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 Amendment
This is in response to an amendment/response filed 3/2/2026.
Claims 2, 12, and 16 have been cancelled.
Claims 21-23 have been added.
Claims 1, 3-11, 13-15, and 17-23 are now pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/2/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 8-11 of the remarks, in regard to the independent claims, the Applicant disagrees with the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist et al. US 20170201907 (hereinafter “Okvist”) in view of Barta et al. US 8989757 (hereinafter “Barta”)
Specifically, the Applicant remarks:
Barta does not disclose "fitting parameter" feature
Barta's tabular Energy Profile is not used to select a target cell set for a terminal device
The combination of Okvist and Barta does not teach the claimed subject matter. Okvist teaches cell combination management at the network topology level and Barta teaches base station activation/deactivation decisions at the network infrastructure level.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Regarding (1), the claim describes the fitting parameter as indicating "a change relationship between the load and energy consumption of the candidate cell". Barta teaches this concept as the "Energy Profile" measures the power consumption of the base station at given loads based on the number of active users and traffic load and can be used to track the change in relationship between the load and energy consumption since it is in terms of "power in Watt per certain ranges of load values" as mentioned in [30].
Regarding (2), selecting a target cell set for a terminal device of the claim was rejected using Okvist, not Barta and the combination of Okvist and Barta teach this limitation. See MPEP 2145 IV, "One cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references"
Regarding (3), based on this argument, it seems like the applicant is arguing that the two references cannot be combined to teach the claimed feature(s). Both references (Okvist and Barta) teach collecting network statistics related to serving cells to determine the best cell for UE(s). Therefore, it's obvious to combine the two references since the "fitting parameter" or "energy profile" taught by Barta can be used to collect more data related to the energy consumption at various traffic load values and improve the decision making process.
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 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist et al. US 20170201907 (hereinafter “Okvist”) in view of Barta et al. US 8989757 (hereinafter “Barta”)
As to claim 1 and 15 (claim 1 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 15):
Okvist discloses:
A communication apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to: (“the wireless device, UE, network node may include radio circuitry for communication with one or more other nodes, including transmitting and/or receiving information. The communication circuitry may be interconnected to the processor and/or memory.”, Okvist [0068])
A communication processing method, comprising: obtaining at least one candidate cell set, wherein each candidate cell set comprises one candidate cell or one candidate cell combination, the candidate cell combination comprises at least two candidate cells, (“FIGS. 1A and 1B schematically illustrate a cell combination. A cellular communication system 1 comprises a number of base stations 10A-D or transmission points. Each base station 10A-D has its own communication resource, e.g. frequency or code, by which it communicates with UEs 25. Thereby, each base station 10A-D has an associated cell 20A-D. In the present example, there are relatively many UEs 25 in the area between the cells 20A and 20 D as well as in the area between cells 20B and 20C. In particular if these UEs 25 are moving, it is probable that many HO activities have to be initiated, causing increased load in the cells.”, Okvist [0037])
the candidate cell is a neighboring cell of which signal quality satisfies a candidate threshold, and the neighboring cell is a cell neighboring to a cell in which a terminal device accesses a network; (“The particular cell combination to recommend is then chosen as a cell combination having the property that users within these cells in the set of detected neighbor (or serving) cells will achieve a geometry gain larger than a specified second threshold as the mentioned set of cells are combined/clustered. For the selected set of cells, calculate if achievable geometry gains can compensate for the “loss” of bandwidth (e.g. N-n given that N cells are merged into n cells) and that resulting combined cell load is feasible.”, Okvist [0094])
and selecting a target cell set for the terminal device based on a target parameter of each candidate cell set, wherein the target parameter comprises first quality of service (“The cell combination to be recommended for the cell combination process can also be found by weighting a possible geometry gain against other properties. This can be done e.g. with cost functions. For example, reduction in handover interruption time can be weighted towards user throughput given known quality of experience functions, which may be influenced e.g. by the geometry gain. In other words, first cell combination, i.e. the cell combination that is intended to be the subject of the cell combination procedure, is selected as the candidate cell combination having the highest associated value of a predetermined weighted user quality based on the mobility measure, the load margin and said the geometry measure.”, Okvist [0059]) and an energy consumption estimation value of each candidate cell set, the target cell set is a target cell or a target cell combination, the target cell combination comprises at least two target cells, (“The process is schematically illustrated in FIG. 7. The process starts in step 200. In step 202, network statistics are obtained, e.g. collected. In this embodiment, the network statistics comprises cell load 206, mobility statistics 204 and UE reported signal strength and cell relations 205. Step 208, comprises the two part steps. Step 207 comprises estimating of HO offload for potential cell clusters. In step 209, cell combinations providing the highest HO offload, are selected, e.g. by comparing the HO offload with a first threshold. In step 211, it is evaluated if SINR gain or geometric gain from clustering of certain candidate cell combinations is sufficient for compensating for loss of cells and if the resulting load in the combined cell is feasible. This step 211 comprises the step 210 of determining a total load capacity of a candidate cell combination. Step 212 comprises in this embodiment a step 213, in which candidate cell clusters are classified, in order to facilitate the decision whether or not they are allowed to be recommended for a cell combination procedure. In a particular embodiment, the classification can be performed into three classes, one where the total cell load is acceptable and where a capacity gain is larger than a predetermined threshold, one where the total cell load is acceptable but the capacity gain just acceptable, and one where either the total cell load or the capacity gain is unacceptable. The present embodiment also has an evaluating step 216, in which the radio network performance after the performed cell combinations is evaluated. The process may then return to step 202 as indicated by the dashed arrow 220.”, Okvist [0097])
