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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 18,2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. The following title is suggested that includes the following terms: determine frequency re-use and frequency partition.
Claim Objections
Claims 6 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities: claims recite the pronoun “it”. Replace “it” with the specific term. 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 1,2,5-7,12,13,16-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over as Li et al, US 20110116480 A1, in view of Cho et al, US 20110141990 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Li does disclose a method of allocating radio resource to a subscriber module in a fixed wireless access cellular wireless system comprising an access point and a plurality of subscriber modules at static locations, each subscriber module having a directional antenna aligned with the access point, and the area of coverage of the access point having a plurality of sectors, each sector being served by a respective radio transceiver of the access point, the method comprising([0054] [0069] [0151] [0186] In an embodiment, one or more of SSs 111-117 may be associated with an access point (AP) of a WiFi WLAN. In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, antenna array 355 is a multi-sector antenna, such as a three-sector antenna in which each antenna sector is responsible for transmitting and receiving in a 120.degree. arc of coverage area. For example, the trigger conditions to perform FFR(fractional frequency reuse) may require that FBS 160 is currently located in a sector of an overlay BS that uses a frequency partition or that a portion of its coverage area overlaps with a sector of at least one neighboring BS. SS 116 may report it to the BS 103 to trigger the release of the reserved resource on DL/UL in FBS 160.):
determining, at a first repetition rate([0152] FBS 160 may scan the Superframe Headers (SFHs) of the nearby BSs, get the SFHs from backhaul, and/or get the SFHs from an SS (e.g. SS 116 or SS 117) that can forward SFHs of other BSs to FBS 160 to determine the FFR information. Examiner interprets the SFH scan as to correspond the first repetition rate), whether the subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use or is a candidate for frequency partition on the basis of a first criterion([0150-0152] In some embodiments, the policy may allow an inaccessible BS (e.g. FBS 160), when performing IM, to conduct FFR(fractional frequency reuse). That is, if the trigger conditions to perform FFR(fractional frequency reuse) are satisfied, FBS 160 may then try to select and use a frequency partition to mitigate the interference. The trigger conditions to perform FFR(fractional frequency reuse) may be the same or similar to trigger conditions initiate IM directly with an SS (or trigger conditions to initiate IM with a BS that is negotiating on behalf of an SS), as discussed in earlier embodiments, as well as additional conditions. );
and dependent on a determination that the subscriber module is a candidate for frequency partition ([0151] In some embodiments, the policy may allow an inaccessible BS (e.g. FBS 160), when performing IM, to conduct FFR(fractional frequency reuse). That is, if the trigger conditions to perform FFR(fractional frequency reuse) are satisfied, FBS 160 may then try to select and use a frequency partition to mitigate the interference. ):
periodically([0170] In some embodiments, block 1110 may be omitted, such that SS 116 may monitor BSs periodically. Also, blocks 1120-1160 may be combined, such that SS 116 concurrently scans all accessible and inaccessible BSs.), more frequently than the determination of whether the subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use or is a candidate for frequency partition on the basis of a first criterion([0186-0188] SS 116 may autonomously scan FBS 160 periodically. In another embodiment, SS 116 may scan FBS 160 based on the trigger conditions to initiate scanning procedure for IM termination. SS 116 may also send the scanning report to BS 103 periodically or under trigger conditions to send scanning results for IM termination.), determining a measure of quality of communication on a communication channel between the subscriber module and the access point([0094] [0152] The signal strength can be the measurement of BS downlink signals (e.g., synchronization channel, broadcast channel such as super frame header, pilot, and such), such as an average or instant SINR (the ratio of signal and the sum of the interference and noise), CINR (the ratio of carrier and the sum of the interference and noise), CIR (carrier noise ratio), CNR (carrier noise ratio), RSSI (received signal strength indicator), CQI (channel quality indicator), and such. FBS 160 may also measure the signal strengths and/or the interference levels of the frequency partitions. In an embodiment, member SSs that are currently being served by FBS 160 can also measure and report the signal strengths and/or the interference levels of the frequency partitions. Based the measured and reported information regarding the frequency partitions of nearby BSs, and/or the information of FFR from SFH);
and dependent on the measure of quality not meeting the second criterion, not allowing allocation of radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is allocated to an adjacent sector ([0110] In some embodiments, this may indicate that SS 116 is not to try again under the same scanning results. If the trigger conditions for additional IM are satisfied but resources are not available or performing the additional IM will cause member SSs to not have satisfactory signal strengths that meet the minimum power level, then FBS 160 may send a rejection message (e.g. RNG-RSP) to SS 116 with the IM Indication set to `10` (i.e. IM allowed but not successful).).
