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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/08/2024, 06/07/2024, 02/10/2025 and 12/04/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description:
“308” (see figure 3);
“1207” (see figure 12).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The recitation “Km” (see page 14 line 8) in the specification is improper because it is improperly constructed (the proper indication of kilometer is using lower case “k”); it is suggested to be changed to “km”
The recitation “ROOC” (see page 23 line 13) in the specification is improper because it is improperly constructed; it is suggested to be changed to “ROC”
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
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 3, the recitation in line 3 of claim 3 “the service fot the NTN cell” seems to be improper because it is improperly constructed; it is suggested to be changed to “the service for the NTN cell” (emphasis added).
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-6, 8-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant Admitted Prior Art (AAPA) (present Application figures 2-5 “PRIOR ART” page 1-1 paragraph [0001]-[0003], page 13 paragraph [0057] to page 19 paragraph [0079]) in view of Xie (US 20230209420 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 11 and 20, AAPA discloses camping to an NTN cell (figures 3-5 block 301); determining whether a neighbor cell measurement criterion is met (figures 3-5 block 304) and initiating measurement for at least one neighbor cell, when the neighbor cell measurement criterion is met (figures 3-5 block 302 paragraph [0057]- [0079] “When the criteria are met then the UE (201) start the measurement”).
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AAPA doesn’t disclose receiving at least one parameter from the camped NTN cell, determining a rate of change (ROC) of signal strength of the camped NTN cell, determining whether a neighbor cell measurement criterion is met based on the at least one parameter and the ROC of the signal strength of the camped NTN cell. Xie discloses receiving at least one parameter from the camped NTN cell, determining a rate of change (ROC) of signal strength of the camped NTN cell, determining whether a neighbor cell measurement criterion is met based on the at least one parameter and the ROC of the signal strength of the camped NTN cell (figure 3d paragraphs [0055]-[0266] “Step 301a. The terminal device measures a channel status of the terminal device in a serving cell. The channel status may include one or more of parameters such as RSRP, RSRQ, an SNR, and an SINR, or may include another parameter indicating the channel status of the terminal device in the serving cell. This is not limited” … “Step 302a. The terminal device determines an intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold based on the channel status. The terminal device may determine the intra-frequency/inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold based on a variation of the channel status in a unit time. For example, when the variation of the channel status in the unit time is greater than or equal to a third value, the terminal device may use a fifth threshold as the intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold; or when the variation of the channel status in the unit time is less than the third value, the terminal device may use a sixth threshold as the intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold, where the fifth threshold is less than the sixth threshold.”)
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AAPA and Xie are analogous art because they are from the same field of communications. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate in the technique disclosed by AAPA ROC disclosed by Xie. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to impro reliability of a communication system (see Xie paragraph [0005]-[0006] and AAPA paragraphs [0003]-[0004]). See also KSR. In the KSR case, the Court stated that in certain circumstances what is obvious to try is also obvious, such as where "there is a design need or market pressure to solve a problem, and there are a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, a person of ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp. If this leads to the anticipated success, it is likely the product not of innovation but of ordinary skill and common sense." Regarding hindsight, the Court found that "[r]igid preventive rules that deny fact finders recourse to common sense . . . are neither necessary under our case law nor consistent with it." The Court stated that "familiar items may have obvious uses beyond their primary purposes," analogizing an obvious invention to the fitting together of pieces to a puzzle. The Court in this regard further stated that the person of ordinary skill is also a person of ordinary creativity, and not "an automaton."
Regarding claims 2 and 12, AAPA and Xie disclose claims 1 and 11, AAPA also discloses starting a timer related to a service of the NTN cell based camping to the NTN cell, wherein the measurement for at least one neighbor cell is initiated at a time for completing a cell reselection before an expiry of the timer (figures 3-5 block 302 paragraph [0057] to page 19 paragraph [0079] ”At step 302, the time-of-service timer is started. The distance-based criteria or cell-based criteria is determined for the UE (201) camped on the NTN. The UE (201) performs the neighbor cell measurements based on the distance-based criteria or cell-based criteria. At step 303, the time to start measurement before the time-of-service timer is decided by the UE (201) in the existing methods. The time-of-service timer can be started when the user is camped on the serving cell.”)
