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
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.
Claim(s) 1, 7-9, 15-17, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Document D1 (JP-2016532348-A5) in view of Document D1 (WO-2014113366-A1).
Regarding claim 1, Document D1 teaches a method of wireless communication, the method comprising:
determining, by a wireless network, a status of a first user equipment (UB) indicating at least whether the first UE is roaming or is associated with a heavy user account (see C6: Wherein the data collected at the base station includes at least one of the number of UEs camping on the base station, the location of the UE camping on at the base station, the one camped on to the base station or the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the plurality of UEs, and the path loss of the one or more UEs to the base station.);
determining a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) for a cell of the wireless network (see Claim 6: Wherein the data collected at the base station includes at least one of the number of UEs camping on the base station, the location of the UE camping on at the base station, the one camped on to the base station or the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the plurality of UEs, and the path loss of the one or more UEs to the base station);
determining locations of UEs experiencing call failures within the cell (see Claim 7: Wherein updating the one or more network parameters based on the local information at the base station comprises updating the information at the base station for one or more of pilot contamination, call failure, and handover failure, wherein updating the one or more network parameters comprises updating the one or more network parameters).
Document D1 does not mention based on at least the status of the first UE, the SINR for the cell, and the locations of UEs experiencing the call failures within the cell, performing an interference reduction action comprising: forcing a handover of the first UE to a neighboring cell; or based on at least the first UE roaming or being associated with the heavy user account, restricting the first UE from using uplink (UL) carrier aggregation (CA).
Document D2 teaches based on at least the status of the first UE, the SINR for the cell, and the locations of UEs experiencing the call failures within the cell, performing an interference reduction action comprising: forcing a handover of the first UE to a neighboring cell (see par. 00164-00165: the trigger quantity of A2 event can be replaced by or extended to include the post-processing signal quality. For example, the network can be notified by a measurement report if the UE in pico RE area experiences a low post-processing signal quality and the network can hand out the UE to the macro. Similarly, by extending the trigger quantity of A4 event to post-processing signal quality, the network can be notified by the measurement report if the UE sees sufficient post-processing signal quality from the neighboring pico cell and thus the network can hand over the macro UEs in the RE area to the pico cell. Alternatively or additionally, instead of extending A2 and A4 events, new measurement report triggering events can be defined based on the post-processing signal quality. [00165] Using the post-processing signal quality or a representation of the post- processing signal quality can help the network or the UE make a better mobility decision or trigger a mobility event at or close to an optimum point. For example, the post-processing SINR can refer to the SINR at the input of the demodulator and can represent the effective SINR for signal decoding. The post-processing SINR can be a more realistic representation of an actual received signal quality, especially for a UE with an advanced receiver, such as with multiple receiving antennas and interference cancellation/suppression capability. In some cases, the post-processing SINR of a UE with an advanced receiver can be much better than the post-processing SINR of a UE with a simple/baseline receiver, while the two UEs may have the same pre-processing SINR. Using the post-processing SINR in mobility support, the UE with an advanced receiver can connect to the pico cell even if it is at the edge of the RE area, but the UE with a simple/baseline receiver may be handed over to the macro cell well before it reaches the edge of the RE area).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify performing an interference reduction action comprising: forcing a handover of the first UE to a neighboring cell of Document D2 to the method of Document D1 in order to improve cell coverage or to offload traffic.
Regarding claim 9, Document D1 teaches a system comprising: a processor; and a computer-readable medium storing instructions that are operative upon execution by the processor (see par. 0097 and fig. 12: system 1200 is represented as including functional blocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (eg, firmware)) to:
determining, by a wireless network, a status of a first user equipment (UB) indicating at least whether the first UE is roaming or is associated with a heavy user account (see C6: Wherein the data collected at the base station includes at least one of the number of UEs camping on the base station, the location of the UE camping on at the base station, the one camped on to the base station or the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the plurality of UEs, and the path loss of the one or more UEs to the base station.);
determining a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) for a cell of the wireless network (see Claim 6: Wherein the data collected at the base station includes at least one of the number of UEs camping on the base station, the location of the UE camping on at the base station, the one camped on to the base station or the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the plurality of UEs, and the path loss of the one or more UEs to the base station);
determining locations of UEs experiencing call failures within the cell (see Claim 7: Wherein updating the one or more network parameters based on the local information at the base station comprises updating the information at the base station for one or more of pilot contamination, call failure, and handover failure, wherein updating the one or more network parameters comprises updating the one or more network parameters).
Document D1 does not mention based on at least the status of the first UE, the SINR for the cell, and the locations of UEs experiencing the call failures within the cell, performing an interference reduction action comprising: forcing a handover of the first UE to a neighboring cell; or based on at least the first UE roaming or being associated with the heavy user account, restricting the first UE from using uplink (UL) carrier aggregation (CA).