Li does not disclose dependent on the measure of quality meeting a second criterion, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module, the radio resource being also allocated to an adjacent sector; dependent on a determination that the subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is also allocated to adjacent sectors
However, Cho does disclose dependent on a determination that the subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is also allocated to adjacent sectors([0054-0055] Secondly, the sequence re-ordered set of the physical resource units 210 can be allocated to several frequency partitions. In this case, each of the frequency partitions 215, 220 and 225 can be reserved for an FFR group for each sector within one cell.);
dependent on the measure of quality meeting a second criterion, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module, the radio resource being also allocated to an adjacent sector ([0054] [0055][0063] [0064] Secondly, the sequence re-ordered set of the physical resource units 210 can be allocated to several frequency partitions. In this case, each of the frequency partitions 215, 220 and 225 can be reserved for an FFR(fractional frequency reuse) group for each sector within one cell. In performing the frequency partitioning, a base station can determine to allocate a specific frequency partition (or a group) to each mobile station. For this, channel state measurement of a mobile station and feedback are required. Moreover, a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback for frequency selective scheduling gain or modulation & coding schemes (MCS) can be transmitted by differentiating a transmission periodicity, a transmitting scheme and the like in a manner of discriminating an allocated frequency partition and an unallocated frequency partition from each other.);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li with dependent on the measure of quality meeting a second criterion, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module, the radio resource being also allocated to an adjacent sector; dependent on a determination that the subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is also allocated to adjacent sectors as taught by Cho. The motivation for doing so would be to decrease a feedback transmission overhead for the unallocated frequency partition. (Cho, [0092])
Regarding claim 2, Li does disclose the method wherein the first criterion is determined by a process comprising processing of measurements of signal strength of reference signals received at the subscriber module which are transmitted by a radio transceiver of a sector in which the subscriber module is camped and at least an adjacent sector([0053] [0151-0152] FIG. 1 it is understood that wireless network 100 may provide wireless broadband access to additional subscriber stations. It is noted that SS 115 is located on the edges of both coverage area 120 and coverage area 125. SS 115 communicates with both base station 102 and base station 103 and may be said to be operating in handoff mode. For example, the trigger conditions to perform FFR may require that FBS 160 is currently located in a sector of an overlay BS that uses a frequency partition or that a portion of its coverage area overlaps with a sector of at least one neighboring BS. Get the SFHs from an SS (e.g. SS 116 or SS 117) that can forward SFHs of other BSs to FBS 160 to determine the FFR information. In an embodiment, member SSs that are currently being served by FBS 160 can also measure and report the signal strengths and/or the interference levels of the frequency partitions. Based the measured and reported information regarding the frequency partitions of nearby BSs, and/or the information of FFR from SFH, and/or the location information of the base stations, FBS 160 or the SON server can decide which frequency partition to use for IM. For example, if FBS 160 knows that it is overlaid by another BS (e.g. BS 103) and is in the sector which uses a particular frequency partition).
Regarding claim 5, Li does disclose the method wherein the first criterion is determined by process comprising processing pre-configured data providing classification of a location of the subscriber module([0149] [0152] Whether the signal strength of FBS 160 is lower than the BS 103 by a threshold for a period of time longer than another threshold duration, and/or whether by location (such as GOS, location-based service, and such). Based the measured and reported information regarding the frequency partitions of nearby BSs, and/or the information of FFR from SFH, and/or the location information of the base stations, FBS 160 or the SON server can decide which frequency partition to use for IM.).
