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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/19/2023 has been placed in record and considered by the examiner.
NOTICE for all US Patent Applications filed on or after March 16, 2013
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 or 103
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4, 8-11 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as anticipated by Lee et al. (US 20220361110 A1, hereinafter ‘LEE’), or in the alternative under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE in view of Kumar et al. (US 20220201676 A1, hereinafter ‘KUMAR’).
Regarding claim 1, LEE teaches a method of managing bandwidth allocation during carrier aggregation (
[0030] based on comparing a battery level of the UE to various thresholds, a UE may be configured to select different sets of parameters (e.g., a maximum aggregate bandwidth (BW), a maximum number of component carriers (CCs) in one or more cells.
Fig. 9, [0068] As illustrated in FIG. 9, at 902, a UE 120a transmits, at 902, capability information such as preferred maximum BW and/or a preferred maximum number of CCs …. the BS 110a responds, at 904, with a RRC configuration based on the preferred parameters the UE signals in the capability information.
[0069] At 906, the UE 120a detects one or more conditions associated with UE power consumption metrics (e.g., a battery level of the UE 120a). At 908, the UE 120a selects parameters (e.g., a maximum aggregate BW, a maximum number of CCs in one or more cells….
[0070] At 910, the UE 120a transmits UAI to the BS 110a, in response to the detection and selection, to request a reconfiguration to operate according to the selected parameters. At 912, the BS 110a transmits a reconfiguration to the UE 120a based on the UAI.
Fig. 10, [0072] FIG. 10 illustrates how UAI transmission may be triggered based on (rising or falling) battery level of a UE. As illustrated, different battery level thresholds may be used to determine what parameters to indicate in UAI.), the method comprising:
receiving a measurement report from a wireless device, wherein the measurement report includes a remaining battery life of the wireless device (
Fig. 9 Step 910 UE Assistance Information (UAI) to request reconfiguration,
[0069] At 906, the UE 120a detects one or more conditions associated with UE power consumption metrics (e.g., a battery level of the UE 120a). At 908, the UE 120a selects parameters (e.g., a maximum aggregate BW, a maximum number of CCs in one or more cells, and/or a maximum number of uplink/downlink MIMO layers) to update and operate on based on the power consumption metrics value(s).
[0070] At 910, the UE 120a transmits UAI to the BS 110a, in response to the detection and selection, to request a reconfiguration to operate according to the selected parameters.); and
upon determining that the remaining battery life is at or above a first threshold, assigning a full Bandwidth Part (BWP) for a Primary Cell (PCell) and one or more Secondary Cells (SCells) (
[0070] At 912, the BS 110a transmits a reconfiguration to the UE 120a based on the UAI.
Fig. 10 UAI: ReducedCCs = empty & ReducedMaxBW=empty, [0073] As illustrated if the battery level is above a first threshold level (TH2 (e.g., representing 30% of battery level remaining), there may be no need for mitigation.
(Construed that since the Battery level is above a first threshold of 30% BS configures full bandwidth or bandwidth part using all carriers of MCG/PCell and SCG/Scell that the UE is capable of supporting)).
However, assuming arguendo that the claim must be so narrowly construed such that LEE does not explicitly disclose upon determining that the remaining battery life is at or above a first threshold, assigning a full Bandwidth Part (BWP) for a Primary Cell (PCell) and one or more Secondary Cells (SCells), then alternatively,
in an analogous art, KUMAR teaches upon determining that the remaining battery life is at or above a first threshold, assigning a full Bandwidth Part (BWP) for a Primary Cell (PCell) and one or more Secondary Cells (SCells) (
Fig. 3, [0051] the UE bandwidth 316 can be more limited that the cell specific bandwidth 314. The UE can receive information about the channel bandwidth 312 of the cell and the position and width of a BWP 318.
[0054] the network configures at least an initial downlink BWP and one … initial uplink BWPs. Furthermore, the network may configure additional uplink and downlink BWPs for a serving cell. …. PCell …. Scell.
[0164] Clause 12: A method of configuring a transceiver of a mobile device for a positioning session, the method comprising
[0165] determining a frequency and a bandwidth of each of a plurality of reference signals to be transmitted by one or more base stations during the positioning session, based at least in part on assistance data received by the mobile device; ……and
[0168] tuning a transceiver of the mobile device from an active bandwidth part (BWP) to the receiving bandwidth for the positioning session.
[0171] Clause 15: The method of any of clauses 12-14, further comprising retuning the transceiver of the mobile device to the active BWP after the positioning session is complete.
[0172] Clause 16: The method of any of clauses 12-15, wherein the receiving bandwidth is further based at least in part on a battery charge status of the mobile device.
