DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 9 and 10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 9 recites the limitation " the second radio access technology ". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim 1 which is dependent on.
Claim 10 recites the limitation “the first frequency band is the same as the second frequency band”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim 1 which is dependent on.
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, 6-11, 16-20, 25-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berggren et al. (US 2020/0136881, hereinafter “Berggren”) in view of “Da Silva” (US 2021/0195663).
For claims 1 and 20, Berggren discloses An apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) (FIG. 3 shows a receiving device 300; see Berggren par. 0079 and Fig. 3), comprising:
a processor (a processor 302; see Berggren par. 0079 and Fig. 3);
memory coupled with the processor (The processor 302 is coupled to the transceiver 304 and the memory 306 by communication means 308; see Berggren par. 0079 and Fig. 3); and
instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to (other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions; see Berggren par. 0116):
monitor a first set of one or more frequencies within a frequency band for a first synchronization signal block associated with a first cell (Perform mobility measurements on cells characterized by both cell ID and the carrier frequency. Detect multiple synchronization signal blocks and determine which carrier they belong to; see Berggren par. 0010-0011, 0091), the first set of one or more frequencies corresponding to a first channel raster (a frequency band in which the carrier is located comprises values determined from the first raster and the second raster, where values represent a frequency location; see Berggren par. 0019);
receive, from the first cell and based at least in part on the monitoring, an indication of a second channel raster corresponding to the frequency band, wherein the second channel raster is different from the first channel raster (receive one or more synchronization signals on a carrier from a transmitting device 100, wherein a frequency of a synchronization signal among the one or more synchronization signals is located on a first frequency raster and a carrier frequency of the carrier is deployed on a second frequency raster, and wherein frequencies of two different synchronization signals among the one or more synchronization signals are located on different frequency positions in the first raster; see Berggren par. 0081); and
Berggren does not explicitly disclose monitor a second set of one or more frequencies within the frequency band for a second synchronization signal block associated with at least one second cell of a plurality of second cells, the second set of one or more frequencies corresponding to the second channel raster. Da Silva discloses monitor a second set of one or more frequencies within the frequency band for a second synchronization signal block (the system information of the CD-SSB includes information about a set of SSBs without an SIB1 associated with that CD-SSB. That information may include frequency locations of associated SSBs without an SIB1. That can be signaled with positive and negative shifts from the frequency of the CD-SSB or a nominal frequency location (e.g., with Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Numbers (ARFCNs) of the channel raster or sync raster). That information may also include PCIs of the associated SSBs without an SIB1. Hence, upon acquiring system information of a CD-SSB, the UE may also acquire that information of associated SSBs without an SIB1 and include it in a measurement report (like that CGI report); see Da Silva par. 0065-0066) associated with at least one second cell of a plurality of second cells, the second set of one or more frequencies corresponding to the second channel raster (a first network node and/or a second network node may be configured to exchange information regarding its NR Cells and the existence of CD-SSBs and associated SSBs (without an SIB1 but pointing to that CD-SSB). That information may contain, for each CD-SSB, a list of PCIs and their frequency locations (e.g., indicated by their ARFCNs in the channel raster or synchronization raster); see Da Silva par. 0069). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Da Silva's arrangement in Berggren's invention to improve the data rate, capacity, latency and/or power consumption for the network and UE using the OTT connection and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, more capacity, better responsiveness, and better device battery time (see Da Silva par. 0103).
For claims 6 and 25, Berggren discloses The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions to receive the indication of the second channel raster are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive one or more of: a system information block comprising the indication of the second channel raster, radio resource control signaling comprising the indication of the second channel raster, or a medium access control-control element comprising the indication of the second channel raster (the first frequency location is given in a resolution of the first frequency raster, and the second frequency location is given in a resolution of the second frequency raster. An advantage with this implementation form is that it is possible to further reduce the overhead of signaling the carrier frequency considering that the first raster may be sparser than the second raster. In an implementation form of a transmitting device according to the first aspect, the transmitting device is further configured to transmit the indication in at least one of: master information block (MIB), remaining system information (RMSI), other system information (OSI), and radio resource control (RRC); see Berggren par. 0047-0049, 0086, 0091-0092).
For claims 7, 17 and 26, Berggren discloses The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indication of the second channel raster comprises one or more bandwidths associated with the second channel raster (the maximum carrier bandwidth may depend on the frequency band, e.g., very wide carriers may be used in higher frequency bands. Also, the second raster may be different in different frequency bands; see Berggren par. 0102, 0108).
