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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This is a reply to the application filed on 4/20/2026, in which, claim(s) 1-20 s/are pending.
Claim(s) 18-20 is/are newly added.
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 102 and 35 U.S.C. § 103:
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 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.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 5-7, 10, 12 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yiu et al. (US 20210127391 A1; hereinafter Yiu) in view of Zhang et al. (US 20210306893 A1 - IDS; hereinafter Zhang).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Yiu discloses a communication method, wherein the method comprises:
receiving indication information from a network device, wherein the indication information indicates to report measurement capability information in a first format, and the measurement capability information in the first format comprises information about whether an interrupt is generated during measurement (an enhanced Node B (eNB) comprising circuitry to transmit a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap capability request to a user equipment (UE), the gap type can be a regular measurement gap, a mini gap, or no gap required, or a subset of these gap types, or a combination thereof. The mini gap, which also may be referred to as a small gap or an interruption gap, indicates there will be downlink transmissions on the serving frequency, and the UE can receive the downlink transmissions on the serving frequency using other RF bands or chains with a smaller value of interruption [Yiu; ¶24, 29, 53]);
sending a first message to the network device, wherein the first message carries the measurement capability information of a terminal device, and the measurement capability information indicates whether a measurement gap (MG) is needed and whether the interrupt is generated when a first measurement target is measured (a user equipment (UE) comprises circuitry to connect to a network via a serving cell, indicate to the network a measurement gap capability of the UE, wherein the measurement gap capability includes information if the UE supports a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap and if the UE has two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains, and receive a CA specific measurement gap configuration from the network based on the two or more RF chains information [Yiu; ¶24, 29, 53], if a band is not required for measurement gap measurements indicate a downlink transmission on a serving frequency of the serving cell and the UE can receive the downlink transmission on the serving frequency without interruption [Yiu; ¶24, 29, 53]); and
measuring the first measurement target based on the indication information and the first message (Such measurement gaps configurations are specified and signaled by means of dedicated signaling for the UE such that no downlink or uplink scheduling between the UE and the service cell occurs to allow the UE to perform measurements on the one or more given frequencies… The measurement results obtained by the UE for the one or more neighbors cells allow the eNB1 to determine whether to handover the UE to a new cell or eNB, for example if the signal levels with a neighboring cell are better than the signal levels for the serving cell [Yiu; ¶15-16]); and
wherein the first message comprises a first information element and a second information element, wherein a state of the first information element is one of the following two states: a first state indicating that the interrupt is generated, or a second state indicating that no interrupt is generated, and a state of the second information element is one of the following two states: a third state indicating that the MG is needed, or a fourth state indicating that no MG is needed [Yiu; ¶29, 53-54].
Yiu does not explicitly discloses wherein the first message comprises a first information element and a second information element, wherein a state of the first information element is one of the following two states: a first state indicating that the interrupt is generated, or a second state indicating that no interrupt is generated, and a state of the second information element that is different from the first state information element is one of the following two states: a third state indicating that the MG is needed, or a fourth state indicating that no MG is needed; however, in a related and analogous art, Zhang teaches this feature.
In particular, Zhang teaches a message, which many contains different type of interruption and with/without the message gap information, e.g., measurement with does not require MG and interruption, require interruption, requires, MG, intra-RAT, etc., [Zhang; ¶50-65; Figs. 2-6 and associated texts]. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yiu in view of Zhang with the motivation to sharing the measurement gap with a very small overhead, thereby greatly improving usage efficiency of the wireless resource in the network [Zhang; ¶39].
Regarding claims 5 and 16, Yiu-Zhang combination discloses wherein the measuring the first measurement target based on the indication information and the first message comprises: in a case in which the indication information indicates to report the measurement capability information in the first format, the state of the first information element is the second state, and the state of the second information element is the third state, measuring the first measurement target within a first MG (indicating a measurement gap capability of the UE, wherein the measurement gap capability includes information if the UE supports a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap and if the UE has two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains, and receive a CA specific measurement gap configuration from the network based on the two or more RF chains information [Yiu; ¶24, 29, 53], if a band is not required for measurement gap measurements indicate a downlink transmission on a serving frequency of the serving cell and the UE can receive the downlink transmission on the serving frequency without interruption [Yiu; ¶24, 29, 53]).
