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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because they are currently amended with new limitations and features. Therefore, it necessitates a new ground of rejection as shown in the followings.
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.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei et al. (Pub. No. US 2025/0310881) and further in view of Li et al. (Pub. No. US 2025/0220582).
Regarding claim 1. (Currently Amended) Wei teaches an electronic device (Wei, the Abstract, Fig. 3), comprising:
at least one processor including processing circuitry (Wei, Fig. 3, pp [61]); and
memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively (Wei, Fig. 3, pp [61]), cause the electronic device to:
monitor, based on the time occasions, the LP-WUS associated with a serving cell (Wei, Fig. 9, pp [108]-[109]: a UE monitors for LP-WUS from a current serving cell);
determine whether the LP-WUS is detected in the time occasions (Wei, pp [100]-[101]: LP-WUS is detected); and
monitor, based on a determination that the LP-WUS is detected, at least one of a paging early indicator (PEI) and a paging message (Wei, Fig. 8B, pp [101]; Fig. 9, pp [108]-[109], [124], [160]: the UE monitors for PEI and paging message when LP-WUS is detected).
Wei does not teach “receive, from a base station (BS), system information (SI), the SI including an offset of low power-wake-up signals (LP-WUSs) from associated paging occasions” or “identify, based on the offset, time occasions to monitor an LP-WUS from a plurality of LP-WUSs.”
Li teaches “receive, from a base station (BS), system information (SI), the SI including an offset of low power-wake-up signals (LP-WUSs) from associated paging occasions” or “identify, based on the offset, time occasions to monitor an LP-WUS from a plurality of LP-WUSs.” (Li, Fig. 10, pp [159]-[162]: receiving offset for LP-WUS, based on the offset, monitoring for LP-WUS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the affective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Wei by incorporating teachings of Li, the techniques relate to a main receiver of a user equipment (UE) and a wake-up receiver (WUR) of the UE for receiving a low-power wake-up signal (LP-WUS) from a base station. Based on the LP-WUS, the WUR may be configured to wake-up the main receiver of the UE, wherein the UE identifies received configuration information including duty cycle parameters and detects the LP-WUS based on the configuration information, and wherein the UE sets a state of the wake-up receiver based on an RRC state of the main receiver. Furthermore, the techniques also teach and disclose the UE monitors for LP-WUSs by identifying offsets during the duty cycle which is denoted as WUS-cycle, where the UE is provided with offset periods to prepare for monitoring the next LP-WUS effectively and sufficiently thus improving the timing efficiency and power saving for the UE in the long run.
Regarding claim 9. (Currently Amended) Wei teaches a method of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (Wei, the Abstract, Fig. 3), the method comprising:
monitoring, based on the time occasions, the LP-WUS associated with a serving cell (Wei, Fig. 9, pp [108]-[109]: a UE monitors for LP-WUS from a current serving cell);
determining whether the LP-WUS is detected in the time occasions (Wei, pp [100]-[101]: LP-WUS is detected); and
monitoring, based on a determination that the LP-WUS is detected, at least one of a paging early indicator (PEI) and a paging message (Wei, Fig. 8B, pp [101]; Fig. 9, pp [108]-[109], [124], [160]: the UE monitors for PEI and paging message when LP-WUS is detected).
Wei does not teach “receive, from a base station (BS), system information (SI), the SI including an offset of low power-wake-up signals (LP-WUSs) from associated paging occasions” or “identify, based on the offset, time occasions to monitor an LP-WUS from a plurality of LP-WUSs.”
Li teaches “receive, from a base station (BS), system information (SI), the SI including an offset of low power-wake-up signals (LP-WUSs) from associated paging occasions” or “identify, based on the offset, time occasions to monitor an LP-WUS from a plurality of LP-WUSs.” (Li, Fig. 10, pp [159]-[162]: receiving offset for LP-WUS, based on the offset, monitoring for LP-WUS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the affective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Wei by incorporating teachings of Li, the techniques relate to a main receiver of a user equipment (UE) and a wake-up receiver (WUR) of the UE for receiving a low-power wake-up signal (LP-WUS) from a base station. Based on the LP-WUS, the WUR may be configured to wake-up the main receiver of the UE, wherein the UE identifies received configuration information including duty cycle parameters and detects the LP-WUS based on the configuration information, and wherein the UE sets a state of the wake-up receiver based on an RRC state of the main receiver. Furthermore, the techniques also teach and disclose the UE monitors for LP-WUSs by identifying offsets during the duty cycle which is denoted as WUS-cycle, where the UE is provided with offset periods to prepare for monitoring the next LP-WUS effectively and sufficiently thus improving the timing efficiency and power saving for the UE in the long run.