For claims 8, 18 and 27, Berggren discloses The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first cell is associated with a first radio access technology and the at least one second cell is associated with a second radio access technology (The network node herein may also be denoted as a radio network node, an access network node, an access point, or a base station, e.g. a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may be referred to as transmitter, "eNB", "eNodeB", "NodeB" or "B node", depending on the technology and terminology used. The radio network nodes may be of different classes such as e.g. macro eNodeB, home eNodeB or pico base station, based on transmission power and thereby also cell size. The radio network node can be a station (STA), which is any device that contains an IEEE 802.11-conformant media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) interface to the wireless medium (WM). The radio network node may also be a base station corresponding to the fifth generation (5G) wireless systems; see Berggren par. 0112-0113).
For claims 9, 19 and 28, Berggren discloses The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a list of channel rasters for the second radio access technology comprises the second channel raster (the carrier frequency is indicated using a relative channel number… In this case the receiving device 300 is informed of a frequency location fwB, which is on the channel raster and determines a relative carrier frequency, based on a pre-defined mapping rule. The number of bits to represent the relative channel number could be log2 (2N+1) where N is the number of channel rasters on this frequency band; see Berggren par. 0101)
For claims 10 and 29, Berggren discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the first frequency band is the same as the second frequency band (a frequency band in which the carrier is located comprises values determined from the first raster and the second raster; see Berggren par. 0056; In one example when the carrier frequency is indicted as a channel number C, a single enumeration is applied over all frequency bands which means that each channel number is associated with a unique carrier frequency; see Berggren par. 0095).
For claims 11 and 30, Berggren discloses An apparatus for wireless communications at a first cell, comprising:
a processor;
memory coupled with the processor (In the implementation shown in FIG. 1, the transmitting device 100 comprises a processor 102, a transceiver 104 and a memory 106. The processor 102 is coupled to the transceiver 104 and the memory 106 by communication means 108 known in the art; see Berggren par. 0075); and
instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to (other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions; see Berggren par. 0116):
transmit, to a user equipment (UE) and using a first set of one or more frequencies within a frequency band, a first synchronization signal block associated with the first cell (Perform mobility measurements on cells characterized by both cell ID and the carrier frequency. Detect multiple synchronization signal blocks and determine which carrier they belong to; see Berggren par. 0010-0011, 0091), the first set of one or more frequencies corresponding to a first channel raster (a frequency band in which the carrier is located comprises values determined from the first raster and the second raster, where values represent a frequency location; see Berggren par. 0019); and
transmit, based at least in part on transmitting the first synchronization signal block, an indication of a second channel raster corresponding to the frequency band, wherein the second channel raster is different from the first channel raster (receive one or more synchronization signals on a carrier from a transmitting device 100, wherein a frequency of a synchronization signal among the one or more synchronization signals is located on a first frequency raster and a carrier frequency of the carrier is deployed on a second frequency raster, and wherein frequencies of two different synchronization signals among the one or more synchronization signals are located on different frequency positions in the first raster; see Berggren par. 0081) and
Berggren does not explicitly disclose associated with a second set of one or more frequencies within the frequency band corresponding to at least one second cell of a plurality of second cells. Da Silva discloses associated with a second set of one or more frequencies within the frequency band corresponding to at least one second cell of a plurality of second cells (a first network node and/or a second network node may be configured to exchange information regarding its NR Cells and the existence of CD-SSBs and associated SSBs (without an SIB1 but pointing to that CD-SSB). That information may contain, for each CD-SSB, a list of PCIs and their frequency locations (e.g., indicated by their ARFCNs in the channel raster or synchronization raster); see Da Silva par. 0069). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Da Silva's arrangement in Berggren's invention to improve the data rate, capacity, latency and/or power consumption for the network and UE using the OTT connection and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, more capacity, better responsiveness, and better device battery time (see Da Silva par. 0103).
For claim 16, Berggren discloses The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions to transmit the indication of the second channel raster are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit a system information block comprising the indication of the second channel raster, transmitting radio resource control signaling comprising the indication of the second channel raster, or transmitting a medium access control-control element comprising the indication of the second channel raster (the first frequency location is given in a resolution of the first frequency raster, and the second frequency location is given in a resolution of the second frequency raster. An advantage with this implementation form is that it is possible to further reduce the overhead of signaling the carrier frequency considering that the first raster may be sparser than the second raster. In an implementation form of a transmitting device according to the first aspect, the transmitting device is further configured to transmit the indication in at least one of: master information block (MIB), remaining system information (RMSI), other system information (OSI), and radio resource control (RRC); see Berggren par. 0047-0049, 0086, 0091-0092).
