the DSR based on at least one of the one or more discard timers having a value less than or equal to a reporting threshold; Regarding claim 5, wherein: the DSR is triggered based on a discard timer, associated with the first LCG, being less than or equal to a reporting threshold; Regarding claim 7, wherein: the DSR is triggered based on a discard timer, associated with the first LCG, being less than or equal to a reporting threshold; and the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to receive a reporting configuration that indicates one or more reporting thresholds for the first LCG, the one or more reporting thresholds including the reporting threshold; Regarding claim 8, wherein, among the one or more reporting thresholds, only the reporting threshold is associated with performance of the first action.
Nagano discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 2, the delay information comprising a first remaining time indicating a shortest remaining value among one or more discard timers associated with one or more data units buffered for the first LCG (see “The second part 1421b indicates the delay information (e.g., the above-mentioned remaining time) related to the data corresponding to LCG 1” recited in paragraph [0217]; and see “The delay information may include information related to a plurality of remaining times. In another example, the delay information may be information related to the shortest remaining time of a plurality of remaining times” recited in paragraph [0205]; and see “trigger a delay status report in a case where a shortest remaining time of a discard timer for data becomes below a threshold for the LCG” recited in the abstract).
Regarding claim 4, wherein to transmit the DSR, the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor executable instructions and cause the apparatus to: transmit the DSR based on at least one of the one or more discard timers having a value less than or equal to a reporting threshold (see “trigger a delay status report in a case where a shortest remaining time of a discard timer for data becomes below a threshold for the LCG” recited in the abstract).
Regarding claim 5, wherein: the DSR is triggered based on a discard timer, associated with the first LCG, being less than or equal to a reporting threshold (see “trigger a delay status report in a case where a shortest remaining time of a discard timer for data becomes below a threshold for the LCG” recited in the abstract); each LCG of the one or more LCGs is assigned a respective priority level, including the first LCG being assigned a first priority level (see Fig. 14, including the delay information report; and see “the order of fields included in the second field 1420 may be determined based on their LCH priorities” recited in paragraph [0220]).
Regarding claim 7, wherein: the DSR is triggered based on a discard timer, associated with the first LCG, being less than or equal to a reporting threshold (see “trigger a delay status report in a case where a shortest remaining time of a discard timer for data becomes below a threshold for the LCG” recited in the abstract); and the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to receive a reporting configuration that indicates one or more reporting thresholds for the first LCG, the one or more reporting thresholds including the reporting threshold (see “Note that the base station apparatus 20 may transmit, to the terminal apparatus 10, system information (SI, for example, SIB1 and/or SIB other than SIB1) including information indicating the first threshold Th1. The base station apparatus 20 may transmit, to the terminal apparatus 10, DCI including information indicating the first threshold Th1” recited in paragraph [0207]).
Regarding claim 8, wherein, among the one or more reporting thresholds, only the reporting threshold is associated with performance of the first action (see “trigger a delay status report in a case where a shortest remaining time of a discard timer for data becomes below a threshold for the LCG” recited in the abstract, wherein only the threshold associated with the shortest remaining time of a discard timer is used for the triggering of the delay status report, which triggers the first action).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang and Hosseini using features, as taught by Nagano, in order to determine urgent data that needs to be transmitted immediately (see paragraph [0207], abstract of Nagano).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Hosseini as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tsai (US 2025/0212045).
Zhang and Hosseini disclose the features as shown above.
Zhang also discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 6, the delay information comprises a buffer size indicating an amount of data buffered for the first LCG (see “each LCG in the MAC CE corresponds to a table index field, a delay information indication field, and a buffer size field” recited in paragraph [0219]).
Zhang does not disclose the following features: Regarding claim 6, the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform the first action based on the amount of data being greater than a threshold.
Tsai discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 6, the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform the first action based on the amount of data being greater than a threshold (see “a second threshold associated with a buffer size/data size… The wireless device may trigger a delay report in response to an amount/volume of the accumulated one or more data, being higher than or equal to the second threshold. The wireless device may transmit the delay report via an uplink resource in response to the triggering” recited in paragraph [0536]; wherein the claimed first action is performed based on the delay report as shown in the rejection of claim 1 above).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang and Hosseini using features, as taught by Tsai, in order to ensure timely transmission of data based on accumulated data volume (see paragraph [0536] of Tsai).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Hosseini as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nimbalker (US 2022/0053529).
Zhang and Hosseini disclose the features as shown above.
Zhang does not disclose the following features: Regarding claim 9, wherein: the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to transmit a NACK for a previous downlink transmission; and the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform the first action based on transmission of the NACK.