Document D2 teaches based on at least the status of the first UE, the SINR for the cell, and the locations of UEs experiencing the call failures within the cell, performing an interference reduction action comprising: forcing a handover of the first UE to a neighboring cell (see par. 00164-00165: the trigger quantity of A2 event can be replaced by or extended to include the post-processing signal quality. For example, the network can be notified by a measurement report if the UE in pico RE area experiences a low post-processing signal quality and the network can hand out the UE to the macro. Similarly, by extending the trigger quantity of A4 event to post-processing signal quality, the network can be notified by the measurement report if the UE sees sufficient post-processing signal quality from the neighboring pico cell and thus the network can hand over the macro UEs in the RE area to the pico cell. Alternatively or additionally, instead of extending A2 and A4 events, new measurement report triggering events can be defined based on the post-processing signal quality. [00165] Using the post-processing signal quality or a representation of the post- processing signal quality can help the network or the UE make a better mobility decision or trigger a mobility event at or close to an optimum point. For example, the post-processing SINR can refer to the SINR at the input of the demodulator and can represent the effective SINR for signal decoding. The post-processing SINR can be a more realistic representation of an actual received signal quality, especially for a UE with an advanced receiver, such as with multiple receiving antennas and interference cancellation/suppression capability. In some cases, the post-processing SINR of a UE with an advanced receiver can be much better than the post-processing SINR of a UE with a simple/baseline receiver, while the two UEs may have the same pre-processing SINR. Using the post-processing SINR in mobility support, the UE with an advanced receiver can connect to the pico cell even if it is at the edge of the RE area, but the UE with a simple/baseline receiver may be handed over to the macro cell well before it reaches the edge of the RE area).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify performing an interference reduction action comprising: forcing a handover of the first UE to a neighboring cell of Document D2 to the method of Document D1 in order to improve cell coverage or to offload traffic.
Regarding claim 17, Document D1 teaches one or more computer storage devices having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, upon execution by a computer, cause the computer (see par. 00120: the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer communication media and computer storage media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another) to perform operations comprising:
determining, by a wireless network, a status of a first user equipment (UB) indicating at least whether the first UE is roaming or is associated with a heavy user account (see C6: Wherein the data collected at the base station includes at least one of the number of UEs camping on the base station, the location of the UE camping on at the base station, the one camped on to the base station or the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the plurality of UEs, and the path loss of the one or more UEs to the base station.);
determining a signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) for a cell of the wireless network (see Claim 6: Wherein the data collected at the base station includes at least one of the number of UEs camping on the base station, the location of the UE camping on at the base station, the one camped on to the base station or the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the plurality of UEs, and the path loss of the one or more UEs to the base station);
determining locations of UEs experiencing call failures within the cell (see Claim 7: Wherein updating the one or more network parameters based on the local information at the base station comprises updating the information at the base station for one or more of pilot contamination, call failure, and handover failure, wherein updating the one or more network parameters comprises updating the one or more network parameters).
Document D1 does not mention based on at least the status of the first UE, the SINR for the cell, and the locations of UEs experiencing the call failures within the cell, performing an interference reduction action comprising: forcing a handover of the first UE to a neighboring cell; or based on at least the first UE roaming or being associated with the heavy user account, restricting the first UE from using uplink (UL) carrier aggregation (CA).
Document D2 teaches based on at least the status of the first UE, the SINR for the cell, and the locations of UEs experiencing the call failures within the cell, performing an interference reduction action comprising: forcing a handover of the first UE to a neighboring cell (see par. 00164-00165: the trigger quantity of A2 event can be replaced by or extended to include the post-processing signal quality. For example, the network can be notified by a measurement report if the UE in pico RE area experiences a low post-processing signal quality and the network can hand out the UE to the macro. Similarly, by extending the trigger quantity of A4 event to post-processing signal quality, the network can be notified by the measurement report if the UE sees sufficient post-processing signal quality from the neighboring pico cell and thus the network can hand over the macro UEs in the RE area to the pico cell. Alternatively or additionally, instead of extending A2 and A4 events, new measurement report triggering events can be defined based on the post-processing signal quality. [00165] Using the post-processing signal quality or a representation of the post- processing signal quality can help the network or the UE make a better mobility decision or trigger a mobility event at or close to an optimum point. For example, the post-processing SINR can refer to the SINR at the input of the demodulator and can represent the effective SINR for signal decoding. The post-processing SINR can be a more realistic representation of an actual received signal quality, especially for a UE with an advanced receiver, such as with multiple receiving antennas and interference cancellation/suppression capability. In some cases, the post-processing SINR of a UE with an advanced receiver can be much better than the post-processing SINR of a UE with a simple/baseline receiver, while the two UEs may have the same pre-processing SINR. Using the post-processing SINR in mobility support, the UE with an advanced receiver can connect to the pico cell even if it is at the edge of the RE area, but the UE with a simple/baseline receiver may be handed over to the macro cell well before it reaches the edge of the RE area).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify performing an interference reduction action comprising: forcing a handover of the first UE to a neighboring cell of Document D2 to the method of Document D1 in order to improve cell coverage or to offload traffic.