Regarding claim 7, Yiu discloses a communication method, wherein the method comprises:
sending indication information to a terminal device, wherein the indication information indicates to report measurement capability information in a first format, and the measurement capability information in the first format comprises information about whether an interrupt is generated during measurement (an enhanced Node B (eNB) comprising circuitry to transmit a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap capability request to a user equipment (UE), the gap type can be a regular measurement gap, a mini gap, or no gap required, or a subset of these gap types, or a combination thereof. The mini gap, which also may be referred to as a small gap or an interruption gap, indicates there will be downlink transmissions on the serving frequency, and the UE can receive the downlink transmissions on the serving frequency using other RF bands or chains with a smaller value of interruption [Yiu; ¶24, 29, 53]);
receiving a first message from the terminal device, wherein the first message carries the measurement capability information of the terminal device, and the measurement capability information indicates whether a measurement gap (MG) is needed and whether the interrupt is generated when a first measurement target is measured (a user equipment (UE) comprises circuitry to connect to a network via a serving cell, indicate to the network a measurement gap capability of the UE, wherein the measurement gap capability includes information if the UE supports a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap and if the UE has two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains, and receive a CA specific measurement gap configuration from the network based on the two or more RF chains information [Yiu; ¶16, 29, 53], if a band is not required for measurement gap measurements indicate a downlink transmission on a serving frequency of the serving cell and the UE can receive the downlink transmission on the serving frequency without interruption [Yiu; ¶16, 29, 53]); and
sending, to the terminal device, configuration information for measuring the first measurement target, wherein the configuration information is related to the indication information, and the configuration information is related to the first message (measurement gaps configuration is provided by the network to the UE via the serving cell. In accordance with one or more embodiments, the UE may indicate to the network the radio-frequency (RF) capability and the band capability of the UE [Yiu; ¶16, 29, 53]);
wherein the first message comprises a first information element and a second information element, wherein a state of the first information element is one of the following two states: a first state indicating that the interrupt is generated, or a second state indicating that no interrupt is generated, and a state of the second information element is one of the following two states: a third state indicating that the MG is needed, or a fourth state indicating that no MG is needed [Yiu; ¶29, 53-54].
Yiu does not explicitly discloses wherein the first message comprises a first information element and a second information element, wherein a state of the first information element is one of the following two states: a first state indicating that the interrupt is generated, or a second state indicating that no interrupt is generated, and a state of the second information element that is different from the first state information element is one of the following two states: a third state indicating that the MG is needed, or a fourth state indicating that no MG is needed; however, in a related and analogous art, Zhang teaches this feature.
In particular, Zhang teaches a message, which many contains different type of interruption and with/without the message gap information, e.g., measurement with does not require MG and interruption, require interruption, requires, MG, intra-RAT, etc., [Zhang; ¶50-65; Figs. 2-6 and associated texts]. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yiu in view of Zhang with the motivation to sharing the measurement gap with a very small overhead, thereby greatly improving usage efficiency of the wireless resource in the network [Zhang; ¶39].
Regarding claim 10, Yiu-Zhang combination discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein in a case in which the indication information indicates to report the measurement capability information in the first format, the state of the first information element is the second state, and the state of the second information element is the third state, the configuration information comprises second configuration information, and the second configuration information is used for configuring the MG for the first measurement target (indicating a measurement gap capability of the UE, wherein the measurement gap capability includes information if the UE supports a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap and if the UE has two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains, and receive a CA specific measurement gap configuration from the network based on the two or more RF chains information [Yiu; ¶24, 29, 53], if a band is not required for measurement gap measurements indicate a downlink transmission on a serving frequency of the serving cell and the UE can receive the downlink transmission on the serving frequency without interruption [Yiu; ¶24, 29, 53]).
Regarding claims 18-20, Yiu-Zhang combination discloses wherein the first message is a media access control control element (MAC CE) (MAC Parameters [Yiu; ¶25-28, 39]).
Claim(s) 2-4, 8-9, 11 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yiu-Zhang combination in view of Li et al. (US 20230180080 A1; hereinafter Li).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Yiu-Zhang combination does not explicilty discloses wherein the measuring the first measurement target based on the indication information and the first message comprises: in a case in which the indication information indicates to report the measurement capability information in the first format, and the state of the first information element is the first state, measuring the first measurement target within a first MG or a first network controlled small gap (NCSG); however, in a related and analogous art, Li teaches this feature.
In particular, Li teaches a UE for a 5G system is to perform a measurement during a network controlled small gap (NCSG). The NCSCI includes a first visible interruption length (VIL1), a measurement length (ML), a second visible interruption length (VIL2), and a visible interruption repetition period (VIRP). A UE capability indicates a length of one or both the VIL1 and the VIL2 [Li; Abstract, ¶20-21, 29-33]. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yiu-Zhang combination measuring during a NCSG of Li teaching with the motivation that the UE may use additional RF chain to conduct the measurement on the target frequency layer such that the UE can use a different RF chain for the data transmission/reception with the service cell [Li; ¶20]. The motivation that the UE may use additional RF chain to conduct the measurement on the target frequency layer such that the UE can use a different RF chain for the data transmission/reception with the service cell [Li; ¶20].
Regarding claims 3 and 14, Yiu-Zhang-Li combination discloses wherein the method further comprises: receiving configuration information for configuring the first NCSG (configuration to utilized selected NCGS pattern [Li; ¶28-29]). The motivation that the UE may use additional RF chain to conduct the measurement on the target frequency layer such that the UE can use a different RF chain for the data transmission/reception with the service cell [Li; ¶20].