Nimbalker discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 9, wherein: the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to transmit a NACK for a previous downlink transmission; and the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform the first action based on transmission of the NACK (see TABLE 1 in paragraph [0060] and see paragraph [0059], wherein in response to a NACK transmission, the UE may override and extend the DRX in response to a NACK transmission in response of a scheduled DL data).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang and Hosseini using features, as taught by Nimbalker, in order to allow correct decoding of downlink transmission not correctly decoded (see paragraph [0061] of Nimbalker).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Hosseini as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Jin (US 2021/0385710).
Zhang and Hosseini disclose the features as shown above.
Zhang does not disclose the following features: Regarding claim 10, based on transmission of the DSR, receive, from the network entity, an indication to at least one of: monitor the at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion; or exit the CDRX inactive state; and based on the indication, at least one of: monitor the at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion; or exit the CDRX inactive state.
Jin discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 10, based on transmission of the DSR, receive, from the network entity, an indication to at least one of: monitor the at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion; or exit the CDRX inactive state; and based on the indication, at least one of: monitor the at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion; or exit the CDRX inactive state (see Fig. 23, wherein in response to the delay budget report transmitted in step 2335, the gNB sends a DRX cycle reconfiguration message to UE1 in step 2355 and UE1 reconfigures its DRX cycle accordingly).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang and Hosseini using features, as taught by Jin, in order to improve call quality (see paragraph [0246] of Jin).
Claim(s) 14-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Hosseini as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Lai (US 2023/0141378).
Zhang and Hosseini disclose the features as shown above.
Zhang does not disclose the following features: Regarding claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to receive, from the network entity, a PDCCH adaptation indication indicating to stop monitoring the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions; Regarding claim 15, the PDCCH adaptation indication comprises a PDCCH skipping command for a time period; and the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions are scheduled during the time period; Regarding claim 16, the PDCCH adaptation indication comprises a search space set group (SSSG) switching command indicating to switch from a first SSSG to a second SSSG; and the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions are associated with the first SSSG; Regarding claim 17, wherein: the first SSSG includes a first SSS; the second SSSG does not include the first SSS; and the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions are associated with the first SSS; Regarding claim 17, wherein: the first SSSG includes a first SSS; the second SSSG does not include the first SSS; and the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions are associated with the first SSS; Regarding claim 18, based on the PDCCH adaptation indication, stop monitoring at least one other PDCCH monitoring occasion of the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions.
Lai discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to receive, from the network entity, a PDCCH adaptation indication indicating to stop monitoring the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions (see Fig. 5 and paragraph [0081], wherein “The UE may receive a PDCCH skipping indication (containing/carrying a specific DCI format) from the NW. The PDCCH skipping may be used to indicate a duration that the UE may need to stop monitoring PDCCH”).
Regarding claim 15, the PDCCH adaptation indication comprises a PDCCH skipping command for a time period; and the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions are scheduled during the time period (see Fig. 5 and paragraph [0081], wherein “The UE may receive a PDCCH skipping indication (containing/carrying a specific DCI format) from the NW. The PDCCH skipping may be used to indicate a duration that the UE may need to stop monitoring PDCCH”, wherein Fig. 5 shows such duration/occasions during which PDCCH monitoring is stopped).
Regarding claim 16, the PDCCH adaptation indication comprises a search space set group (SSSG) switching command indicating to switch from a first SSSG to a second SSSG; and the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions are associated with the first SSSG (see Fig. 2, wherein the PDCCH monitoring group is switched in response to a DCI that indicates the switching; also see “If a UE receives a PDCCH adaptation command (i.e., PDCCH skipping and/or SSSG switching)” recited in paragraph [0097] that shows the UE receiving a PDCCH adaptation command including a SSSG switch command), wherein Fig. 2 shows that the UE monitors SS Group 0 prior to the switch during its monitoring occasions).
Regarding claim 17, wherein: the first SSSG includes a first SSS; the second SSSG does not include the first SSS; and the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions are associated with the first SSS (see Fig. 2, wherein the first SSSG include the SS group 0; the second SSSG include the SS group 1 and not the SS group 0; the UE is originally monitoring the SS group 1 during its PDCCH monitoring occasions).
Regarding claim 18, based on the PDCCH adaptation indication, stop monitoring at least one other PDCCH monitoring occasion of the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions (see Fig. 5, wherein based on the PDCCH skipping indication, the UE stops monitoring the 6th -9th PDCCH monitoring occasions in the figure).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang and Hosseini using features, as taught by Lai, in order to allow the UE to enhance power saving by allowing dynamic switching between sparse and frequent PDCCH monitoring (see paragraphs [0075]-[0076] of Lai).
Claim(s) 20, 24-25 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in views of Jin and Hosseini.