Regarding claims 6 and 17, Li does disclose the method/(scheduler as cited in claim 17) wherein the classification of the location of the subscriber module is according to whether it suitable for frequency re-use or a candidate for frequency partition([0150-0152][0218] In some embodiments, the policy may allow an inaccessible BS (e.g. FBS 160), when performing IM, to conduct FFR. That is, if the trigger conditions to perform FFR are satisfied, FBS 160 may then try to select and use a frequency partition to mitigate the interference. In an embodiment, FBS 160 may scan for the downlink control channel of the nearby BSs. Based the measured and reported information regarding the frequency partitions of nearby BSs, and/or the information of FFR from SFH, and/or the location information of the base stations, FBS 160 or the SON server can decide which frequency partition to use for IM. For example, BS 103 may inform FBS 160 of the resource locations it is scheduling the traffic intended for SS 116. FBS 160 may agree to not carry any traffic on those resources, thereby automatically reducing interference. ).
Regarding claims 7 and 18, Li does disclose the method/(scheduler as cited in claim 18) wherein the measure of quality of communication on the communication channel between the subscriber module and the access point is determined on a basis comprising receiving a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) at the access point([0054] [0104] In an embodiment, one or more of SSs 111-117 may be associated with an access point (AP) of a WiFi WLAN. Trigger conditions to stop performing IM may include, and are not limited to, a timer for performing IM has expired, the non-member SS (e.g. SS 116) has scanned and found an accessible BS (e.g. BS 103) with a signal strength (e.g., an average SINR, CINR, CIR, CNR, RSSI, CQI, and such) larger than a threshold.).
Regarding claim 12, Li does disclose a scheduler for allocating radio resource to a plurality of subscriber modules in a fixed wireless access cellular wireless system comprising an access point and the plurality of subscriber modules at static locations, each subscriber module having a directional antenna aligned with the access point, and the area of coverage of the access point having a plurality of sectors, each sector being served by a respective radio transceiver of the access point, the scheduler comprising one or more processors configured cause the scheduler to([0054] [0069] [0151] [0186] In an embodiment, one or more of SSs 111-117 may be associated with an access point (AP) of a WiFi WLAN. In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, antenna array 355 is a multi-sector antenna, such as a three-sector antenna in which each antenna sector is responsible for transmitting and receiving in a 120.degree. arc of coverage area. For example, the trigger conditions to perform FFR may require that FBS 160 is currently located in a sector of an overlay BS that uses a frequency partition or that a portion of its coverage area overlaps with a sector of at least one neighboring BS. SS 116 may report it to the BS 103 to trigger the release of the reserved resource on DL/UL in FBS 160.):
determine, at a first repetition rate([0152] FBS 160 may scan the Superframe Headers (SFHs) of the nearby BSs, get the SFHs from backhaul, and/or get the SFHs from an SS (e.g. SS 116 or SS 117) that can forward SFHs of other BSs to FBS 160 to determine the FFR information. Examiner interprets the SFH scan as to correspond the first repetition rate), whether each subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use or is a candidate for frequency partition on the basis of a first criterion([0150-0152] In some embodiments, the policy may allow an inaccessible BS (e.g. FBS 160), when performing IM, to conduct FFR(fractional frequency reuse). That is, if the trigger conditions to perform FFR(fractional frequency reuse) are satisfied, FBS 160 may then try to select and use a frequency partition to mitigate the interference. The trigger conditions to perform FFR(fractional frequency reuse) may be the same or similar to trigger conditions initiate IM directly with an SS (or trigger conditions to initiate IM with a BS that is negotiating on behalf of an SS), as discussed in earlier embodiments, as well as additional conditions.);
dependent on a determination that a subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is also allocated to the adjacent sectors([0151] [0171] For example, the trigger conditions to perform FFR may require that FBS 160 is currently located in a sector of an overlay BS that uses a frequency partition or that a portion of its coverage area overlaps with a sector of at least one neighboring BS. The SS may report it to the serving BS to trigger DL/UL interference mitigation, such as resource reservation, in the CSG-Closed BS.);
and dependent on a determination that a subscriber module is a candidate for frequency partition([0151] In some embodiments, the policy may allow an inaccessible BS (e.g. FBS 160), when performing IM, to conduct FFR. That is, if the trigger conditions to perform FFR are satisfied, FBS 160 may then try to select and use a frequency partition to mitigate the interference. ):