Claim(s) 2, 12 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berggren and Da Silva, and further in view of Jiang et al. (US 2020/0245290, hereinafter “Jiang”).
For claims 2, 12 and 21, the combination of Berggren and Da Silva does not explicitly disclose The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: determine the UE is within a geographic region, wherein monitoring the second set of one or more frequencies is based at least in part on determining the UE is within the geographic region. Jiang discloses The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: determine the UE is within a geographic region, wherein monitoring the second set of one or more frequencies is based at least in part on determining the UE is within the geographic region (the second receiver 1302 determines a first time-frequency resource set and a second time-frequency resource set; the UE monitors paging information in the first time-frequency resource set of the first serving cell and the second time-frequency resource set of the second serving cell respectively, location information of the UE is used for determining the first time-frequency resource set, and the second time-frequency resource set is unrelated to the location information of the UE; see Jiang par. 0329). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jiang's arrangement in Berggren's invention to improve the efficiency of paging and avoids awakening all UEs under the coverage of one base station (see Jiang par. 0096).
Claim(s) 3, 13 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berggren and Da Silva, and further in view of Jung et al. (US 2021/0126822, hereinafter “Jung”).
For claims 3 and 22, the combination of Berggren and Da Silva does not explicitly disclose The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions to receive the indication of the second channel raster are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive an indication of the geographic region associated with the second channel raster. Jung discloses The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions to receive the indication of the second channel raster are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive an indication of the geographic region associated with the second channel raster (The UE 205 performing cell search detects the SS and receives the system information. In some embodiments, the UE 205 searches a channel raster and/or SS raster to detect the SS and receive the system information. The UE 205 uses the raster frequency spacing in combination with the received system information to identify a reference frequency location, such as a particular resource block; see Jung par. 0046; the processor 305 determines a second set of frequency locations within the same frequency range. Here, adjacent frequency locations in the second set of frequency locations are spaced with a second spacing value. The first spacing value is larger than the second spacing value. In one embodiment, the first set of frequency locations is a set of potential locations for detecting a synchronization signal (e.g., a SS raster). In another embodiment, the second set of frequency locations is a set of carrier raster locations within the frequency range (e.g., a channel raster). In certain embodiments, the first and second spacing values depend on a location of the frequency range within a wireless spectrum and/or on a geographical area of operation. In other embodiments, the second spacing value is a network configured value, the transceiver 325 receiving the second spacing value from the network; see Jung par. 0056-0057, 0157-0158). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jung's arrangement in Berggren's invention to provide efficient radio resource utilization (see Jung par. 0043).
For claim 13, the combination of Berggren and Da Silva does not explicitly disclose The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the instructions to transmit the indication of the second channel raster are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit an indication of the geographic region associated with the second channel raster. Jung discloses The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the instructions to transmit the indication of the second channel raster are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit an indication of the geographic region associated with the second channel raster (The UE 205 performing cell search detects the SS and receives the system information. In some embodiments, the UE 205 searches a channel raster and/or SS raster to detect the SS and receive the system information. The UE 205 uses the raster frequency spacing in combination with the received system information to identify a reference frequency location, such as a particular resource block; see Jung par. 0046; the processor 305 determines a second set of frequency locations within the same frequency range. Here, adjacent frequency locations in the second set of frequency locations are spaced with a second spacing value. The first spacing value is larger than the second spacing value. In one embodiment, the first set of frequency locations is a set of potential locations for detecting a synchronization signal (e.g., a SS raster). In another embodiment, the second set of frequency locations is a set of carrier raster locations within the frequency range (e.g., a channel raster). In certain embodiments, the first and second spacing values depend on a location of the frequency range within a wireless spectrum and/or on a geographical area of operation. In other embodiments, the second spacing value is a network configured value, the transceiver 325 receiving the second spacing value from the network; see Jung par. 0056-0057, 0157-0158). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jung's arrangement in Berggren's invention to provide efficient radio resource utilization (see Jung par. 0043).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 14, 15, 23 and 24 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: claims 4, 5, 14 and 15 are allowed because the closest prior arts listed above either alone or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious, the claimed invention of “determining a timing threshold associated with the second channel raster is satisfied, wherein monitoring the second set of one or more frequencies is based at least in part on determining the timing threshold associated with the second channel raster is satisfied”, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAE S LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-8236. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM - 5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached at (571) 270-1215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHAE S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/JEFFREY M RUTKOWSKI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2415