the target cell is configured to transmit data for the terminal device, (“Optionally, the network node may also include communication circuitry. The communication circuitry may include functions for wired and/or wireless communication with other devices and/or network nodes in the network. In a particular example, the wireless device, UE, network node may include radio circuitry for communication with one or more other nodes, including transmitting and/or receiving information. The communication circuitry may be interconnected to the processor and/or memory.”, Okvist [0068])
first quality of service corresponding to the target cell set satisfies a target value, (“The procedure continues by select candidate cell combinations from cells to form clusters that fulfill specified selection criteria. Typically such criteria concerns being frequent in handover relation with one or several cells, e.g. more frequent than a specific first threshold. The particular cell combination to recommend is then chosen as a cell combination having the property that users within these cells in the set of detected neighbor (or serving) cells will achieve a geometry gain larger than a specified second threshold as the mentioned set of cells are combined/clustered.”, Okvist [0094]) and an energy consumption estimation value corresponding to the target cell set satisfies an energy consumption condition. (“Load and handover statistics can be combined to find (a more) optimal user quality of service. This can be done with cost functions. For example reduction in handover interruption time can be weighted towards user throughput given known quality of experience functions. Also more advanced quality of experience measures could potentially be used directly as input instead of or in combination with load and handover statistics.”, Okvist [0054]) (“The cell combination to be recommended for the cell combination process can also be found by weighting a possible geometry gain against other properties. This can be done e.g. with cost functions. For example, reduction in handover interruption time can be weighted towards user throughput given known quality of experience functions, which may be influenced e.g. by the geometry gain. In other words, first cell combination, i.e. the cell combination that is intended to be the subject of the cell combination procedure, is selected as the candidate cell combination having the highest associated value of a predetermined weighted user quality based on the mobility measure, the load margin and said the geometry measure.”, Okvist [0059])
Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
the energy consumption estimation value is determined based on parameters comprising load and energy consumption of the candidate cell
wherein the energy consumption estimation value is determined based on parameters comprising a fitting parameter, and the fitting parameter indicates a change relationship between the load and energy consumption of the candidate cell.
However, Barta further teaches relationship between load and energy consumption which includes:
the energy consumption estimation value is determined based on parameters comprising load and energy consumption of the candidate cell (“In accordance with one embodiment measured power consumptions of base stations at given loads are collected and stored.”, Barta [18]) (“In addition to the above described measurement collection, the base stations can be configured to support measuring of the historical Energy Profile (EP). The Energy Profile measures the power consumption of the base station at given loads. The load may be one dimensional, or multidimensional, e.g., number of active users and traffic load. In the below an exemplary two-dimensional history is used. The history EP can be collected and maintained by the base stations to assist in the decision phase. A practical representation of the EP is a tabular format, where the EP is described as the power in Watt per certain ranges of load values, e.g. EP(number of users=4, load=60 Mbps)=800 Watt.”, Barta [30])
wherein the energy consumption estimation value is determined based on parameters comprising a fitting parameter, and the fitting parameter indicates a change relationship between the load and energy consumption of the candidate cell. (“In accordance with one embodiment measured power consumptions of base stations at given loads are collected and stored.”, Barta [18]) (“In addition to the above described measurement collection, the base stations can be configured to support measuring of the historical Energy Profile (EP). The Energy Profile measures the power consumption of the base station at given loads. The load may be one dimensional, or multidimensional, e.g., number of active users and traffic load. In the below an exemplary two-dimensional history is used. The history EP can be collected and maintained by the base stations to assist in the decision phase. A practical representation of the EP is a tabular format, where the EP is described as the power in Watt per certain ranges of load values, e.g. EP(number of users=4, load=60 Mbps)=800 Watt.”, Barta [30])
Okvist and Barta are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include relationship between load and energy consumption as described in Barta into Okvist. By modifying the method to include relationship between load and energy consumption as taught by Barta, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30] and Okvist [0097]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist in view of Barta, as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Zhang et al. US 20210051537 (hereinafter “Zhang2”)
As to claim 23
The combination of Barta and Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the one or more memories store the programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to: notify the terminal device to switch to the target cell set.