periodically([0170] In some embodiments, block 1110 may be omitted, such that SS 116 may monitor BSs periodically. Also, blocks 1120-1160 may be combined, such that SS 116 concurrently scans all accessible and inaccessible BSs.), more frequently than the determination of whether the subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use or is a candidate for frequency partition on the basis of a first criterion([0186-0188] SS 116 may autonomously scan FBS 160 periodically. In another embodiment, SS 116 may scan FBS 160 based on the trigger conditions to initiate scanning procedure for IM termination. SS 116 may also send the scanning report to BS 103 periodically or under trigger conditions to send scanning results for IM termination.),
determining a measure of quality of communication on a communication channel between the subscriber module and the access point([0094] [0152] The signal strength can be the measurement of BS downlink signals (e.g., synchronization channel, broadcast channel such as super frame header, pilot, and such), such as an average or instant SINR (the ratio of signal and the sum of the interference and noise), CINR (the ratio of carrier and the sum of the interference and noise), CIR (carrier noise ratio), CNR (carrier noise ratio), RSSI (received signal strength indicator), CQI (channel quality indicator), and such. FBS 160 may also measure the signal strengths and/or the interference levels of the frequency partitions. In an embodiment, member SSs that are currently being served by FBS 160 can also measure and report the signal strengths and/or the interference levels of the frequency partitions. Based the measured and reported information regarding the frequency partitions of nearby BSs, and/or the information of FFR from SFH);
Li does not disclose dependent on the measure of quality meeting a second criterion, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module, the radio resource being also allocated to an adjacent sector;
However, Cho does disclose and dependent on the measure of quality not meeting the second criterion, not allowing allocation of radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is allocated to an adjacent sector([0054-0055] Secondly, the sequence re-ordered set of the physical resource units 210 can be allocated to several frequency partitions. In this case, each of the frequency partitions 215, 220 and 225 can be reserved for an FFR group for each sector within one cell.);
dependent on the measure of quality meeting a second criterion, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module, the radio resource being also allocated to an adjacent sector([0054] [0055][0063] [0064] Secondly, the sequence re-ordered set of the physical resource units 210 can be allocated to several frequency partitions. In this case, each of the frequency partitions 215, 220 and 225 can be reserved for an FFR(fractional frequency reuse) group for each sector within one cell. In performing the frequency partitioning, a base station can determine to allocate a specific frequency partition (or a group) to each mobile station. For this, channel state measurement of a mobile station and feedback are required. Moreover, a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback for frequency selective scheduling gain or modulation & coding schemes (MCS) can be transmitted by differentiating a transmission periodicity, a transmitting scheme and the like in a manner of discriminating an allocated frequency partition and an unallocated frequency partition from each other.);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li with dependent on the measure of quality meeting a second criterion, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module, the radio resource being also allocated to an adjacent sector as taught by Cho. The motivation for doing so would be to decrease a feedback transmission overhead for the unallocated frequency partition. (Cho, [0092])
Regarding claim 13, Li does disclose the scheduler wherein the one or more processors are configured to([0076] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, main processor 440 is a microprocessor or microcontroller. Memory 460 is coupled to main processor 440. ):
determine the first criterion by a process comprising processing of measurements of signal strength of reference signals received at the subscriber module which are transmitted by a radio transceiver of a sector in which the subscriber module is camped and at least an adjacent sector([0053] [0151-0152] FIG. 1 it is understood that wireless network 100 may provide wireless broadband access to additional subscriber stations. It is noted that SS 115 is located on the edges of both coverage area 120 and coverage area 125. SS 115 communicates with both base station 102 and base station 103 and may be said to be operating in handoff mode. For example, the trigger conditions to perform FFR may require that FBS 160 is currently located in a sector of an overlay BS that uses a frequency partition or that a portion of its coverage area overlaps with a sector of at least one neighboring BS. Get the SFHs from an SS (e.g. SS 116 or SS 117) that can forward SFHs of other BSs to FBS 160 to determine the FFR information. In an embodiment, member SSs that are currently being served by FBS 160 can also measure and report the signal strengths and/or the interference levels of the frequency partitions. Based the measured and reported information regarding the frequency partitions of nearby BSs, and/or the information of FFR from SFH, and/or the location information of the base stations, FBS 160 or the SON server can decide which frequency partition to use for IM. For example, if FBS 160 knows that it is overlaid by another BS (e.g. BS 103) and is in the sector which uses a particular frequency partition).
