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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 .
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The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted was filed after the mailing date. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (“Liu”) (WO 2021249001 A1) in view of YERRAMALLI et al. (“YERRAMALLI”)(US 20190037427 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Liu teaches:
A method of operating a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless telecommunications network, the wireless telecommunications network including a first access point, a second access point, and a third access point [¶0132, a first base station configures measurement gap information for a first target cell (second access point) and a second cell (third access point), figure 1 ¶0067-72 shows each cell is an access point, and configured for a terminal device i.e. UE], wherein the UE is connected to the first access point [¶0086 terminal device connected to serving cell, receives configuration information ¶0089], and the second access point and the third access point communicate based on periodic time frames [¶0103, ¶0122-123 each cell transmits periodically SSBs see Figure 4A-4B], the method comprising:
receiving a first configuration message from the first access point, the first configuration message including measurement gap configuration data [¶0132 “Step 302: The base station configures the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell […] for the terminal device” see ¶0086 configuration gaps sent to terminal see ¶0162-163];
configuring a first measurement gap having a first set of measurement gap parameters based on the measurement gap configuration data of the first configuration message [¶0132 “Step 302: The base station configures the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell […] for the terminal device” and ¶0166 304, terminal measures first target cell based on configuration gap];
configuring a second measurement gap having a second set of measurement gap parameters based on the measurement gap configuration data of the first configuration message [Step 302: The base station configures […] the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell for the terminal device, and see ¶0162-163, sent to terminal], wherein the first set of measurement gap parameters differs from the second set of measurement gap parameters such that the first measurement gap and the second measurement gap cover different portions of a periodic time frame of the second access point and different portions of a periodic time frame of the third access point [¶0150-151, gap information per cell may be different i.e. different measurement interval periods, see Figure 4A-4B, offsets different for different frequencies to detect different SSBs, configured by base station, sent to UE as in ¶0162];
receiving a transmission from the second access point in the first measurement gap [¶0167 measure reference signal of first target cell being the second access point];
receiving an identifier for the second access point [¶0167 reference signal received for first target cell being second access point, wherein reference signal includes SSB ¶0102, known to include cell identifier];
receiving a transmission from the third access point in the second measurement gap [¶0170 reference signal of second target cell being third access point]; receiving an identifier for the third access point [¶0170 reference signal received for second target cell of plurality being third access point, wherein reference signal includes SSB ¶0102, known to include cell identifier];
and following receipt of the transmissions from the second access point and the third access point and of the identifiers of the second access point and the third access point, sending a report message to the first access point [¶0095-96 measurement report after performing cell measurements, results for neighboring cells], the report message including a first association between the identifier for the second access point and a second association between the identifier for the third access point [¶0128 cell parameters for identified neighbor cells indicated in the report corresponding to identifier].
Liu teaches reporting cell information but not expressly the association with the measurement gap.
Yerramalli teaches the report message including a first association between the identifier for the second access point and the identifier for the first measurement gap and a second association between the identifier for the third access point and the identifier for the second measurement gap [¶0084, UE receives DRS, “detect all base stations and their respective delay offsets within the long measurement gap, and report this information to its serving base station” wherein “this information” corresponds to the “first association” and “second association” for each base station, as the information includes the base stations and the offsets i.e. measurement gap information].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the reporting the association between identifier and measurement gap, as in Yerramalli in order that the base station may configure measurement gaps for measuring RSRP to address system timing not being aligned ¶0084.
Regarding claim 2, Liu-Yerramalli teaches:
The method as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the periodic time frame of the second access point includes a transmission portion and the first measurement gap covers the transmission portion of the periodic time frame of the second access point, the periodic time frame of the third access point includes a transmission portion and the second measurement gap covers the transmission portion of the periodic time frame of the third access point [Liu ¶0103 SSBs (may be reference signal transmissions) transmitted periodically from other cells including second and third cell see Figure 4a-4B where SSBs transmitted periodic time frames with transmission portions covered by the two gaps, and ¶0162-170, measurement gaps for first target cell and second access cell used to receive these reference signals thus cover periodic transmission portions], and the method further comprises the steps of:
receiving a second configuration message from the first access point, the second configuration message including measurement gap configuration data; configuring a third measurement gap having a third set of measurement gap parameters based on the measurement gap configuration data of the second configuration message, wherein the third measurement gap covers the transmission portion of the periodic time frame of the second access point; and configuring a fourth measurement gap having a fourth set of measurement gap parameters based on the measurement gap configuration data of the second configuration message, wherein the fourth measurement gap covers the transmission portion of the time frame of the third access point [Examiner notes this is just repeating the steps of configuring measurements gaps for the second and third access points, see Liu ¶0162-170 configuration received which configures measurement gap for first target cell (second access point) and deriving configuration for second target cell (third access point), each covering portion of the transmission portion as in Figure 4A-4B, and this may be a third and fourth configuration as ¶0090, ¶0117 teaches base station may reconfigure the measurement parameters, parameters specified in ¶0150-151, thus considered configuring a third and fourth measurement gap for each of second and third access points according to ¶0162-170 in a reconfiguration step].