[0173] Clause 17: The method of any of clauses 12 or 14-16, wherein the receiving bandwidth is determined to include an entire carrier bandwidth if the battery charge status is above a threshold value.
(It is obvious that the configured BWPs includes UE specific full bandwidth part with respective PCell/Carrier and SCell/Carrier is indicated based on battery charge status is above a threshold value)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of determining a BWP for serving cells based on battery charge status of KUMAR to the method of using a UE assistance information to reconfigure bandwidth in carrier aggregation based on battery level threshold of LEE in order to take the advantage of providing a method for spectral efficiency and/or increased accuracy (KUMAR: [0080]).
Regarding claim 2, LEE, or alternately LEE in view of KUMAR, teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: upon determining that the remaining battery life is at or above a second threshold and below the first threshold, assigning the full BWP for the PCell and a lowest supported BWP for the one or more SCells (
Fig. 10, [0073] If the battery levels fall below TH2, however, the UE may perform moderate mitigation to try and reduce power consumption, for example, by transmitting UAI to request a reduction in one or more parameters (e.g., to reduce the aggregated BW, the number of CCs
See Fig. 12 or Fig. 14, showing when Battery Level is Between TH1 and TH2 , i.e. TH2 > Battery Level > TH1 from Fig. 10, UAI for reducing CCs or Bandwidth for SCell or smallest BWP for low SCell utilization which MCG or PCell same as in the case of TH2 or above as disclosed in Fig. 10.).
Regarding claim 3, LEE, or alternately LEE in view of KUMAR, teaches the method of claim 2, further comprising: upon determining that the remaining battery life is at or above a third threshold and below the second threshold, assigning an intermediate BWP for the PCell and the one or more SCells (
See Fig. 10, [0074] As illustrated, if the battery level continues to fall below a second threshold level (TH1), the UE may take more aggressive mitigation measures. For example, the UE may send UAI to request even further reductions in CCs, Max bandwidth …..
(It is obvious that a person skill in the art, due to reduced maximum bandwidth and reduced number of CCs, may assign intermediate BWP for as MCG/PCell and SCG/Scell as design choice)).
Regarding claim 4, LEE, or alternately LEE in view of KUMAR, teaches the method of claim 3, further comprising: upon determining that the remaining battery life is below the third threshold, assigning a lowest supported BWP for the PCell (
Fig. 10, Aggressive mitigation when Battery level below TH1 causing configured ReducedMaxBW,
Fig. 14, Aggressive mitigation when Battery level below TH1 causing configuration including removing SCG,
[0088] the battery level of the UE is below some first threshold TH1 (e.g., 15%) and that the UE is not connected to an AC adapter (e.g., a charger) ….. the UE may transmit UAI to a SCG to reduce the number of CCs to release the SCG keeping only MCG/PCell with reduced BW as disclosed in Fig. 10.
(It is obvious to a person in the art, in Fig. 10, CCs and configured BW are reduced, and in Fig. 14, SCell is removed, when battery life is below threshold TH1, and that a design choice can be made such that when the battery level is below a certain third level to keep only serving PCell with reduced bandwidth to a lowest operational size for continuing some service like voice as known in the art)).
Regarding claim 8, LEE teaches a system, the system comprising: an access node including at least one electronic processor configured to perform operations (
Fig. 2, BS 110a with Controller/Processor,
[0045] At the BS 110a, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller/processor 240.).
Further, claim 8 with similar features as in claim 1, is also interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1 and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 1.
Regarding claim 9, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 2.
Regarding claim 10, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 3.
Regarding claim 14, LEE teaches a method of managing bandwidth allocation (
[0030] based on comparing a battery level of the UE to various thresholds, a UE may be configured to select different sets of parameters (e.g., a maximum aggregate bandwidth (BW), a maximum number of component carriers (CCs) in one or more cells.
Fig. 9, [0068] As illustrated in FIG. 9, at 902, a UE 120a transmits, at 902, capability information such as preferred maximum BW and/or a preferred maximum number of CCs …. the BS 110a responds, at 904, with a RRC configuration based on the preferred parameters the UE signals in the capability information.
[0069] At 906, the UE 120a detects one or more conditions associated with UE power consumption metrics (e.g., a battery level of the UE 120a). At 908, the UE 120a selects parameters (e.g., a maximum aggregate BW, a maximum number of CCs in one or more cells….
[0070] At 910, the UE 120a transmits UAI to the BS 110a, in response to the detection and selection, to request a reconfiguration to operate according to the selected parameters. At 912, the BS 110a transmits a reconfiguration to the UE 120a based on the UAI.