Regarding claim 16, Li does disclose the scheduler wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the first criterion by a process comprising processing pre-configured data providing classification of a location of the subscriber module([0149] [0152] Whether the signal strength of FBS 160 is lower than the BS 103 by a threshold for a period of time longer than another threshold duration, and/or whether by location (such as GOS, location-based service, and such). Based the measured and reported information regarding the frequency partitions of nearby BSs, and/or the information of FFR from SFH, and/or the location information of the base stations, FBS 160 or the SON server can decide which frequency partition to use for IM.).
Regarding claim 20, Li does disclose a non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying instructions which, when executed by one or more processors([0076] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, main processor 440 is a microprocessor or microcontroller. Memory 460 is coupled to main processor 440. ),
cause a scheduler comprising the one or more processors to perform a method of allocating radio resource to a subscriber module in a fixed wireless access cellular wireless system comprising an access point and a plurality of subscriber modules at static locations, each subscriber module having a directional antenna aligned with the access point, and the area of coverage of the access point having a plurality of sectors, each sector being served by a respective radio transceiver of the access point, the method comprising([0054] [0069] [0151] [0186] In an embodiment, one or more of SSs 111-117 may be associated with an access point (AP) of a WiFi WLAN. In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, antenna array 355 is a multi-sector antenna, such as a three-sector antenna in which each antenna sector is responsible for transmitting and receiving in a 120.degree. arc of coverage area. For example, the trigger conditions to perform FFR may require that FBS 160 is currently located in a sector of an overlay BS that uses a frequency partition or that a portion of its coverage area overlaps with a sector of at least one neighboring BS. SS 116 may report it to the BS 103 to trigger the release of the reserved resource on DL/UL in FBS 160.):
determining, at a first repetition rate([0152] FBS 160 may scan the Superframe Headers (SFHs) of the nearby BSs, get the SFHs from backhaul, and/or get the SFHs from an SS (e.g. SS 116 or SS 117) that can forward SFHs of other BSs to FBS 160 to determine the FFR information. Examiner interprets the SFH scan as to correspond the first repetition rate), whether the subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use or is a candidate for frequency partition on the basis of a first criterion([0150-0152] In some embodiments, the policy may allow an inaccessible BS (e.g. FBS 160), when performing IM, to conduct FFR(fractional frequency reuse). That is, if the trigger conditions to perform FFR(fractional frequency reuse) are satisfied, FBS 160 may then try to select and use a frequency partition to mitigate the interference. The trigger conditions to perform FFR(fractional frequency reuse) may be the same or similar to trigger conditions initiate IM directly with an SS (or trigger conditions to initiate IM with a BS that is negotiating on behalf of an SS), as discussed in earlier embodiments, as well as additional conditions. );
dependent on a determination that the subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is also allocated to adjacent sectors([0151] [0171] For example, the trigger conditions to perform FFR may require that FBS 160 is currently located in a sector of an overlay BS that uses a frequency partition or that a portion of its coverage area overlaps with a sector of at least one neighboring BS. The SS may report it to the serving BS to trigger DL/UL interference mitigation, such as resource reservation, in the CSG-Closed BS.);
and dependent on a determination that the subscriber module is a candidate for frequency partition([0151] In some embodiments, the policy may allow an inaccessible BS (e.g. FBS 160), when performing IM, to conduct FFR. That is, if the trigger conditions to perform FFR are satisfied, FBS 160 may then try to select and use a frequency partition to mitigate the interference. ):