Regarding claim 17. (Currently Amended) Wei teaches a method of a base station (BS) in a wireless communication system (Wei, the Abstract, Fig. 1), the method comprising:
transmitting to a user equipment UE, the SI (Wei, Figs. 5A and 5B, pp [92]-[94]), wherein:
the LP-WUS associated with a serving cell is monitored from a plurality of LP-WUSs based on the time occasions (Wei, Figs. 5A and 5B, pp [92]-[94]: a UE utilizes a LP-WUR for monitoring LP-WUS signals); and
at least one of a paging early indicator (PEI) and a paging message is monitored based on a detectability of the LP-WUS (Wei, Fig. 8B, pp [101]; Fig. 9, pp [108]-[109], [124], [160]: the UE monitors for PEI and paging message when LP-WUS is detected).
Wei does not teach “generating system information (SI), the SI including an offset of low power-wake-up signals (LP-WUSs) from associated paging occasions, the offset indicating time occasions for an LP-WUS.”
Li teaches “generating system information (SI), the SI including an offset of low power-wake-up signals (LP-WUSs) from associated paging occasions, the offset indicating time occasions for an LP-WUS.” (Li, Fig. 10, pp [159]-[162]: receiving offset for LP-WUS, based on the offset, monitoring for LP-WUS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the affective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Wei by incorporating teachings of Li, the techniques relate to a main receiver of a user equipment (UE) and a wake-up receiver (WUR) of the UE for receiving a low-power wake-up signal (LP-WUS) from a base station. Based on the LP-WUS, the WUR may be configured to wake-up the main receiver of the UE, wherein the UE identifies received configuration information including duty cycle parameters and detects the LP-WUS based on the configuration information, and wherein the UE sets a state of the wake-up receiver based on an RRC state of the main receiver. Furthermore, the techniques also teach and disclose the UE monitors for LP-WUSs by identifying offsets during the duty cycle which is denoted as WUS-cycle, where the UE is provided with offset periods to prepare for monitoring the next LP-WUS effectively and sufficiently thus improving the timing efficiency and power saving for the UE in the long run.
Regarding claim 2. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the
instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to determine whether the LP-WUS includes an indication for the electronic device to wake up (Wei, Fig. 3, pp [101]).
Regarding claim 3. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the SI further includes a threshold (Li, pp [50]-[52]).
Regarding claim 4. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively (Wei, Fig. 3), further cause the electronic device to:
determine whether to monitor the PEI (Wei, Fig. 3, pp [132]-[133]); and
identify the time occasions before monitoring the PEI when the electronic device is configured to monitor the PEI (Wei, pp [101]); or
identify the time occasions before monitoring the paging message when the electronic device is not configured to monitor the PEI (Wei, pp [100]).
Regarding claim 5. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein
the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively (Wei, Fig. 3), further cause the electronic device to:
receive, from the BS, a synchronization signal/physical broadcasting channel block (SSB) (Wei, pp [63], [83]-[85], [94]); and
activate a synchronization and measurement operation based on the SSB (Wei, pp [82]-[85], [94]); and
the synchronization and measurement operation is activated after the LP-WUS is detected in the time occasions (Wei, pp [82]-[85], [94]).
Regarding claim 6. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively (Wei, Fig. 3), further cause the electronic device to:
determine whether the SI including PEI configuration information is received;
based on a determination that the SI including the PEI configuration information is received (Wei, pp [97]-[100]) and the electronic device is capable of supporting a PEI reception, start monitoring the PEI (Wei, pp [100]-[101]); and
based on a determination that the SI including the PEI configuration information is not received or the electronic device is not capable of supporting the PEI reception, start monitoring the paging message (Wei, pp [108]-[111]).
Regarding claim 7. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively (Wei, Fig. 3), further cause the electronic device to:
determine whether the SI including PEI configuration information comprises sub-grouping information (Wei, pp [96]-[100]);
based on a determination that the PEI configuration information includes sub-grouping information and the electronic device is capable of supporting a PEI reception, start monitoring the PEI (Wei, pp [96]-[101]); and
based on a determination that the PEI configuration information does not include the sub-grouping information or the electronic device is not capable of supporting the PEI reception, start monitoring the paging message (Wei, pp [96]-[101]).
Regarding claim 8. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the electronic device of claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively (Wei, Fig. 3), further cause the electronic device to identify the sub-grouping information based on at least one of a subgroup number per paging occasion (subgroupsNumberPerPO) and a subgroup number for UE identification (subgroupsNumberForUEID) (Wei, pp [97]-[98], [102], [112]).
Regarding claim 10. (Original) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 9, further comprising determining whether the LP-WUS includes an indication for the UE to wake up (Wei, pp [101]).
Regarding claim 11. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 9, wherein the SI further includes a threshold (Li, pp [50]-[52]).
Regarding claim 12. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 9, further comprising:
determining whether to monitor the PEI (Wei, pp [132]-[133]); and
identifying the time occasions before monitoring the PEI when the electronic device is configured to monitor the PEI (Wei, pp [100]-[101]); or
identifying the time occasions before monitoring the paging message when the electronic device is not configured to monitor the PEI (Wei, pp [100]-[101]).
