DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the application filed on 6 February 2024.
Claims 21-30 are under examination.
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 .
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
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.
Claims 21, 23–26 and 28–30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2025/0071769 A1) in view of Kim et al. (US 2020/0413412 A1).
Regarding claim 21, Wu discloses a method for performing discontinuous reception (DRX) by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving downlink information from a base station; activating a cell-specific DRX; and starting a timer associated with the DRX (Wu ¶[0161], describing DRX configuration in which the UE switches between active time and non-active time based on control of DRX timers).
Wu further discloses while the first timer is running: monitoring, during an active time of the DRX, a first identifier associated with scheduling information (Wu ¶[0161], the UE monitors PDCCH during the active time for downlink scheduling, where the active time is defined by operation of DRX timers).
Wu does not disclose while the first timer is running: monitoring, during a non-active time of the DRX, a second identifier used for power saving, wherein the second identifier is different from the first identifier.
Kim discloses while the first timer is running: monitoring, during a non-active time of the DRX, a second identifier used for power saving (Kim ¶[0193], the terminal monitors a PDCCH in a DRX inactive time with respect to a search space in which a DCI format scrambled by a power-saving RNTI (PS-RNTI) is configured to be monitored).
Kim further discloses wherein the second identifier is different from the first identifier (Kim ¶[0195], the terminal monitors DCI scrambled by different RNTIs including C-RNTI for scheduling and PS-RNTI for power saving).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Wu to include monitoring of a second identifier used for power saving during the non-active time of DRX as taught by Kim, in order to enable efficient wake-up signaling and reduce power consumption while maintaining DRX operation defined by the DRX timer.
Regarding claim 23, Wu further discloses wherein: the cell-specific discontinuous operation comprises a periodic pattern having an active period and a non-active period; the first timer defines a duration of the active period; and the predetermined time point is determined based on a cycle and an offset of the periodic pattern (Wu ¶[0161], DRX includes periodic active and inactive time defined by DRX cycle and timers).
Regarding claim 24, Kim further discloses wherein: the first identifier is a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) used for dynamic scheduling of uplink and downlink data transmission (Kim ¶[0195], monitoring DCI scrambled by C-RNTI for scheduling), and the second identifier is a Power Saving Radio Network Temporary Identifier (PS-RNTI) used for indicating whether to monitor a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) during a next on-duration of the UE-specific discontinuous reception operation (Kim ¶[0193], PS-RNTI used for power saving monitoring).
Regarding claim 25, Kim further discloses wherein: monitoring the first identifier comprises monitoring a PDCCH in a UE-specific search space; and monitoring the second identifier comprises monitoring the PDCCH in a common search space (Kim ¶[0195], UE-specific search space for C-RNTI; ¶[0193], search space for PS-RNTI).
Regarding claim 26, Wu further discloses wherein the active time of the UE-specific discontinuous reception operation includes a time while at least one of the following timers is running: a second timer for an on-duration of the UE-specific discontinuous reception operation; or an inactivity timer for the UE-specific discontinuous reception operation (Wu ¶[0161], DRX timers including on-duration and inactivity timers define active time).
Regarding claim 28, Kim further discloses wherein monitoring the C-RNTI during the active time comprises: receiving scheduling information for downlink data transmission on a Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH); or receiving scheduling information for uplink data transmission on an Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) (Kim ¶[0195], scheduling DCI corresponds to DL-SCH and UL-SCH transmission).
Regarding claim 29, Wu further discloses wherein, when the first timer is not running: the second identifier is monitored; and the first identifier is not monitored (Wu ¶[0161], UE ceases scheduling-related monitoring outside active time consistent with DRX operation), and Kim further discloses monitoring of a power-saving identifier during non-active time (Kim ¶[0193]).
Regarding claim 30, Wu discloses a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals; and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver and configured to: receive, from a base station, downlink information; activate a cell-specific discontinuous operation for a serving cell based on the downlink information; start a first timer at a predetermined time point, wherein the first timer defines an active period of the cell-specific discontinuous operation (Wu ¶[0161], describing a UE configured for DRX, receiving downlink information from a base station, activating DRX, and switching between active time and non-active time based on DRX timers).
Wu further discloses while the first timer is running: monitor a first identifier during an active time of a UE-specific discontinuous reception operation, wherein the first identifier is used for scheduling of data transmission (Wu ¶[0161], the UE monitors PDCCH during the active time for scheduling).
Wu does not disclose and monitor a second identifier during a non-active time of the UE-specific discontinuous reception operation, wherein the second identifier is used for power saving indication, wherein the second identifier is different from the first identifier.
Kim discloses and monitor a second identifier during a non-active time of the UE-specific discontinuous reception operation, wherein the second identifier is used for power saving indication (Kim ¶[0193], the terminal monitors a PDCCH in a DRX inactive time with respect to a search space in which a DCI format scrambled by an RNTI, e.g., PS-RNTI, for power saving is configured to be monitored).
Kim further discloses wherein the second identifier is different from the first identifier (Kim ¶[0195], the terminal monitors DCI scrambled by particular RNTIs, including C-RNTI for scheduling and PS-RNTI for power saving).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify Wu to include monitoring of a second identifier used for power saving indication during a non-active time of the UE-specific discontinuous reception operation as taught by Kim, in order to enable power-saving signaling while maintaining DRX operation.
Accordingly, Wu in view of Kim teaches or suggests all the limitations of claim 30.
Claims 22 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2025/0071769 A1) in view of Kim et al. (US 2020/0413412 A1), and further in view of Wei et al. (US 2019/0386770 A1).
Regarding claim 22, Wu further discloses wherein the downlink information comprises one of: a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message including a configuration parameter for the cell-specific discontinuous operation, or downlink information for cell discontinuous operation including an activation command for the cell-specific discontinuous operation (Wu ¶[0161], DRX configuration and operation controlled via higher-layer signaling and DRX parameters).
Wu does not specifically disclose wherein the downlink information for cell discontinuous operation is received based on a third identifier, wherein the third identifier is exclusively used for controlling the cell-specific discontinuous operation.
Kim discloses that control signaling is distinguished using different identifiers (RNTIs) (Kim ¶[0195], monitoring DCI scrambled by particular RNTIs for different purposes).
Wei discloses a dedicated identifier (U-RNTI) configured via a downlink RRC reconfiguration message (Wei ¶[0084], U-RNTI provided via RRCReconfiguration message).
It would have been obvious to utilize a dedicated identifier provided via RRC signaling to distinguish DRX-related control signaling from other control signaling as a matter of design choice to improve signaling clarity and efficiency.
Regarding claim 27, Kim further discloses wherein the third identifier is a cell discontinuous transmission and reception Radio Network Temporary Identifier (D-RNTI) (Kim ¶[0195], teaching use of different RNTIs for differentiating control signaling functions), and Wei further discloses a specific identifier configured via RRC signaling for controlling UE operation (Wei ¶[0084], U-RNTI configured via RRCReconfiguration message).
It would have been obvious to employ a specific RNTI as a dedicated identifier for DRX-related control signaling in view of the known use of RNTIs for differentiating control signaling functions and the use of identifiers configured via RRC signaling.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure (see form 892).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUAT T PHUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-3126. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9 AM - 6 PM.
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/Luat Phung/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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