However, Zhang2 further teaches notifying a terminal device to switch to the target cell set which includes:
The communication apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the one or more memories store the programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to: notify the terminal device to switch to the target cell set. (“Mobile station 107 also includes multiple function modules that carry out different tasks in accordance with embodiments of the current invention. A command receiving circuit 141 receives a conditional handover (HO) command from a source gNB, wherein the conditional HO command contains a set of candidate cells, and wherein each candidate cell is a handover target cell when one or more corresponding handover conditions are verified. A detection circuit 142 detects a handover conditions for a target gNB belonging to the set of candidate cells contained in the conditional HO command, wherein each candidate cell is configured with a corresponding handover condition. A HO circuit 143 performs a random access towards the target gNB. An RRM measurement modular 144 performs RRM measurement on DL signals e.g. SSB or CSI-RS for both serving cell and neighboring cells. The neighboring cells can be intra-frequency cell or inter-frequency cells. UE performs beam level and cell level RRM measurement with L3 filter.”, Zhang2 [0023])
Okvist, Zhang2, and Barta are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include notifying a terminal device to switch to the target cell set as described in Zhang2 into Okvist as modified by Barta. By modifying the method to include obtaining the spectral efficiency as taught by Jung, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30] and Okvist [0097]) and improved mobility robustness (Zhang2 [0002]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 3 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist in view of Barta, as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Jung et al. US 20220131577 (hereinafter “Jung”)
As to claim 3 and 17 (claim 3 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 17):
The combination of Barta and Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication processing method according to claim 1, wherein the communication processing method further comprises: obtaining spectral efficiency of the terminal device accessing the network and a bandwidth of the candidate cell; and determining the energy consumption estimation value based on at least the spectral efficiency, the fitting parameter, and the bandwidth of the candidate cell, wherein an energy consumption estimation value of the candidate cell combination is determined based on an energy consumption estimation value of a candidate cell in the candidate cell combination.
However, Jung further teaches obtaining the spectral efficiency which includes:
The communication processing method according to claim 1, wherein the communication processing method further comprises: obtaining spectral efficiency of the terminal device accessing the network and a bandwidth of the candidate cell; (“The energy efficiency of the system may be expressed as in Equation 3 below as a ratio of an spectral efficiency S.sub.e and a total power consumption P.sub.T in case of downlink.”, Jung [0076]) (FIG. 1, Jung)
and determining the energy consumption estimation value based on at least the spectral efficiency, the fitting parameter, and the bandwidth of the candidate cell, (“Energy efficiency of a radio access network system is determined by spectral efficiency and power consumption.”, Jung [0044]) (“The energy efficiency of the system may be expressed as in Equation 3 below as a ratio of an spectral efficiency S.sub.e and a total power consumption P.sub.T in case of downlink.”, Jung [0076]) (Equation 3, Jung) (“In Equation 3, ξ.sub.FH is a traffic-related power consumption coefficient, ζ.sub.m is a power amplifier efficiency, and B.sub.w is a system bandwidth. S.sub.e,m k is the spectral efficiency log.sub.2 (1+SNR.sub.m k) that the m-th AN provides to the k-th terminal. The total power consumption P.sub.T is determined according to the number M.sub.A of activated ANs, and the spectral efficiency S.sub.e is determined by the connections between the activated ANs and the terminal, so that the energy efficiency may be changed according to the transmission mode control of the ANs.”, Jung [0077])
wherein an energy consumption estimation value of the candidate cell combination is determined based on an energy consumption estimation value of a candidate cell in the candidate cell combination. (“Referring to FIG. 3, given the initial number of activated ANs (S310), the CP may calculate an energy efficiency EE (M.sub.A.sup.i-1) according to a set of currently activated ANs (S320), determine ANs to be activated in a predetermined scheme (S330), and calculate an energy efficiency EE (M.sub.A.sup.i) when the determined ANs are activated (S340). The CP may compare the energy efficiency EE (M.sub.A.sup.i-1) according to the set of currently activated ANs with the energy efficiency EE (M.sub.A.sup.i) according to the set of activated ANs after activation of the selected ANs (S350). When the energy efficiency does not increase any more, the number of currently activated ANs may be determined to be an optimal value (S360), and when the energy efficiency is increased, the procedure may be repeated from the above step S330 to additionally select ANs to be activated in a predetermined scheme.”, Jung [0054])
Okvist, Jung, and Barta are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include obtaining the spectral efficiency as described in Jung into Okvist as modified by Barta. By modifying the method to include obtaining the spectral efficiency as taught by Jung, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30] and Okvist [0097]) and improved efficiency (Jung [0054]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 4 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist in view of Barta and Jung, as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Zhuang et al. WO 2016077949 (hereinafter “Zhuang”)
As to claim 4 and 18 (claim 4 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 18):
Okvist discloses:
wherein first quality of service of the candidate cell combination is determined based on first quality of service of the candidate cell in the candidate cell combination. (“The cell combination to be recommended for the cell combination process can also be found by weighting a possible geometry gain against other properties. This can be done e.g. with cost functions. For example, reduction in handover interruption time can be weighted towards user throughput given known quality of experience functions, which may be influenced e.g. by the geometry gain. In other words, first cell combination, i.e. the cell combination that is intended to be the subject of the cell combination procedure, is selected as the candidate cell combination having the highest associated value of a predetermined weighted user quality based on the mobility measure, the load margin and said the geometry measure.”, Okvist [0059])