Regarding claim 3, Liu-Yerramalli teaches:
The method as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the first set of measurement gap parameters differs from the second set of measurement gap parameters by having different gap offset values [Liu ¶0150-151, gap information per cell may be different i.e. different measurement interval periods, ¶0117, measurement configurations comprise offsets, ¶0125-126 different offsets. Figure 4A-4B show different offsets and receiving different SSBs i.e. from different cells (access points)].
Regarding claim 6, Liu teaches:
A method of operating a first access point in a wireless telecommunications network, the wireless telecommunications network including a first User Equipment (UE), a second access point and a third access point [¶0132, a first base station configures measurement gap information for a first target cell (second access point) and a second cell (third access point), figure 1 shows each cell is an access point, and configured for a terminal device i.e. UE], wherein the second access point communicates based on a periodic time frame having a transmission portion and the third access point communicates based on a periodic time frame having a transmission portion [¶0103 each cell transmits periodically SSBs], the method comprising:
sending a first configuration message to the first UE, the first configuration message including measurement gap configuration data to cause the first UE to use a first measurement gap having a first set of measurement gap parameters [¶0132 “Step 302: The base station configures the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell […] for the terminal device” see ¶0086 configuration gaps sent to terminal see ¶0162-163] and to cause the first UE to use a second measurement gap having a second set of measurement gap parameters [Step 302: The base station configures […] the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell for the terminal device, and see ¶0162-163, sent to terminal], wherein the first set of measurement gap parameters differs from the second set of measurement gap parameters such that the first measurement gap and the second measurement gap cover different portions of a periodic time frame of the second access point and different portions of a periodic time frame of the third access point [¶0150-151, gap information per cell may be different i.e. different measurement interval periods see Figure 4A-4B]; receiving a first report message from the first UE, the first report message including a first association for the second access point and a second association for the third access point [¶0095-96 measurement report after performing cell measurements, results for neighboring cells]; and sending a second configuration message to the first UE, the second configuration message including measurement gap configuration data to cause the first UE to use a third measurement gap having a third set of measurement gap parameters and a fourth measurement gap having a fourth set of measurement gap parameters, wherein the third measurement gap covers the transmission portion of the periodic time frame of the second access point and the fourth measurement gap covers the transmission portion of the periodic time frame of the third access point [Examiner notes this is just repeating the steps of configuring measurements gaps for the second and third access points, see Liu ¶0162-170 configuration received which configures measurement gap for first target cell (second access point) and deriving configuration for second target cell (third access point), each covering portion of the transmission portion as in Figure 4A-4B, and this may be a third and fourth configuration as ¶0090, ¶0117 teaches base station may reconfigure the measurement parameters, parameters specified in ¶0150-151, thus considered configuring a third and fourth measurement gap for each of second and third access points according to ¶0162-170 in a reconfiguration step].
Liu teaches reporting cell information but not expressly the association with the measurement gap.
Yerramalli teaches the report message including a first association between the identifier for the second access point and the identifier for the first measurement gap and a second association between the identifier for the third access point and the identifier for the second measurement gap [¶0084, UE receives DRS, “detect all base stations and their respective delay offsets within the long measurement gap, and report this information to its serving base station” wherein “this information” corresponds to the “first association” and “second association” for each base station, as the information includes the base stations and the offsets i.e. measurement gap information].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the reporting the association between identifier and measurement gap, as in Yerramalli in order that the base station may configure measurement gaps for measuring RSRP to address system timing not being aligned ¶0084.
Regarding claim 8, Liu-Yerramalli teaches:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of Claim1 [Liu, ¶0049-50].
Regarding claim 9, Liu-Yerramalli teaches:
A computer system comprising at least one processor and memory configured to carry out the method of Claim 1 [[Liu, ¶0049-50].
Regarding claim 10, Liu-Yerramalli teaches:
A User Equipment (UE) for a wireless telecommunications network, the UE comprising a transceiver, memory and a processor configured to cooperate to carry out the method of Claim 1 [Liu ¶0072]
Regarding claim 11, Liu-Yerramalli teaches:
An access point for a wireless telecommunications network, the access point comprising a transceiver, memory and a processor configured to cooperate to carry out the method of Claim 6 [Liu ¶0076].
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (“Liu”) (WO 2021249001 A1) in view of YERRAMALLI et al. (“YERRAMALLI”)(US 20190037427 A1) and Do et al. (“Do”) (US 20210410185 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Liu-Yerramalli teaches:
The method as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the wireless telecommunications network includes a second UE, and the method further comprises: sending a third configuration message to the second UE, the third configuration message including measurement gap configuration data to cause the second UE to use the third measurement gap having the third set of measurement gap parameters [Liu, ¶0120, measurement gaps configured for terminal devices, since specified as plural therefore includes a third gap for a second terminal device i.e. UE].