periodically([0170] In some embodiments, block 1110 may be omitted, such that SS 116 may monitor BSs periodically. Also, blocks 1120-1160 may be combined, such that SS 116 concurrently scans all accessible and inaccessible BSs.), more frequently than the determination of whether the subscriber module is suitable for frequency re-use or is a candidate for frequency partition on the basis of a first criterion([0186-0188] SS 116 may autonomously scan FBS 160 periodically. In another embodiment, SS 116 may scan FBS 160 based on the trigger conditions to initiate scanning procedure for IM termination. SS 116 may also send the scanning report to BS 103 periodically or under trigger conditions to send scanning results for IM termination.), determining a measure of quality of communication on a communication channel between the subscriber module and the access point([0094] [0152] The signal strength can be the measurement of BS downlink signals (e.g., synchronization channel, broadcast channel such as super frame header, pilot, and such), such as an average or instant SINR (the ratio of signal and the sum of the interference and noise), CINR (the ratio of carrier and the sum of the interference and noise), CIR (carrier noise ratio), CNR (carrier noise ratio), RSSI (received signal strength indicator), CQI (channel quality indicator), and such. FBS 160 may also measure the signal strengths and/or the interference levels of the frequency partitions. In an embodiment, member SSs that are currently being served by FBS 160 can also measure and report the signal strengths and/or the interference levels of the frequency partitions. Based the measured and reported information regarding the frequency partitions of nearby BSs, and/or the information of FFR from SFH);
Li does not disclose dependent on the measure of quality meeting a second criterion, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module, the radio resource being also allocated to an adjacent sector;
However, Cho does disclose dependent on the measure of quality meeting a second criterion, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module, the radio resource being also allocated to an adjacent sector([0054] [0055][0063] [0064] Secondly, the sequence re-ordered set of the physical resource units 210 can be allocated to several frequency partitions. In this case, each of the frequency partitions 215, 220 and 225 can be reserved for an FFR(fractional frequency reuse) group for each sector within one cell. In performing the frequency partitioning, a base station can determine to allocate a specific frequency partition (or a group) to each mobile station. For this, channel state measurement of a mobile station and feedback are required. Moreover, a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback for frequency selective scheduling gain or modulation & coding schemes (MCS) can be transmitted by differentiating a transmission periodicity, a transmitting scheme and the like in a manner of discriminating an allocated frequency partition and an unallocated frequency partition from each other.);
and dependent on the measure of quality not meeting the second criterion, not allowing allocation of radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is allocated to an adjacent sector([0054-0055] Secondly, the sequence re-ordered set of the physical resource units 210 can be allocated to several frequency partitions. In this case, each of the frequency partitions 215, 220 and 225 can be reserved for an FFR group for each sector within one cell.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li with dependent on the measure of quality meeting a second criterion, allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module, the radio resource being also allocated to an adjacent sector; and dependent on the measure of quality not meeting the second criterion, not allowing allocation of radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is allocated to an adjacent sector as taught by Cho. The motivation for doing so would be to decrease a feedback transmission overhead for the unallocated frequency partition. (Cho, [0092])
Claims 3 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over as Li et al, US 20110116480 A1, in view of Cho et al, US 20110141990 A1, and further in view of Boudreau et al, US 20150043419 A1.
Regarding claims 3 and 14, Li and Cho do not disclose the method/(scheduler as cited by claim 14) wherein the measurement signal strength comprises Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and wherein the process of determining the first criterion comprises processing measurements of Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) of reference signals received in the sector in which the subscriber module is camped.