Regarding claims 3 and 13, AAPA and Xie disclose claims 2 and 12, AAPA also discloses determining whether at least one of remaining time of the service for the NTN cell is less than a specified threshold, a ROC criterion is met, a direction of the camped NTN cell intersecting with direction of the UE (AAPA figures 3-5 paragraph [0057]- [0079] “When the criteria are met then the UE (201) start the measurement”) “The SIntraSearchP parameters are thresholds used for intra-frequency cell reselection, which may refer, for example, to the reselection of cells within the same frequency band. The SIntraSearchP represents the threshold for signal strength (in dBm), and Squal represents the threshold for signal quality (in dB). The Signal quality is usually related to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or the received signal's quality. The SIntraSearchQ parameter is another threshold for intra-frequency cell reselection but specifically applies to the quality criterion. T”) Xie also discloses determining whether at least one of remaining time of the service for the NTN cell is less than a specified threshold, a ROC criterion is met, a direction of the camped NTN cell intersecting with direction of the UE (figure 3d paragraphs [0057]-[0266] “Step 301a. The terminal device measures a channel status of the terminal device in a serving cell. The channel status may include one or more of parameters such as RSRP, RSRQ, an SNR, and an SINR, or may include another parameter indicating the channel status of the terminal device in the serving cell. This is not limited” … “Step 302a. The terminal device determines an intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold based on the channel status. The terminal device may determine the intra-frequency/inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold based on a variation of the channel status in a unit time. For example, when the variation of the channel status in the unit time is greater than or equal to a third value, the terminal device may use a fifth threshold as the intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold; or when the variation of the channel status in the unit time is less than the third value, the terminal device may use a sixth threshold as the intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold, where the fifth threshold is less than the sixth threshold.”)
Regarding claims 4 and 14, AAPA and Xie disclose claims 3 and 13, AAPA also discloses determining whether a remaining duration of the timer is sufficient for subsequent neighbor cell measurement and the time to start measurement based on a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle received from the camped NTN cell, a scaling factor of the camped NTN cell, and a SS/PBCH block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) period of the camped NTN cell (figures 3-5 paragraph [0057]- [0079] “When evaluating the distance between the UE (201) and the serving cell reference location, the UE (201) decides whether to obtain the UE (201) location information. The UE (201) measures the SS-RSRP and SS-RSRQ level of the serving cell and evaluate the cell selection criterion S for the serving cell at least once every M1*N1 DRX cycle; where: M1=2 if SMTC periodicity (TSMTC)>20 ms and DRX cycle≤0.64 second and NSMTC=1, upon one SMTC configured at the UE (201), M1=2.5 if SMTC periodicity (TSMTC)>20 ms and DRX cycle≤0.64 second and 1<NSMTC≤4, [0078] otherwise M1=1.Where, NSMTC is the number of SMTCs configured by SAN.TABLE-US-00002 DRX cycle Scaling Factor Nserv length (N1) [number of [s] FR1 DRX cycles] 0.32 1 M1*N1*4 0.64 M1*N1*4 1.28 N1*2 2.56 N1*2 Note 1: The UE is not required to meet the requirements for 2.56 s DRX cycle length for earth-moving LEO deployment.”)
Regarding claims 5 and 15, AAPA and Xie disclose claims 1 and 11, AAPA also discloses continuing communication with the camped NTN cell, when the neighbor cell measurement criterion is not met (figures 3-5 block 302 paragraph [0057] to page 19 paragraph [0079] ” When distance-based criteria are not met, the UE (201) perform frequency measurement before time-of-service expiry. When the UE (201) fail to start or complete measurement before time-of-service, the UE (201) can go out of service as no suitable cell measurement perform for cell reselection and UE (201) remain in current cell”)
Regarding claims 6 and 16, AAPA and Xie disclose claims 1 and 11, AAPA also discloses at least one of an ephemeris information of the camped NTN cell, a distance of the UE from an NTN reference location on earth, and a duration of the t-service timer received from NTN cell (figures 3-5 block 302 paragraph [0057] to page 19 paragraph [0079] “The large delay can be due to distance between the UE (201) and the NTN cell (202). The large doppler shift can be due to continuous and fast movement of the NTN cell (202) related to the UE (201) movement. The latency can be due to distance between the UE (201) and the NTN cell (202). When the distance between the UE (201) and the NTN is more than 250-2000 Km, the delay is introduced. Due to moving cell, mobility between the NTN to NTN, NTN to TN and vice versa to be considered.”)