Liu teaches configuring multiple terminal devices but not receiving a report of presence of the terminal device.
Do teaches receiving a second report message from the second UE, the second report message from the second UE indicating a presence of the second UE in the coverage area of the second access point [¶0224 Do, reports may be from multiple UEs].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify reporting the presence of the UE in the coverage area of access points as in Do who teaches this allows the gNb to be aware of density of deployed cells to configure parameters ¶0224.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (“Liu”) (WO 2021249001 A1) in view of YERRAMALLI et al. (“YERRAMALLI”)(US 20190037427 A1) and Yi et al. (“Yi”) (US 20170223667 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Liu-Yerramalli teaches:
The method as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the first measurement gap and the second measurement gap are of a series of measurement gaps, and each measurement gap of the series of measurement gaps occurs within a respective time frame of a series of time frames [Liu ¶0155-163, Figure 4A-4B show each of gap 1 and gap 2 occurring within a time frame of 40 ms ¶0158 respective time frame of a series of time frames], and each time frame of the series of time frames has a predetermined length [¶0158 40 ms], and the method further comprises: configuring each measurement gap of the series of measurement gaps to cover a particular portion of a respective time frame of the series of time frames [Liu Figure 4A-4B each gap covers a portion of the respective time frame of the series of 40 ms frames].
Liu teaches a combination of times but does not teach the combination covers the time frame.
Yi teaches wherein a combination of all portions covered by all measurement gaps of the series of measurement gaps relative to the respective time frames covers the predetermined length.[¶0288-289, configure multiple measurements gaps including a series of gaps, see table 4, in which multiple offsets are used until entire 40 msec frame is covered see how 10 ms to 40 ms offsets are applied].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the series of gaps within a time frame that covers the whole length of the time frame as in Yi. Liu teaches multiple gaps and it would have been obvious to specify different offsets to cover the whole time frame as in Yi who teaches this allows the UE to find DRS signals from other cells that are not aligned in time with the serving cell ¶0276.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (“Liu”) (WO 2021249001 A1) in view of Do et al. (“Do”) (US 20210410185 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Liu teaches:
A method of operating a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless telecommunications network [figure 1 shows each cell is an access point, and configured for a terminal device i.e. UE], the wireless telecommunications network including a first access point, a second access point, and a third access point [¶0132, a first base station configures measurement gap information for a first target cell (second access point) and a second cell (third access point), figure 1 shows each cell is an access point], wherein the UE is in a coverage area of the first access point, a coverage area of the second access point, and a coverage area of the third access point, the UE is connected to the first access point [Figure 1 shows UE in coverage area of an access point, connected to first access point see ¶0162-170], the second access point communicates based on a periodic time frame having a transmission portion, and the third access point communicates based on a periodic time frame having a transmission portion [¶0103, Figure 4A-4B each cell transmits periodically SSBs], the method comprising:
receiving a first configuration message from the first access point in response to the report message, the first configuration message including measurement gap configuration data for the second access point [¶0132 “Step 302: The base station configures the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell […] for the terminal device” see ¶0086 configuration gaps sent to terminal see ¶0162-163] and measurement gap configuration data for the third access point [Step 302: The base station configures […] the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell for the terminal device, and see ¶0162-163, sent to terminal]; configuring a first measurement gap having a first set of measurement gap parameters based on the measurement gap configuration data for the second access point of the first configuration message [¶0132 “Step 302: The base station configures the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell […] for the terminal device” and ¶0166 304, terminal measures first target cell based on configuration gap, ¶0117 includes offsets and other parameters]; , wherein the measurement gap covers the transmission portion of the periodic time frame of the second access point [Liu ¶0103 SSBs (may be reference signal transmissions) transmitted periodically from other cells including second and third cell, and ¶0162-170, measurement gaps for first target cell and second access cell used to receive these reference signals thus cover periodic transmission portions]; and configuring a second measurement gap having a second set of measurement gap parameters based on the measurement gap configuration data for the third access point of the first configuration message, wherein the measurement gap covers the transmission portion of the periodic time frame of the third access point [Liu ¶0103 SSBs (may be reference signal transmissions) transmitted periodically from other cells including second and third cell, and ¶0162-170, measurement gaps for first target cell and second access cell (second and third access points) used to receive these reference signals thus cover periodic transmission portions].
Liu teaches configuring measurement gaps but not sending a report indicating presence.
Do teaches sending a report message to the first access point, the report message indicating the a presence of the UE in the coverage area of the second access point and the coverage area of the second access point [¶0224, UE reports presence of neighboring cells in the vicinity].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify reporting the presence of the UE in the coverage area of access points as in Do who teaches this allows the gNb to be aware of density of deployed cells to configure parameters ¶0224.
Conclusion
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/JAY L VOGEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478