However, Boudreau does disclose the method/(scheduler as cited by claim 14) wherein the measurement signal strength comprises Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and wherein the process of determining the first criterion comprises processing measurements of Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) of reference signals received in the sector in which the subscriber module is camped ([0069][0101] As one particular example, for LTE, the link metrics can be Channel Quality Index (CQI) values (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and/or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) values), with CQI and RSRQ to be understood as equivalent to SINR values. While the identification of the base station 12-2 as the source of the dominant interferer can be performed using any suitable process, in one embodiment, the base station 12-1 receives reports on the signal strength at pilot symbols received from the strongest cells.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li and Cho with the method/(scheduler as cited by claim 14) wherein the measurement signal strength comprises Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and wherein the process of determining the first criterion comprises processing measurements of Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) of reference signals received in the sector in which the subscriber module is camped as taught by Boudreau. The motivation for doing so would be to reduce processing requirements for DL CoMP combining as well as eliminates latency issues resulting from inter-base station communication. (Boudreau, [0208])
Claims 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over as Li et al, US 20110116480 A1, in view of Cho et al, US 20110141990 A1, , in view of Boudreau et al, US 20150043419 A1, and in further view of Madan et al, US 20160309476 A1.
Regarding claims 4 and 15, Li does disclose allocating radio resource for communication to the subscriber module that is allocated to an adjacent sector([0151] [0171] For example, the trigger conditions to perform FFR may require that FBS 160 is currently located in a sector of an overlay BS that uses a frequency partition or that a portion of its coverage area overlaps with a sector of at least one neighboring BS. The SS may report it to the serving BS to trigger DL/UL interference mitigation, such as resource reservation, in the CSG-Closed BS.).
Li, Cho, and Boudreau do not disclose the method/(scheduler as cited in claim 15) comprising: comparing an adjusted CQI value, which is received CQI value, adjusted on the basis of the block error rate information, to a pre-defined threshold; and dependent on the adjusted CQI value meeting the predefined threshold,
However, Madan does disclose the method /(scheduler as cited in claim 15) comprising: comparing an adjusted CQI value, which is received CQI value, adjusted on the basis of the block error rate information, to a pre-defined threshold([0044] Generally, the CQI reported by a UE is essentially the MCS at which the cell radio to which the UE is connected needs to transmit packets to the UE such that the UE will receive packets at a 10% Block Error Rate (BLER). CQI can also increase because the UE can decode higher order modulation schemes while staying within the 10% BLER threshold.);
and dependent on the adjusted CQI value meeting the predefined threshold([0044] CQI can also increase because the UE can decode higher order modulation schemes while staying within the 10% BLER threshold.),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li, Cho,and Boudreau with the method/(scheduler as cited in claim 15) comprising: comparing an adjusted CQI value, which is received CQI value, adjusted on the basis of the block error rate information, to a pre-defined threshold; and dependent on the adjusted CQI value meeting the predefined threshold as taught by Madan. The motivation for doing so would be to reduce the load on the communication link between cell radios and the central management system. (Madan, [0076])
Claims 8 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over as Li et al, US 20110116480 A1, in view of Cho et al, US 20110141990 A1, and in further view of Park et al, US 20110310784 A1.
Regarding claims 8 and 19, Li and Cho do not disclose the method wherein the measure of quality of communication on the communication channel between the subscriber module and the access point is determined on a basis comprising block error rate information for data received at the subscriber module, wherein the block error rate information is based on HARQ feedback comprising ACK/NACK messages for downlink data received at the subscriber module.
However, Park does disclose the method wherein the measure of quality of communication on the communication channel between the subscriber module and the access point is determined on a basis comprising block error rate information for data received at the subscriber module([0033][0054] The BS 20 is generally a fixed station that communicates with the UE 10 and may be referred to as another terminology, such as an evolved node-B (eNB), a base transceiver system (BTS), an access point, etc. The NACK is transmitted when an error is detected or an information block cannot be decoded. The ACK is transmitted when the error is not detected and the information block can be decoded.),
wherein the block error rate information is based on HARQ feedback comprising ACK/NACK messages for downlink data received at the subscriber module([0010] [0054]The HARQ mode can be classified into a chase combining mode and an incremental redundancy (IR) mode. In the chase combining mode, to obtain a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), error-detected data is combined with retransmitted data instead of discarding the error-detected data. The NACK is transmitted when an error is detected or an information block cannot be decoded. The ACK is transmitted when the error is not detected and the information block can be decoded.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li and Cho with the method wherein the measure of quality of communication on the communication channel between the subscriber module and the access point is determined on a basis comprising block error rate information for data received at the subscriber module, wherein the block error rate information is based on HARQ feedback comprising ACK/NACK messages for downlink data received at the subscriber module as taught by Park. The motivation for doing so would be to improve performance by requesting retransmission upon detecting the error. (Park, [0008])
Claims 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over as Li et al, US 20110116480 A1, in view of Cho et al, US 20110141990 A1, and in further view of Huang et al, US 20110044183 A1.