Zhang discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 20, an apparatus (see network device in Fig. 11) configured for wireless communications, comprising:
one or more memories comprising processor-executable instructions; and
one or more processors (see processor/memory in Fig. 26 of a communication apparatus) configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a UE (see Terminal device in Fig. 11), a DSR (see Fig. 11, wherein the terminal device transmits a status report in step S611 to a network device; wherein “the status report may be a DSR” as shown in paragraph [0382]) comprising:
one or more fields indicating whether or not delay information is present in the DSR for one or more LCGs (see DSR data structure shown in Fig. 3b, wherein the delay index “indicates whether there is a data amount of data of the LCG in a corresponding time interval” according to paragraph [0216]); and
delay information for at least one LCG of the one or more LCGs for which the one or more fields indicate delay information is present in the DSR, the at least one LCG comprising a first LCG (see “For example, each LCG in the MAC CE corresponds to a table index field, a delay information indication field, and a buffer size field…The delay information indication field indicates a remaining transmission delay budget” recited in paragraph [0219]).
Regarding claim 24, wherein to receive the DSR, the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to receive the DSR multiplexed in a MAC PDU (see “the DSR may also be a MAC CE” recited in paragraph [0189], wherein a MAC CE must be carries inside a MAC PDU).
Regarding claim 30, a method for wireless communications by an apparatus (see network device in Fig. 11) comprising: receiving, from a UE (see Terminal device in Fig. 11), a DSR (see Fig. 11, wherein the terminal device transmits a status report in step S611 to a network device; wherein “the status report may be a DSR” as shown in paragraph [0382]) comprising: one or more fields indicating whether or not delay information is present in the DSR for one or more LCGs (see DSR data structure shown in Fig. 3b, wherein the delay index “indicates whether there is a data amount of data of the LCG in a corresponding time interval” according to paragraph [0216]); and delay information for at least one LCG of the one or more LCGs for which the one or more fields indicate delay information is present in the DSR, the at least one LCG comprising a first LCG (see “For example, each LCG in the MAC CE corresponds to a table index field, a delay information indication field, and a buffer size field…The delay information indication field indicates a remaining transmission delay budget” recited in paragraph [0219]).
Zhang does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 20 and 30, based on reception of the DSR, transmit, to the UE, an indication to perform a first action comprising at least one of: monitor at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion of one or more PDCCH that the apparatus was previously indicated to stop monitoring; or exit a CDRX inactive state; Regarding claim 25, wherein the first action comprises to monitor the at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion.
Jin discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 20 and 30, based on reception of the DSR, transmit, to the UE, an indication to perform a first action (see Fig. 23, wherein in response to the delay budget report transmitted in step 2335, the gNB sends a DRX cycle reconfiguration message to UE1 in step 2355 and UE1 reconfigures its DRX cycle accordingly).
Hosseini discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 20 and 30, based on reception of the DSR, transmit, to the UE, an indication (Jin shows the indication to reconfigure the DRX cycle that may be used to monitor PDCCH) to perform a first action comprising at least one of: monitor at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion of one or more PDCCH that the apparatus was previously indicated to stop monitoring (see “When a UE is awake, or in other words in a DRX ON duration, the UE may monitor for signaling that may be received, such as, for example, PDCCH transmissions from a BS” recited in paragraph [0060] and see “If packet delay budget is small a DRX ON period may be extended to allow data to be transmitted in a current (extended) DRX ON period, as the small delay may not allow waiting until a subsequent DRX ON period” recited in paragraph [0071]; that is, based on the packet delay budget that may be included in the DSR transmission, the UE may extend the DRX ON duration, during which a PDCCH is monitored, wherein the extended DRX ON duration include at least a portion of a previous DRX OFF duration, during which a PDCCH is not monitored; that is, Hosseini shows that the reconfiguration of the DRX cycle may result in the extension of the DRX ON duration for PDCCH monitoring occasions previously indicated to stop monitoring and enter a DRX off duration); or exit a CDRX inactive state.
Regarding claim 25, wherein the first action comprises to monitor the at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion (see “When a UE is awake, or in other words in a DRX ON duration, the UE may monitor for signaling that may be received, such as, for example, PDCCH transmissions from a BS” recited in paragraph [0060] and see “If packet delay budget is small a DRX ON period may be extended to allow data to be transmitted in a current (extended) DRX ON period, as the small delay may not allow waiting until a subsequent DRX ON period” recited in paragraph [0071]; wherein the UE monitors the PDCCH monitoring occasion during the DRX ON duration and extends the monitoring based on the packet delay budget).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang using features, as taught by Jin and Hosseini, in order to improve call quality (see paragraph [0244] of Jin) and in order to allow packets to be communicated within its delay budget (see paragraph [0071] of Hosseini).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang using features, as taught by Jin and Hosseini, in order to in order to improve call quality (see paragraph [0246] of Jin) and in order to allow packets to be communicated within its delay budget (see paragraph [0071] of Hosseini).