The combination of Barta, Okvist, and Jung as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication processing method according to claim 3, wherein the communication processing method further comprises: obtaining the load of the candidate cell; and determining the first quality of service based on at least the spectral efficiency and the load of the candidate cell,
However, Zhuang further teaches determining QoS based on the spectral efficiency and load which includes:
The communication processing method according to claim 3, wherein the communication processing method further comprises: obtaining the load of the candidate cell; (“Statistics are obtained to obtain a statistical load of the target cell and its neighboring cell;”, Zhuang [page 9, line 5]) and determining the first quality of service based on at least the spectral efficiency and the load of the candidate cell, (“The spectral efficiency and load balancing of the edge ensure better quality of service and user experience.”, Zhuang [page 7, line 10])
Okvist, Jung, Zhuang, and Barta are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include determining QoS based on the spectral efficiency and load as described in Zhuang into Okvist as modified by Barta and Jung. By modifying the method to include determining QoS based on the spectral efficiency and load as taught by Zhuang, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30] and Okvist [0097]) and improved efficiency (Jung [0054] and Zhuang [page 7, line 10]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 5 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist in view of Barta and Jung, as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Bedekar US 20200106536 (hereinafter “Bedekar”)
As to claim 5 and 19 (claim 5 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 19):
The combination of Barta, Okvist, and Jung as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication processing method according to claim 3, wherein the spectral efficiency is determined based on parameters comprising signal quality of the cell in which the terminal device accesses the network and signal quality of an intra-frequency neighboring cell.
However, Bedekar further teaches spectral efficiency based on signal quality of the source and neighboring cell which includes:
The communication processing method according to claim 3, wherein the spectral efficiency is determined based on parameters comprising signal quality of the cell in which the terminal device accesses the network and signal quality of an intra-frequency neighboring cell. (“Regarding possible functions, one can first form a vector v=(Pcell CQI, Pcell PHR, Pcell timing advance, Pcell AoA, and the like) (or whatever Pcell measurements there are in the UE-related measurements 470 taken on the Pcell), and then form a function x=f(v). For each “training example”, we have then an input x, and the output y is the UE's CQI (or spectral efficiency as indicated by the CQI, and the like) on the Scell. The AI model 430 can either be trained with training data consisting of (x,y) samples where x=f(v), or can be trained with (v,y) where the vector v could be directly input to the neural network rather than first forming a function x=f(v).”, Bedekar [0198]) (“Additionally or alternatively, a fifth attribute might be, if available, RSRP measurements of the UE to the Pcell, as well as to one or more intra-frequency neighbor cells of the Pcell 330, where each RSRP represents a distance from that neighbor cell, which can be effectively used to ‘triangulate’ the UE.”, Bedekar [0205])
Okvist, Jung, Bedekar, and Barta are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include spectral efficiency based on signal quality of the source and neighboring cell as described in Bedekar into Okvist as modified by Barta and Jung. By modifying the method to include spectral efficiency based on signal quality of the source and neighboring cell as taught by Bedekar, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30] and Okvist [0097]) and improved efficiency (Jung [0054] and Bedekar [0197]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 6-8, 10, 20, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist and Barta, as applied to claims 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Zhang et al. US 20230239784 (hereinafter “Zhang”)
As to claim 6 and 20 (claim 6 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 20):
Okvist discloses:
The communication processing method according to claim 1, wherein the target parameter further comprises a balance threshold parameter, and the balance threshold parameter is used to select a cell that satisfies the following: first quality of service of the cell satisfies the target value; (“The cell combination to be recommended for the cell combination process can also be found by weighting a possible geometry gain against other properties. This can be done e.g. with cost functions. For example, reduction in handover interruption time can be weighted towards user throughput given known quality of experience functions, which may be influenced e.g. by the geometry gain. In other words, first cell combination, i.e. the cell combination that is intended to be the subject of the cell combination procedure, is selected as the candidate cell combination having the highest associated value of a predetermined weighted user quality based on the mobility measure, the load margin and said the geometry measure.”, Okvist [0059]) (“The procedure continues by select candidate cell combinations from cells to form clusters that fulfill specified selection criteria. Typically such criteria concerns being frequent in handover relation with one or several cells, e.g. more frequent than a specific first threshold. The particular cell combination to recommend is then chosen as a cell combination having the property that users within these cells in the set of detected neighbor (or serving) cells will achieve a geometry gain larger than a specified second threshold as the mentioned set of cells are combined/clustered. For the selected set of cells, calculate if achievable geometry gains can compensate for the “loss” of bandwidth (e.g. N-n given that N cells are merged into n cells) and that resulting combined cell load is feasible.”, Okvist [0094])
The combination of Barta and Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
and an energy consumption estimation value of the cell satisfies at least one of the following: the energy consumption estimation value is lower than a threshold, or the energy consumption estimation value satisfies a sorting condition.