Regarding claims 4 and 15, Yiu-Zhang-Li combination discloses wherein the configuration information comprises an offset value relative to a reference time point and a first advance relative to a first time point, wherein the first time point is a time point indicated by the offset value, and candidate values of the first advance comprise a value greater than 0.5; and the method further comprises: determining a start point of the first NCSG as a time point determined based on the first time point and the first advance (a synchronous case and an asynchronous case. in synchronous case, a propagation delay is shown as a timing offset, between a DL timing and UL timing 2 10. In asynchronous case, a delay is also shown because serving cell A timing and serving cell B timing are maintained separately from each other [Li; ¶30-35; Figs. 2-3 and associated texts]). The motivation that the UE may use additional RF chain to conduct the measurement on the target frequency layer such that the UE can use a different RF chain for the data transmission/reception with the service cell [Li; ¶20].
Regarding claims 6 and 17, Yiu-Zhang-Li combination discloses wherein the measuring the first measurement target based on the indication information and the first message comprises: in a case in which the indication information indicates to report the measurement capability information in the first format, the state of the first information element is the second state, and the state of the second information element is the fourth state, measuring the first measurement target based on a configuration with no MG and no NCSG, or measuring the first measurement target outside a second MG or a second NCSG, wherein the second MG or the second NCSG is configured by the network device for another measurement target (The first RF chain is configured to handle the data for the first CC. The second RF chain is configured to handle the data for the second CC. Each may include a different NCSG configuration. If a measurement, object is configured for the UE to measure a block outside the CC bandwidth, e.g., outside CC1-RF1 302 [Li; ¶30-35; Figs. 2-3 and associated texts]). The motivation that the UE may use additional RF chain to conduct the measurement on the target frequency layer such that the UE can use a different RF chain for the data transmission/reception with the service cell [Li; ¶20].
Regarding claim 8, Yiu-Zhang-Li combination discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein in a case in which the indication information indicates to report the measurement capability information in the first format, and the state of the first information element is the first state, the configuration information comprise first configuration information for configuring a network controlled small gap (NCSG)for the first measurement target, or the configuration information comprises second configuration information for configuring the MG for the first measurement target (a UE for a 5G system is to perform a measurement during a network controlled small gap (NCSG). The NCSCI includes a first visible interruption length (VIL1), a measurement length (ML), a second visible interruption length (VIL2), and a visible interruption repetition period (VIRP). A UE capability indicates a length of one or both the VIL1 and the VIL2 [Li; Abstract, ¶20-21, 29-33]. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yiu measuring during a NCSG of Li teaching with the motivation that the UE may use additional RF chain to conduct the measurement on the target frequency layer such that the UE can use a different RF chain for the data transmission/reception with the service cell [Li; ¶20]. The motivation that the UE may use additional RF chain to conduct the measurement on the target frequency layer such that the UE can use a different RF chain for the data transmission/reception with the service cell [Li; ¶20].
Regarding claim 9, Yiu-Zhang-Li combination discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein the configuration information comprises third information for configuring a start point of a first NCSG, wherein the third information comprises an offset value relative to a reference time point and a first advance for the start point of the first NCSG relative to a first time point, the first time point is a time point indicated by the offset value, and candidate values of the first advance comprise a value greater than 0.5 (a synchronous case and an asynchronous case. in synchronous case, a propagation delay is shown as a timing offset, between a DL timing and UL timing 2 10. In asynchronous case, a delay is also shown because serving cell A timing and serving cell B timing are maintained separately from each other [Li; ¶30-35; Figs. 2-3 and associated texts]). The motivation that the UE may use additional RF chain to conduct the measurement on the target frequency layer such that the UE can use a different RF chain for the data transmission/reception with the service cell [Li; ¶20].
Regarding claim 11, Yiu-Zhang-Li combination discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein in a case in which the indication information indicates to report the first message, the state of the first information element is the second state, and the state of the second information element is the fourth state, the configuration information does not comprise information for configuring an NCSG for the first measurement target and information for configuring the MG for the first measurement target (The first RF chain is configured to handle the data for the first CC. The second RF chain is configured to handle the data for the second CC. Each may include a different NCSG configuration. If a measurement, object is configured for the UE to measure a block outside the CC bandwidth, e.g., outside CC1-RF1 302 [Li; ¶30-35; Figs. 2-3 and associated texts]). The motivation that the UE may use additional RF chain to conduct the measurement on the target frequency layer such that the UE can use a different RF chain for the data transmission/reception with the service cell [Li; ¶20].
Internet Communications
Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAO Q HO whose telephone number is (571)270-5998. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:00am - 5:00pm.
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, Jeffrey Nickerson can be reached on (469) 295-9235. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DAO Q HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2432
Prosecution Insights