Fig. 10, [0072] FIG. 10 illustrates how UAI transmission may be triggered based on (rising or falling) battery level of a UE. As illustrated, different battery level thresholds may be used to determine what parameters to indicate in UAI), the method comprising:
monitoring a remaining battery life of a wireless device (
Fig. 9 steps 908 Power consumption metrics value, 910 UAI from UE to BS,
See [0069, 0070, 0072]);
assigning a full Bandwidth Part (BWP) to a Primary Cell (PCell) and one or more Secondary Cells (SCells) while the remaining battery life remains at or above a first threshold (
[0070] At 912, the BS 110a transmits a reconfiguration to the UE 120a based on the UAI.
Fig. 10 UAI: ReducedCCs = empty & ReducedMaxBW=empty, [0073] As illustrated if the battery level is above a first threshold level (TH2 (e.g., representing 30% of battery level remaining), there may be no need for mitigation.
(Construed that since the Battery level is above a first threshold of 30% BS configures full bandwidth or bandwidth part using all carriers of MCG/PCell and SCG/Scell that the UE is capable of supporting));
assigning the full BWP to the PCell and a smallest supported BWP to the one or more SCells while the remaining battery life remains below the first threshold and at or above a second threshold (
Fig. 10, [0073] If the battery levels fall below TH2, however, the UE may perform moderate mitigation to try and reduce power consumption, for example, by transmitting UAI to request a reduction in one or more parameters (e.g., to reduce the aggregated BW, the number of CCs
See Fig. 12 or Fig. 14, showing when Battery Level is Between TH1 and TH2 , i.e. TH2 > Battery Level > TH1 from Fig. 10, UAI for reducing CCs or Bandwidth for SCell or smallest BWP for low SCell utilization which MCG or PCell same as in the case of TH2 or above as disclosed in Fig. 10.);
assigning an intermediate BWP for the PCell and the one or more SCells while the remaining battery life remains below the second threshold and at or above a third threshold (
See Fig. 10, [0074] As illustrated, if the battery level continues to fall below a second threshold level (TH1), the UE may take more aggressive mitigation measures. For example, the UE may send UAI to request even further reductions in CCs, Max bandwidth …..
(It is obvious that a person skill in the art, due to reduced maximum bandwidth and reduced number of CCs, may assign intermediate BWP for as MCG/PCell and SCG/Scell as design choice)); and
assigning the smallest supported BWP to the PCell while the remaining battery life remains below the third threshold (
Fig. 10, Aggressive mitigation when Battery level below TH1 causing configured ReducedMaxBW,
Fig. 14, Aggressive mitigation when Battery level below TH1 causing configuration including removing SCG,
[0088] the battery level of the UE is below some first threshold TH1 (e.g., 15%) and that the UE is not connected to an AC adapter (e.g., a charger) ….. the UE may transmit UAI to a SCG to reduce the number of CCs to release the SCG keeping only MCG/PCell with reduced BW as disclosed in Fig. 10.
(It is obvious to a person in the art, in Fig. 10, CCs and configured BW are reduced, and in Fig. 14, SCell is removed, when battery life is below threshold TH1, and that a design choice can be made such that when the battery level is below a certain third level to keep only serving PCell with reduced bandwidth to a lowest operational size for continuing some service like voice as known in the art)).
However, assuming arguendo that the claim must be so narrowly construed such that LEE does not explicitly disclose upon determining that the remaining battery life is at or above a first threshold, assigning a full Bandwidth Part (BWP) for a Primary Cell (PCell) and one or more Secondary Cells (SCells), then alternatively,
in an analogous art, KUMAR teaches upon determining that the remaining battery life is at or above a first threshold, assigning a full Bandwidth Part (BWP) for a Primary Cell (PCell) and one or more Secondary Cells (SCells) (
Fig. 3, [0051] the UE bandwidth 316 can be more limited that the cell specific bandwidth 314. The UE can receive information about the channel bandwidth 312 of the cell and the position and width of a BWP 318.
[0054] the network configures at least an initial downlink BWP and one … initial uplink BWPs. Furthermore, the network may configure additional uplink and downlink BWPs for a serving cell. …. PCell …. Scell.
[0164] Clause 12: A method of configuring a transceiver of a mobile device for a positioning session, the method comprising
[0165] determining a frequency and a bandwidth of each of a plurality of reference signals to be transmitted by one or more base stations during the positioning session, based at least in part on assistance data received by the mobile device; ……and
[0168] tuning a transceiver of the mobile device from an active bandwidth part (BWP) to the receiving bandwidth for the positioning session.
[0171] Clause 15: The method of any of clauses 12-14, further comprising retuning the transceiver of the mobile device to the active BWP after the positioning session is complete.