However, Zhang further teaches load factor value for saving energy which includes:
and an energy consumption estimation value of the cell satisfies at least one of the following: the energy consumption estimation value is lower than a threshold, or the energy consumption estimation value satisfies a sorting condition. (“In this embodiment, an executable energy-saving strategy and corresponding effective time are determined according to the predicted load trend. For example, if a load factor value is less than a first threshold in a future time period, an appropriate energy-saving strategy with relatively low energy consumption may be determined, and this time period is used as effective time corresponding to the energy-saving strategy; if a load factor value is greater than the first threshold but less than a second threshold in a future time period, another energy-saving strategy with relatively high energy consumption may be determined, and this time period is used as effective time corresponding to the energy-saving strategy; and if a load factor value is greater than the second threshold in a future time period, no energy-saving strategy is adopted, so as to satisfy relatively high service requirements or the like”, Zhang [0066])
Okvist, Barta, and Zhang are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include load factor value for saving energy as described in Zhang into Okvist as modified by Barta. By modifying the method to include load factor value for saving energy as taught by Zhang, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30], Zhang [0066], and Okvist [0097]) are achieved.
As to claim 7:
The combination of Barta and Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication processing method according to claim 6, wherein the communication processing method further comprises: determining, based on a threshold parameter set, a target parameter that satisfies an update condition, wherein the threshold parameter set comprises a plurality of parameters; and updating the balance threshold parameter based on the target parameter.
However, Zhang further teaches determining a target parameter and updating a threshold based on a target parameter which includes:
The communication processing method according to claim 6, wherein the communication processing method further comprises: determining, based on a threshold parameter set, a target parameter that satisfies an update condition, wherein the threshold parameter set comprises a plurality of parameters; and updating the balance threshold parameter based on the target parameter. (FIG. 2, Zhang)
Okvist, Barta, and Zhang are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include determining a target parameter and updating a threshold based on a target parameter as described in Zhang into Okvist as modified by Barta. By modifying the method to include determining a target parameter and updating a threshold based on a target parameter as taught by Zhang, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30], Zhang [0066], and Okvist [0097]) are achieved.
As to claim 8:
The combination of Barta and Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication processing method according to claim 7, wherein parameters in the threshold parameter set are periodically adjusted.
However, Zhang further teaches periodically adjusting parameters which includes:
The communication processing method according to claim 7, wherein parameters in the threshold parameter set are periodically adjusted. (“In this embodiment, the load characteristic (mainly referring to a time series characteristic of a load as a function of time) is extracted according to the coded energy-consumption influencing factor data, and a model is made according to the load characteristic. The load characteristic includes, but is not limited to, a trend characteristic as a function of time and a periodic characteristic. For example, in a specific time period, the load continues to rise or fall smoothly, rises or falls rapidly, fluctuates within a certain range, rises or falls regularly according to a certain period, or the like. In an embodiment, S230 includes that in the case where at least two target cells exist, a centroid of a clustering algorithm corresponding to the multiple target cells is used as the load characteristic, or the mean or median of the energy-consumption influencing factor data of the multiple target cells is used as the load characteristic.”, Zhang [0058]) (“In an embodiment, S240 includes at least one of: in the case where the load characteristic has periodicity and no trend, the machine learning prediction model is established through a smoothing algorithm; in the case where the load characteristic has periodicity and a trend, the machine learning prediction model is established through a time series algorithm; or in the case where the load characteristic has no periodicity, the machine learning prediction model is established through a regression modeling algorithm.”, Zhang [0072]) (“The base station predicts the load trend according to the energy-consumption influencing factor data. The energy-consumption influencing factor data is coded and the load attributes are extracted, where the load attributes mainly refer to the time series characteristic that includes the periodic characteristic, the trend characteristic, and the like. The different prediction algorithms are adopted for the modeling. The target cell group may also be obtained through the division, and the uniform prediction and decision-making are performed on the target cell group.”, Zhang [0095])
Okvist, Barta, and Zhang are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include periodically adjusting parameters as described in Zhang into Okvist as modified by Barta. By modifying the method to include periodically adjusting parameters as taught by Zhang, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30], Zhang [0066], and Okvist [0097]) are achieved.
As to claim 10:
The combination of Barta and Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication processing method according to claim 1, wherein the energy consumption condition comprises at least one of the following: the energy consumption estimation value of the target cell set is lower than a threshold; or the energy consumption estimation value of the target cell set satisfies a sorting condition in a plurality of candidate cell sets.