Claim(s) 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang, Jin and Hosseini as applied to claim 20 above, and further in view of Nagano.
Zhang, Jin and Hosseini disclose the features as shown above.
Zhang also discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 21, wherein the delay information for the at least one LCG comprises firs delay information for the first LCG (see “For example, each LCG in the MAC CE corresponds to a table index field, a delay information indication field, and a buffer size field…The delay information indication field indicates a remaining transmission delay budget” recited in paragraph [0219]).
Regarding claim 22, wherein the first delay information comprises a first buffer size indicating an amount of data buffered for the first LCG (see “For example, each LCG in the MAC CE corresponds to a table index field, a delay information indication field, and a buffer size field” recited in paragraph [0219]).
Zhang does not disclose the following features: Regarding claim 21, the delay information comprising a first remaining time indicating a shortest remaining value among one or more discard timers associated with one or more data units buffered for the first LCG; Regarding claim 23, wherein: the DSR is triggered based on a discard timer, associated with the first LCG, being less than or equal to a reporting threshold and the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to cause the apparatus to transmit, to the UE, a reporting configuration that indicates one or more reporting thresholds for the first LCG, the one or more reporting thresholds including the reporting threshold.
Nagano discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 21, the delay information comprising a first remaining time indicating a shortest remaining value among one or more discard timers associated with one or more data units buffered for the first LCG (see “The second part 1421b indicates the delay information (e.g., the above-mentioned remaining time) related to the data corresponding to LCG 1” recited in paragraph [0217]; and see “The delay information may include information related to a plurality of remaining times. In another example, the delay information may be information related to the shortest remaining time of a plurality of remaining times” recited in paragraph [0205]; and see “trigger a delay status report in a case where a shortest remaining time of a discard timer for data becomes below a threshold for the LCG” recited in the abstract).
Regarding claim 23, wherein: the DSR is triggered based on a discard timer, associated with the first LCG, being less than or equal to a reporting threshold (see “trigger a delay status report in a case where a shortest remaining time of a discard timer for data becomes below a threshold for the LCG” recited in the abstract); and the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to cause the apparatus to transmit, to the UE, a reporting configuration that indicates one or more reporting thresholds for the first LCG, the one or more reporting thresholds including the reporting threshold (see “Note that the base station apparatus 20 may transmit, to the terminal apparatus 10, system information (SI, for example, SIB1 and/or SIB other than SIB1) including information indicating the first threshold Th1. The base station apparatus 20 may transmit, to the terminal apparatus 10, DCI including information indicating the first threshold Th1” recited in paragraph [0207]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang, Jin and Hosseini using features, as taught by Nagano, in order to determine urgent data that needs to be transmitted immediately (see paragraph [0207], abstract of Nagano).
Claim(s) 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang, Jin and Hosseini as applied to claim 25 above, and further in view of Lai.
Zhang, Jin and Hosseini disclose the features as shown above.
Zhang does not disclose the following features: Regarding claim 27, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to transmit, to the UE, a PDCCH adaptation indication indicating to stop monitoring the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions; Regarding claim 28, the PDCCH adaptation indication comprises a PDCCH skipping command for a time period; and the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions are scheduled during the time period.
Lai discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 27, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to transmit, to the UE, a PDCCH adaptation indication indicating to stop monitoring the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions (see Fig. 5 and paragraph [0081], wherein “The UE may receive a PDCCH skipping indication (containing/carrying a specific DCI format) from the NW. The PDCCH skipping may be used to indicate a duration that the UE may need to stop monitoring PDCCH”).
Regarding claim 28, the PDCCH adaptation indication comprises a PDCCH skipping command for a time period; and the one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions are scheduled during the time period (see Fig. 5 and paragraph [0081], wherein “The UE may receive a PDCCH skipping indication (containing/carrying a specific DCI format) from the NW. The PDCCH skipping may be used to indicate a duration that the UE may need to stop monitoring PDCCH”, wherein Fig. 5 shows such duration/occasions during which PDCCH monitoring is stopped).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current Application to modify the system of Zhang, Jin and Hosseini using features, as taught by Lai, in order to allow the UE to enhance power saving by allowing dynamic switching between sparse and frequent PDCCH monitoring (see paragraphs [0075]-[0076] of Lai).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 and 26 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUTAI KAO whose telephone number is (571)272-9719. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-17:00 EST.
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/JUTAI KAO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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