Regarding claim 13. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 9, further comprising:
receiving, from the BS, a synchronization signal/physical broadcasting channel block (SSB) (Wei, pp [63], [83]-[85], [94]); and
activating, based on the SSB, a synchronization and measurement operation (Wei, pp [63], [83]-[85], [94]),
wherein the synchronization and measurement operation is activated after the LP-WUS is detected in the time occasions (Wei, pp [63], [83]-[85], [94]).
Regarding claim 14. (Original) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 9, further comprising:
determining whether the SI including PEI configuration information is received (Wei, pp [97]-[100]);
based on a determination that the SI including the PEI configuration information is received and the UE is capable of supporting a PEI reception, starting monitoring the PEI (Wei, pp [100]-[101]); and
based on a determination that the SI including the PEI configuration information is not received or the UE is not capable of supporting the PEI reception, starting monitoring the paging message (Wei, pp [108]-[111]).
Regarding claim 15. (Original) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 9, further comprising:
determining whether the SI including PEI configuration information comprises sub-grouping information (Wei, pp [97]-[100]);
when the PEI configuration information includes sub-grouping information and the UE is capable of supporting a PEI reception, starting monitoring the PEI (Wei, pp [96]-[101]); and
when the PEI configuration information does not include sub-grouping information or the UE is not capable of supporting the PEI reception, starting monitoring the paging message (Wei, pp [96]-[101]).
Regarding claim 16. (Original) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 15, further comprising identifying the sub-grouping information based on at least one of a subgroup number per paging occasion (subgroupsNumberPerPO) and a subgroup number for UE identification (subgroupsNumberForUEID) (Wei, pp [97]-[98], [102], [112]).
Regarding claim 18. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 17, wherein the SI further includes a threshold (Li, pp [50]-[52]).
Regarding claim 19. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 17, wherein whether to monitor the PEI is determined, and wherein:
the time occasions are identified before the PEI is monitored when the electronic device is configured to monitor the PEI (Wei, pp [100]-[101]); or
the time occasions are identified before the paging message is monitored when the electronic device is not configured to monitor the PEI (Wei, pp [100]-[101]).
Regarding claim 20. (Currently Amended) Wei, as modified by Li, teaches the method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting, to the electronic device, a synchronization signal/physical broadcasting channel block (SSB),
wherein:
a synchronization and measurement operation is activated based on the SSB (Wei, pp [63], [83]-[85], [94]); and
the synchronization and measurement operation is activated after the LP-WUS is detected in the time occasions (Wei, pp [63], [83]-[85], [94]).
Relevant reference(s) to the claims but not used in the rejection above
Elshafie et al. (Pub. No. US 2026/0095862), teaches method and system to wireless communication wherein a user equipment (UE) may receive, using a first radio component, a wake up signal indicating a transition of a second radio component from a reduced power mode to another power mode. The UE may receive, using the first radio component and during the transition of the second radio component from the reduced power mode to the other power mode, one or more signals. The UE may communicate, after the transition of the second radio component from the reduced power mode to the other power mode, using the second radio component and in accordance with the one or more signals.
In some particular details from Figure 5, the method and system discloses a network node and a UE may be configured with a wake up signal (WUS) occasion. During the wake up signal occasion, the network node may transmit a signal to the UE to trigger to the UE to transition from a reduced power mode (e.g., a discontinuous reception (DRX) off state) to another power mode (e.g., a normal power mode, such as a DRX on state associated with a DRX on duration). After transitioning from the reduced power mode to, for example, the normal power mode, the UE may have a period of time when the UE can communicate with the network node. For example, the UE may be configured with a DRX on duration. A start of the DRX on duration may be offset from the wake up signal occasion to provide time for the UE to process and interpret the wake up signal, complete a power mode transition, turn on one or more transmit chain components, or tune an antenna, among other examples.
A dual-radio UE may use a first radio component to monitor for wake up signals and a second radio component to communicate during an on duration. The first radio component may be a low-power wake up radio that is a companion receiver for the second radio component, which may be a main radio. The UE can have the main radio in a sleep state, thereby conserving a usage of power resources, while monitoring for wake up signals using the low-power wake up radio (e.g., which may consume less power resources to perform monitoring than the main radio consumes). When the UE detects a wake up signal with the first radio component, the UE can wake up the second radio component to communicate during the on duration, thereby providing improved communication performance (e.g., the main radio may have a higher transmit power and/or a greater processing capability than the low-power wake up radio, resulting in improved throughput and/or a reduced likelihood of dropped communications).
Additionally, by using a wake-up radio for wake up signaling monitoring, a UE can also perform more frequent wake up signal monitoring. For example, a network node can configure a UE with more frequent wake up signal occasions for monitoring using a low-power wake up radio without adversely impacting power resources than may be possible for monitoring using the main radio. In this case, a delay between data arriving at the network node and a wake up signal occasion occurring is reduced, thereby reducing a latency associated with communications relative to a UE with less frequent wake up signal occasions.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUY C HO whose telephone number is (571)270-1108. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8AM-5PM.
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/HUY C HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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