However, Zhang further teaches energy consumption condition which includes:
The communication processing method according to claim 1, wherein the energy consumption condition comprises at least one of the following: the energy consumption estimation value of the target cell set is lower than a threshold; or the energy consumption estimation value of the target cell set satisfies a sorting condition in a plurality of candidate cell sets. (“In an embodiment, the method further includes S310 in which cells in a coverage range are ranked according to the number of times of service handover performed between the target cell and each of the cells or the distance between the target cell and each of the cells and the set number of cells ranked first are determined as neighbor cells.”, Zhang [0109]) (“In this embodiment, an executable energy-saving strategy and corresponding effective time are determined according to the predicted load trend. For example, if a load factor value is less than a first threshold in a future time period, an appropriate energy-saving strategy with relatively low energy consumption may be determined, and this time period is used as effective time corresponding to the energy-saving strategy; if a load factor value is greater than the first threshold but less than a second threshold in a future time period, another energy-saving strategy with relatively high energy consumption may be determined, and this time period is used as effective time corresponding to the energy-saving strategy; and if a load factor value is greater than the second threshold in a future time period, no energy-saving strategy is adopted, so as to satisfy relatively high service requirements or the like”, Zhang [0066])
Okvist, Barta, and Zhang are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include energy consumption condition as described in Zhang into Okvist as modified by Barta. By modifying the method to include energy consumption condition as taught by Zhang, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30], Zhang [0066], and Okvist [0097]) are achieved.
As to claim 21:
Okvist discloses:
The communication apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the one or more memories store the programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to: determine, based on a threshold parameter set, a target parameter that satisfies an update condition, wherein the threshold parameter set comprises a plurality of parameters; (“The procedure continues by select candidate cell combinations from cells to form clusters that fulfill specified selection criteria. Typically such criteria concerns being frequent in handover relation with one or several cells, e.g. more frequent than a specific first threshold. The particular cell combination to recommend is then chosen as a cell combination having the property that users within these cells in the set of detected neighbor (or serving) cells will achieve a geometry gain larger than a specified second threshold as the mentioned set of cells are combined/clustered. For the selected set of cells, calculate if achievable geometry gains can compensate for the “loss” of bandwidth (e.g. N-n given that N cells are merged into n cells) and that resulting combined cell load is feasible.”, Okvist [0094]) (Examiner’s Note: candidate cell combination is selected based on multiple thresholds and update condition is when these thresholds are crossed )and update the balance threshold parameter based on the target parameter. (“In a further embodiment also other external factors can be used in the decisions about cell combination. In the particular case of systems involving areas where people move differently in different times, external traffic monitoring characteristics can further be used. Thus, In a further embodiment, input on traffic and mobility characteristics reflecting hourly, daily, weekly, etc. traffic patterns that a clustering algorithm could exploit to predict or schedule mobility variations, can be achieved from external sources of information. For example, transport system traffic steering/monitoring/control system for trains, busses, aircrafts or ships/ferries, may for example show information on time tables and corresponding amount of passengers traveling in specified directions at which hours, fraction embarking/disembarking at specific stations, traffic light/control scheduling schemes, traffic jam info, etc. Such information can then be entered into the previously described procedures. Such information may e.g. result in time-dependent modifications to the threshold that are used.”, Okvist [0098]) (Examiner’s Note: the threshold is updated based on input on traffic and mobility characteristics and variations which impact the first and second threshold)
Claim(s) 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist, Barta, and Zhang, as applied to claim 21 above, and further in view of Sfar US ha (hereinafter “Sfar”)
As to claim 22:
The combination of Barta, Zhang, and Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication apparatus according to claim 21, wherein parameters in the threshold parameter set are periodically adjusted.
However, Sfar further teaches periodically adjusting threshold parameter set which includes:
The communication apparatus according to claim 21, wherein parameters in the threshold parameter set are periodically adjusted. (“Each cell in the system can periodically update its handover thresholds based on its load. When the load of a certain cell is high, a low handover threshold can be set, otherwise a high handover threshold can be set. Accordingly, step /c/ can be repeated at regular and close intervals, in order to be up to date on the latest threshold.”, Sfar [0044])
Okvist, Barta, Sfar, and Zhang are analogous because they pertain to determining the load of base stations.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include periodically adjusting threshold parameter set as described in Sfar into Okvist as modified by Barta and Zhang. By modifying the method to include periodically adjusting threshold parameter set as taught by Sfar, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30], Zhang [0066], and Okvist [0097]) and improved handover method (Sfar [0024]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist and Barta, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yu et al. US 20110281586 (hereinafter “Yu”)
As to claim 9:
Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication processing method according to claim 1, wherein after the selecting a target cell set for the terminal device based on a target parameter of each candidate cell set, the communication processing method further comprises: notifying the terminal device to switch to the target cell set.