Regarding claims 8 and 18, AAPA and Xie disclose claims 1 and 11, AAPA also discloses determining a direction of the UE; and determining the time to initiate the measurement for the at least one neighbor cell based on the direction of the UE and a trajectory of the NTN cell (figures 3-5 block 302 paragraph [0057] to page 19 paragraph [0079] “At step 302, the time-of-service timer is started. The distance-based criteria or cell-based criteria is determined for the UE (201) camped on the NTN. The UE (201) performs the neighbor cell measurements based on the distance-based criteria or cell-based criteria. At step 303, the time to start measurement before the time-of-service timer is decided by the UE (201) in the existing methods. The time-of-service timer can be started when the user is camped on the serving cell.” … “The direction of the NTN cell (202) is shown in FIG. 4. The UE (201) continuous measurement once camped to the NTN cell (202). The arrows (a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h . . . ) represents the periodic measurements performed by the UE (201) to evaluate neighbor cells for the cell reselection. The NTN cell (202) position is represented by time, Tx+n, Tx+n−1, Tx+1, Tx. The UE (201) initiates the cell measurement periodically at each measurement occasion at a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h . . . while the NTN cell (202) keeps moving with time Tx+n−1, Tx+1, Tx and so on.” … “The large delay can be due to distance between the UE (201) and the NTN cell (202). The large doppler shift can be due to continuous and fast movement of the NTN cell (202) related to the UE (201) movement. The latency can be due to distance between the UE (201) and the NTN cell (202). When the distance between the UE (201) and the NTN is more than 250-2000 Km, the delay is introduced. Due to moving cell, mobility between the NTN to NTN, NTN to TN and vice versa to be considered.”)
Regarding claim 9, AAPA and Xie disclose claim 8, AAPA also discloses initiating the measurement at the time such that a cell reselection is completed before the expiry of the t-service timer (figures 3-5 block 302 paragraph [0057] to page 19 paragraph [0079] “] At step 306, the UE (201) starts to measure immediately before t-service expiry and the UE (201) do not get enough time to complete the measurement of the neighbor cell and initiating the measurement is up to the UE (201). When the UE (201) starts the neighbor cell measurement before the time-of-service expiry”)
Regarding claims 10 and 19, AAPA and Xie disclose claims 8 and 18, Xie also discloses initiating at least any one of intra-frequency, inter-frequency, and inter radio access technology (RAT) measurement to reselect a cell, when a neighbor cell measurement criteria is met and determining the ROC of the signal strength of the camped NTN cell to initiate the at least one neighbor cell measurement, based on ROC criteria being met or a remaining t-service timer being less than the specified threshold (figure 3d paragraphs [0055]-[0266] “Step 301a. The terminal device measures a channel status of the terminal device in a serving cell. The channel status may include one or more of parameters such as RSRP, RSRQ, an SNR, and an SINR, or may include another parameter indicating the channel status of the terminal device in the serving cell. This is not limited” … “Step 302a. The terminal device determines an intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold based on the channel status. The terminal device may determine the intra-frequency/inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold based on a variation of the channel status in a unit time. For example, when the variation of the channel status in the unit time is greater than or equal to a third value, the terminal device may use a fifth threshold as the intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold; or when the variation of the channel status in the unit time is less than the third value, the terminal device may use a sixth threshold as the intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cell-reselection measurement threshold, where the fifth threshold is less than the sixth threshold.”)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 17 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Park (US 20230224791 A1) discloses management communication in NTN environment.
Wang (US 20220386200 A1) discloses network resource configuration method and apparatus.
Teueb (US 20240388409 A1) discloses conditional carrier aggregation associated with reduced interruption time in moving networks.
Lee (US 20250142431 A1) discloses method and apparatus for frequency priority for cell reselection in a wireless communication system.
Fu (US 20220252736 A1) discloses neighboring cell measurement method and apparatus.
Liberg (US 20250240687 A1) discloses technique for mobility between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.
Tao (US 20240421893 A1) discloses user equipment and method for handling cell reselection procedure.
Lee (US 20250175942 A1) discloses method and apparatus for neighboring cell measurement for cell reselection in wireless communication system.
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/JUAN A TORRES/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2634