Regarding claim 9, Li does disclose and determining a schedule allocating radio resource as a function of time to the subscriber modules camped in more than one sector based on processing of the measures of the quality of communication([0063] [0151] [0171] In some embodiments, antenna array 255 is a multi-sector antenna, such as a three-sector antenna in which each antenna sector is responsible for transmitting and receiving in a 120.degree. arc of coverage area. For example, the trigger conditions to perform FFR may require that FBS 160 is currently located in a sector of an overlay BS that uses a frequency partition or that a portion of its coverage area overlaps with a sector of at least one neighboring BS. The SS may report it to the serving BS to trigger DL/UL interference mitigation, such as resource reservation, in the CSG-Closed BS.).
Li and Cho do not disclose the method comprising: holding in a database the measure of the quality of communication on the communication channel between subscriber module and the access point for a plurality of subscriber modules camped in a plurality of sectors
However, Huang does disclose the method comprising: holding in a database the measure of the quality of communication on the communication channel between subscriber module and the access point for a plurality of subscriber modules camped in a plurality of sectors(([0056] [0064] The parameters may be any of a variety of signal quality measures, such as SINR, or other ratios of signal, channel, or bits to noise and interference. The parameters may also be error rate measures, such as bit error rate, an error detection code value etc. Alternatively several of these parameters may be combined to generate a representation of the channel quality. Account data 58 can also be connected to the bus. For the MS, this can include a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) and other stored personal parameters. For the BS this can include account authorization databases or connections to such databases.);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li and Cho with the method comprising: holding in a database the measure of the quality of communication on the communication channel between subscriber module and the access point for a plurality of subscriber modules camped in a plurality of sectors as taught by Huang. The motivation for doing so would be to improve the quality of the measurements. (Huang, [0069])
Regarding claim 10, Li does disclose the method wherein determining the schedule allocating radio resource as a function of time to the subscriber modules camped in more than one sector is based on comparing the measures of the quality of communication to a threshold([0063] [0104] In some embodiments, antenna array 255 is a multi-sector antenna, such as a three-sector antenna in which each antenna sector is responsible for transmitting and receiving in a 120.degree. arc of coverage area. Trigger conditions to stop performing IM may include, and are not limited to, a timer for performing IM has expired, the non-member SS (e.g. SS 116) has scanned and found an accessible BS (e.g. BS 103) with a signal strength (e.g., an average SINR, CINR, CIR, CNR, RSSI, CQI, and such) larger than a threshold, or such signal strength larger than a threshold for a period of time greater than a threshold duration).
Regarding claim 11, Li does disclose the method comprising determining the threshold from a distribution of measures of the quality of the communication for subscriber modules camped in more than one sector([0063] [0104] In some embodiments, antenna array 255 is a multi-sector antenna, such as a three-sector antenna in which each antenna sector is responsible for transmitting and receiving in a 120.degree. arc of coverage area. Trigger conditions to stop performing IM may include, and are not limited to, a timer for performing IM has expired, the non-member SS (e.g. SS 116) has scanned and found an accessible BS (e.g. BS 103) with a signal strength (e.g., an average SINR, CINR, CIR, CNR, RSSI, CQI, and such) larger than a threshold, or such signal strength larger than a threshold for a period of time greater than a threshold duration.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20250071792 A1 King
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/RYA TEON NELSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419