Regarding claims 7, 15 and 19, Document D1 also teaches determining whether the SINR for the cell is below a threshold, wherein performing the interference reduction action based on at least the SINR for the cell comprises performing the interference reduction action based on at least the SINR for the cell being below the threshold (see par. 0087: if there are a large number of base stations, eg, small cells, in a small coverage area of the SON, to reduce interference and / or improve the SINR value, Only a few of them are transmitting at their maximum power, and the rest of the small SON cells are transmitting at a lower power (but above the minimum threshold received from the network entity) Is desired. In an additional aspect, when a base station, eg, a small cell, receives a minimum threshold for network parameters from a network entity, the small cell may further optimize additional parameters, eg, SINR and / or throughput capacity).
Regarding claims 8, 16 and 20, Document D1 also teaches determining whether call failures are occurring in an edge region of the cell, wherein performing the interference reduction action based on at least the locations of call failures within the cell comprises performing the interference reduction action based on at least the call failures occurring predominantly in the edge region of the cell (see pars. 0086-0087: if the number of call failures and / or handover failures at the base station 922 is high (eg, exceeds a configurable threshold), the cause of the call failure and / or handover failure is from available local information. If the cause of call failure and / or handover failure is due to increased interference, power at a base station (eg, base station 922) may be reduced; if there are a large number of base stations, eg, small cells, in a small coverage area of the SON, to reduce interference and / or improve the SINR value, Only a few of them are transmitting at their maximum power, and the rest of the small SON cells are transmitting at a lower power (but above the minimum threshold received from the network entity) Is desired).
5. Claim(s) 3, 5,11, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Document D1 (JP-2016532348-A5) in view of Document D2 (WO-2014113366-A1) and further in view of Document D3 (WO 2014/064569 A2).
Regarding claims 3 and 11, Document D1 in view of Document D2 does not mention based on at least the first UE not roaming and not being associated with the heavy user account, permitting the first UE to use uplink carrier aggregation based on at least a location of the first UE. Document D3 teaches and shows based on at least the first UE not roaming and not being associated with the heavy user account, permitting the first UE to use uplink carrier aggregation based on at least a location of the first UE (see fig. 1 and page 11, lines 16-26 : Third zone 1005c of the pico/small cell at the right of Figure 1 defines a second extended range (farthest from pico/small base station 1001) outside of first and second zones 1005a and 1005b. UEs in the third zone (e.g., wireless terminal 1007c) may receive all downlink communications (e.g., CRS, BCH, PDCCH, PDSCH, PHICH or Physical Hybrid- ARQ Indicator CHannel, etc.) from macro base station 1021 and may transmit all uplink communications (e.g., RACK, or Random Access CHannel, PUCCH, PUSCH, etc.) to pico/small base station 1001) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify permitting the first UE to use uplink carrier aggregation based on at least a location of the first UE of Document D3 to the method of Document D1 in order improved communications for M2M/MTC devices.
Regarding claims 5 and 13, Document D3 also teaches and shows wherein permitting the first UE to use UL CA based on at least the location of the first UE comprises: determining that the first UE is located within an edge region of the cell (see fig. 1 and page 11, lines 16-26 : Third zone 1005c of the pico/small cell at the right of Figure 1 defines a second extended range (farthest from pico/small base station 1001) outside of first and second zones 1005a and 1005b); and permitting the first UE to use UL CA based on at least the first UE being located within the edge region of the cell (see fig. 1 and page 11, lines 16-26 : Third zone 1005c of the pico/small cell at the right of Figure 1 defines a second extended range (farthest from pico/small base station 1001) outside of first and second zones 1005a and 1005b. UEs in the third zone (e.g., wireless terminal 1007c) may receive all downlink communications (e.g., CRS, BCH, PDCCH, PDSCH, PHICH or Physical Hybrid- ARQ Indicator CHannel, etc.) from macro base station 1021 and may transmit all uplink communications (e.g., RACK, or Random Access CHannel, PUCCH, PUSCH, etc.) to pico/small base station 1001) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify permitting the first UE to use uplink carrier aggregation based on at least a location of the first UE of Document D3 to the method of Document D1 in order improved communications for M2M/MTC devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, and 18 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.
Regarding claims 2, 10, the above prior art does not mention wherein restricting the first UE from using UL CA comprises transmitting a message to the first UE denying the first UE using the UL CA, as specified in claim 2.
Regarding claims 4 and 12, the above prior art does not mention wherein permitting the first UE to use UL CA comprises transmitting a message to the first UE instructing the first UE to use UL CA, as specified in claims 4 and 12.
Regarding claims 6, 14 and 18, the above prior art does not mention wherein forcing the handover of the first UE to the neighboring cell comprises: determining that the neighboring cell is available to the first UE; and based on at least the first UE not roaming and not being associated with the heavy user account, or based on at least the first UE being associated with a preferred user account: determining that the neighboring cell supports UL CA; and forcing the handover of the first UE to the neighboring cell based on at least the neighboring cell supports UL CA, as specified in claims 6, 14 and 18.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID Q NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7844. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
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/DAVID Q NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643