[0172] Clause 16: The method of any of clauses 12-15, wherein the receiving bandwidth is further based at least in part on a battery charge status of the mobile device.
[0173] Clause 17: The method of any of clauses 12 or 14-16, wherein the receiving bandwidth is determined to include an entire carrier bandwidth if the battery charge status is above a threshold value.
(It is obvious that the configured BWPs includes UE specific full bandwidth part with respective PCell/Carrier and SCell/Carrier is indicated based on battery charge status is above a threshold value)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of determining a BWP for serving cells based on battery charge status of KUMAR to the method of using a UE assistance information to reconfigure bandwidth in carrier aggregation based on battery level threshold of LEE in order to take the advantage of providing a method for spectral efficiency and/or increased accuracy (KUMAR: [0080]).
Regarding claim 15, LEE, or alternately LEE in view of KUMAR, teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the monitoring the remaining battery life of the wireless device comprises querying the remaining battery life from a measurement report generated on the wireless device (
Fig. 9 steps 908 Power consumption metrics value, 910 UAI from UE to BS,
See [0069, 0070, 0072]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 20220361110 A1, hereinafter ‘LEE’) in view of Kumar et al. (US 20220201676 A1, hereinafter ‘KUMAR’) with further in view of Pico et al. (US 20120054304 A1, hereinafter ‘PICO’).
Regarding claim 16, LEE, or alternatively LEE in view of KUMAR, teaches the method of claim 15.
LEE and KUMAR do not explicitly disclose wherein the measurement report only includes the remaining battery life periodically.
In an analogous art, PICO teaches wherein the measurement report only includes the remaining battery life periodically (
[0034] … informing a wireless network on the current battery status and level of the mobile device …… The battery information (e.g., battery capacity information, battery consumption information, battery status, etc.) may be reported in ….. periodic mode …).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of reporting battery status of PICO to the method for engaging commercial mobile devices with sufficient remaining battery capacity in collecting information about network performance and coverage quality thus avoiding the need to perform drive test campaigns (PICO: [0005]).
Regarding claim 18, LEE, in view of KUMAR and PICO, teaches the method of claim 16.
LEE and KUMAR do not explicitly disclose wherein periodically comprises every 1 minute.
PICO teaches wherein periodically comprises every 1 minute (
[0034] …The battery information (e.g., battery capacity information, battery consumption information, battery status, etc.) may be reported in ….. periodic mode …
(It is obvious that reporting after every 1-min period is a design choice)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of reporting battery status of PICO to the method for engaging commercial mobile devices with sufficient remaining battery capacity in collecting information about network performance and coverage quality thus avoiding the need to perform drive test campaigns (PICO: [0005]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, 12-13, 17 and 19-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and in intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 5, LEE, KUMAR, PICO or any prior art of record either alone or in combination fails to teach the method of claim 1, wherein the first threshold is 70% of a maximum capacity of a battery of the wireless device.
Regarding claim 6, LEE, KUMAR, PICO or any prior art of record either alone or in combination fails to teach the method of claim 1, wherein the third threshold is 30% of a maximum capacity of a battery of the wireless device.
Regarding claim 7, LEE, KUMAR, PICO or any prior art of record either alone or in combination fails to teach the method of claim 1 wherein the intermediate BWP is 50% between the full BWP and the lowest supported BWP.
Regarding claim 13, the claim with similar features as in claim 5 is also interpreted same as claim 5.
Regarding claim 12, the claim with similar features as in claim 7 is also interpreted same as claim 7.
Regarding claim 17, LEE, KUMAR, PICO or any prior art of record either alone or in combination fails to teach the method of claim 16, wherein periodically comprises every 10th measurement report.
Regarding claim 19, the claim with similar features as in claim 7 is also interpreted same as claim 7.
Regarding claim 20, the claim with similar features as in claim 6 is also interpreted same as claim 6.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Shrivastava et al. (US 20230209315 A1), describing METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR UE CAPABILITY AND ASSISTANCE SIGNALING FOR MBS SERVICE IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Hande et al. (US 20220312429 A1), describing CELL DORMANCY TECHNIQUES FOR TRAFFIC
Zhou et al. (US 20220240284 A1), describing Downlink Control Channel Monitoring In New Radio Unlicensed Band
Su et al. (US 20190281504 A1), describing Network Assisted Wireless Device Preferred Bandwidth Part Configuration
Yamazaki et al. (US 20150296455 A1), describing MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, MOBILE TERMINAL AND MOBILE COMMUNICATION METHOD
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAH M RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8951. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30AM-5:30PM PST.
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/SHAH M RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413