However, Yu further teaches selecting a target cell set and notifying the terminal to switch to the target cell set which includes:
The communication processing method according to claim 1, wherein after the selecting a target cell set for the terminal device based on a target parameter of each candidate cell set, the communication processing method further comprises: notifying the terminal device to switch to the target cell set. (“A method for mobility management provided in an embodiment of the present invention includes: obtaining cell set information sent by a cell set in an access network; selecting, for a UE, a target cell set to which the UE may hand over according to the cell set information, and sending information about selection of the target cell set to the target cell set; and receiving information about at least one target cell decided by the target cell set, and providing the information about the target cell to the UE for handover.”, Yu [0010])
Okvist and Yu are analogous because they pertain to determining target cell set.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include selecting a target cell set and notifying the terminal to switch to the target cell set as described in Yu into Okvist. By modifying the method to include selecting a target cell set and notifying the terminal to switch to the target cell set as taught by Yu, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Okvist [0097]) and improved UE to network communication (Yu [0010]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist et al. US 20170201907 (hereinafter “Okvist”) in view of Ickin et al. US 20230403652 (hereinafter “Ickin”) and in further view of Barta et al. US 8989757 (hereinafter “Barta”)
As to claim 11:
Okvist discloses:
A communication processing method, comprising: obtaining second quality of service (“By also taking cell load into account, sufficient capacity is ensured to be maintained and it is also possible to select a suitable trade-off between handover performance and user throughput maximizing user quality of experience.”, Okvist [0036]) and an energy consumption value of a target cell combination based on a data proportion of the target cell combination, wherein the target cell combination comprises at least two target cells, the data proportion is a data transmission proportion that is of a terminal device and that is corresponding to each target cell in the target cell combination, and the data proportion is adjusted based on parameters comprising a first weight; (“FIGS. 1A and 1B schematically illustrate a cell combination. A cellular communication system 1 comprises a number of base stations 10A-D or transmission points. Each base station 10A-D has its own communication resource, e.g. frequency or code, by which it communicates with UEs 25. Thereby, each base station 10A-D has an associated cell 20A-D. In the present example, there are relatively many UEs 25 in the area between the cells 20A and 20 D as well as in the area between cells 20B and 20C. In particular if these UEs 25 are moving, it is probable that many HO activities have to be initiated, causing increased load in the cells.”, Okvist [0037]) (“The network statistics comprises at least mobility statistics associated with pairs of cells in the cellular communication system as well as cell loads of cells in the cellular communication system. At least one candidate cell combination is selected. The candidate cell combination is a combination of cells for which a mobility measure deduced from the mobility statistics for pairs of cells participating in the combination of cells exceeds a first predetermined threshold. A total load capacity is determined for each of the at least one candidate cell combination. A cell combination procedure is recommended for a first cell combination out of the candidate cell combinations.”, Okvist [0013]) (“The network node is configured to determine a total load capacity for each of the at least one candidate cell combination. The network node is configured to recommend a cell combination procedure for a first cell combination out of the candidate cell combinations. A cell combination, for which a load margin exceeds zero, is allowed to be chosen as the first cell combination. The load margin is a difference between the determined total load capacity for the first cell combination and a sum of the cell loads of cells of the first cell combination.”, Okvist [0014]) (“The cell combination to be recommended for the cell combination process can also be found by weighting a possible geometry gain against other properties. This can be done e.g. with cost functions. For example, reduction in handover interruption time can be weighted towards user throughput given known quality of experience functions, which may be influenced e.g. by the geometry gain. In other words, first cell combination, i.e. the cell combination that is intended to be the subject of the cell combination procedure, is selected as the candidate cell combination having the highest associated value of a predetermined weighted user quality based on the mobility measure, the load margin and said the geometry measure.”, Okvist [0059])
Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein the data proportion is adjusted based on parameters comprising a fitting parameter, and the fitting parameter indicates a change relationship between load and energy consumption of a target cell.
selecting a second weight based on at least the second quality of service and the energy consumption value corresponding to the first weight, wherein second quality of service corresponding to the second weight satisfies a target value, and an energy consumption value corresponding to the second weight satisfies an energy consumption condition; and adjusting the data proportion of the target cell combination based on the second weight.
However, Ickin further teaches selecting weights based on QoS and energy consumption which includes:
Selecting (“In some embodiments, the edge weights are generated the edge weights are selected based on maximizing a sum of the rewards received in response to operation of the policy for managing power control.”, Ickin [0016]) a second weight based on at least the second quality of service and the energy consumption value corresponding to the first weight, wherein second quality of service corresponding to the second weight satisfies a target value (“In some embodiments, the edge weights are generated by evaluating a cost function that minimizes an energy consumption metric. In some embodiments, the edge weights are generated by evaluating the cost function that minimizes the energy consumption metric while maintaining a quality of service, QoS, metric above a predetermined threshold.”, Ickin [0012]), and an energy consumption value corresponding to the second weight satisfies an energy consumption condition; (“In some embodiments, the edge weights are generated using a reinforcement learning system that measures a reward and a system state in response to operation of a policy for managing power control and adjusts the edge weights in response to the reward the system state. The reward may correspond to an energy saving in the communication system or a Quality of Service, QoS, improvement of the communication system.”, Ickin [0015]) (“Some embodiments employ a machine learning technique, such as reinforcement learning, to evaluate a gradient (∇W) which represents the deviation of the QoS or energy with respect to the weights W. The main components under observation consist of energy consumption and a QoS indicator metric, such as KPI's including throughput, latency, packet drop, call drop, etc.”, Ickin [0084])
and adjusting the data proportion of the target cell combination based on the second weight. (“Network node QQ160 and WD QQ110 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.”, Ickin [0143]) (“While OTT connection QQ550 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).”, Ickin [0203])
Okvist and Ickin are analogous because they pertain to minimizing energy consumption of network nodes.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include selecting weights based on QoS and energy consumption as described in Ickin into Okvist. By modifying the method to include selecting weights based on QoS and energy consumption as taught by Ickin, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Okvist [0097] and Ickin [0012]) are achieved.
The combination of Ickin and Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein the data proportion is adjusted based on parameters comprising a fitting parameter, and the fitting parameter indicates a change relationship between load and energy consumption of a target cell.
However, Barta further teaches change relationship between load and energy consumption which includes:
wherein the data proportion is adjusted based on parameters comprising a fitting parameter, and the fitting parameter indicates a change relationship between load and energy consumption of a target cell. (“In accordance with one embodiment measured power consumptions of base stations at given loads are collected and stored.”, Barta [18]) (“In addition to the above described measurement collection, the base stations can be configured to support measuring of the historical Energy Profile (EP). The Energy Profile measures the power consumption of the base station at given loads. The load may be one dimensional, or multidimensional, e.g., number of active users and traffic load. In the below an exemplary two-dimensional history is used. The history EP can be collected and maintained by the base stations to assist in the decision phase. A practical representation of the EP is a tabular format, where the EP is described as the power in Watt per certain ranges of load values, e.g. EP(number of users=4, load=60 Mbps)=800 Watt.”, Barta [30])
Okvist, Barta, and Ickin are analogous because they pertain to minimizing energy consumption of network nodes.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include change relationship between load and energy consumption as described in Barta into Okvist as modified by Ickin. By modifying the method to include change relationship between load and energy consumption as taught by Barta, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30], Okvist [0097], and Ickin [0012]) are achieved.
As to claim 13:
Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication processing method according to claim 11, wherein the energy consumption condition comprises at least one of the following: the energy consumption value corresponding to the second weight is lower than a thresholder; or the energy consumption value corresponding to the second weight satisfies a sorting condition in the energy consumption value corresponding to the first weight.
However, Ickin further teaches energy consumption condition which includes:
The communication processing method according to claim 11, wherein the energy consumption condition comprises at least one of the following: the energy consumption value corresponding to the second weight is lower than a thresholder; or the energy consumption value corresponding to the second weight satisfies a sorting condition in the energy consumption value corresponding to the first weight. (“In some embodiments, the edge weights are generated by evaluating a cost function that maximizes a quality of service, QoS, metric. In some embodiments, the edge weights are generated evaluating the cost function that maximizes the QoS metric while maintaining an energy consumption metric below a predetermined threshold.”, Ickin [0013])
Okvist and Ickin are analogous because they pertain to minimizing energy consumption of network nodes.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include energy consumption condition as described in Ickin into Okvist. By modifying the method to include energy consumption condition as taught by Ickin, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Okvist [0097] and Ickin [0012]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okvist in view of Ickin and Barta, as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Yu et al. US 20110281586 (hereinafter “Yu”)
As to claim 14:
The combination of Ickin, Barta, and Okvist as described above does not explicitly teach:
The communication processing method according to claim 11, wherein the terminal device is a carrier aggregation (CA) terminal device.
However, Yu further teaches carrier aggregation UE which includes:
The communication processing method according to claim 11, wherein the terminal device is a carrier aggregation (CA) terminal device. (“Cells applied in a centralized geographic area are called "multiple centralized cells". A set of multiple centralized cells is a centralized cell set. FIG. 1 shows carrier aggregation of centralized cells. As shown in FIG. 1, four cells centralized in the geographic location (namely, under the same coverage) send signals through four CCs of different frequencies respectively. The UE communicates with the four cells by communicating with the four CCs.”, Yu [0005])
Okvist, Ickin, Barta, and Yu are analogous because they pertain to managing communication networks.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include carrier aggregation UE as described in Yu into Okvist as modified by Ickin and Barta. By modifying the method to include carrier aggregation UE as taught by Yu, the benefits of reducing energy consumption (Barta [30], Okvist [0097], and Ickin [0012]) and improved UE to network communication (Yu [0010]) are achieved.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 ANDREW C KIM whose telephone number is (703)756-5607. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM - 5PM (PST).
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/A.C.K./
Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
Prosecution Insights