DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
This action is responsive to the Remark filed on 2/13/26.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 13, 15-17, and 21 was/were amended. Claim(s) 5, 8, 16, 22-31 is/are canceled. Claim(s) 32-33 is/are added.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-7, 9-15, 17-21, 32-33 is/are presented for examination.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 1, 9 & 17 is/are unclear to the examiner; what does it mean by stating “receiving, by the terminal in a disconnected state and during an MDT process, broadcast information from a second base station in accordance with the configuration information, wherein the broadcast information comprises capability information of the second base station for wireless charging”? the claim languages are not very clear what is a “capability information”? to able to do a wireless charging? Or capable of wireless charging of the device? Or what? Please clarify
Claim(s) 1, 9 & 17 is/are unclear to the examiner; what does it mean by stating “receiving, by the terminal in a disconnected state and during an MDT process, broadcast information from a second base station in accordance with the configuration information, wherein the broadcast information comprises capability information of the second base station for wireless charging”? the claim languages are still not very clear what is it the Applicant trying to accomplished? Just to determine the capability information of the base station in a “disconnected state and during an MDT process”? Why does the system have to do so “during the MDT process”? Please clarify
Claim(s) 1, 9 & 17 is/are unclear to the examiner; what does it mean by stating “determining, by the terminal according to the broadcast information, the capability information of the second base station for wireless charging”? the claim languages are still not very clear what is it the Applicant trying to accomplished? Just to determine the capability information of the base station? Why does the system have to do so “during the MDT process”? what are the connection between the claim limitations? It seems like the system sending a bunch of information such as configuration information, MDT configuration information, broadcast information but not exactly sure how the system determine the capability information from the received information. Please clarify
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 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 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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-7, 9-15 & 17-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kronander, U.S. Pub/Patent No. US 20210013750A1 in view of Siomina, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2022/0295465 Al.
As to claim 1, Kronander teaches a capability obtaining method, performed by a terminal, comprising:
receiving, by the terminal, configuration information from a first base station, (Kronander, page 1, paragraph 11; page 3, paragraph 26; i.e., [0011] which beams transmitted by base stations are suitable for wireless device charging. As a mere example, the wireless communication system may correspond to a cellular network, such as a 4G or 5G network, such as Wi-Fi networks, for example; [0026] which information on recharge needs and capabilities may be exchanged between the wireless device and the base station);
receiving, by the terminal in a disconnected state, broadcast information from a second base station in accordance with the configuration information, wherein the broadcast information comprises capability information of the second base station for wireless charging (Kronander, page 4, paragraph 30; i.e., [0030] TAU Request message and the MME may provide the charging configuration in a TAU Accept message. When the wireless device enters an idle/inactive mode, it may be necessary to keep the context of the wireless in order to be able to continue transmitting charging signals to the wireless device. Corresponding information could be stored in the base station or another network node in the wireless communication system); and
determining, by the terminal according to the broadcast information, the capability information of the second base station for wireless charging (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 23; page 4, paragraph 30; i.e., [0023] broadcast signals transmitting system information (SI)),; [0030] TAU Request message and the MME may provide the charging configuration in a TAU Accept message. When the wireless device enters an idle/inactive mode, it may be necessary to keep the context of the wireless in order to be able to continue transmitting charging signals to the wireless device. Corresponding information could be stored in the base station or another network node in the wireless communication system).
But Kronander failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the configuration information is minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration information and comprises time domain resources or frequency domain resources; receiving, by the terminal during an MDT process.
However, Siomina teaches the limitation wherein the configuration information is minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration information and comprises time domain resources or frequency domain resources; receiving, by the terminal during an MDT process (Siomina, page 11, paragraph 124-126; i.e., [0124] selecting and/or changing to or assisting a network node 16 in selecting and/or changing to the time
and/or frequency resources ( e.g., to a time- and/or frequency domain pattern; [0125] minimization of drive tests (MDT), self-organizing network (SON), collecting statistics of the channel occupancy during a time period ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Kronander to substitute NR-U from Siomina for beamform signal from Kronander to to enable initial access and measurements. LTE DRS contains only primary synchronization signal (PSS)/secondary synchronization signal (SSS)/cell specific reference signal (CRS) (Siomina, page 1, paragraph 5).
As to claim 2, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 1, wherein the capability information comprises at least one of:
a support for wireless charging (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 26; i.e., [0026] which information on recharge needs and capabilities may be exchanged between the wireless device and the base station);
a non-support for wireless charging; or
one or more wireless charging parameters.
As to claim 3, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 2, wherein the one or more wireless charging parameters comprise at least one of: a wireless charging power (Kronander, figure 4; page 2, paragraph 12; i.e., [0012 The one or more charging power values may be provided with timestamps indicating when these values were observed. The information indicative of a direction of the charging beam at which the maximum charging power value), a wireless charging frequency, or a wireless charging duration.
As to claim 4, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 2, further comprising at least one of:
saving, by the terminal, the capability information that comprises the support for wireless charging (Kronander, page 2, paragraph 16; i.e., [0016] the favorable configuration of the charging beam may be stored in a database ( e.g., by the base station or another network node in the wireless communication system, such as a mobility management entity (MME)), possibly associated with an ID or context of the wireless device, so that the base station can reuse this information at a later point of time); or
obtaining, by the terminal, target capability information from the configuration information, and saving the capability information that matches the target capability information.
As to claim 6, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 4, wherein sending, by the terminal, the capability information to a third base station when the terminal establishes a connection with the third base station (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 27; i.e., [0027] any radio-related parameters may be stored in association with the context of the wireless device until a subsequent connection or charging session associated with the wireless device is established).
As to claim 7, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 6, wherein sending, by the terminal, the capability information to the third base station comprises:
sending, by the terminal, first indication information to the third base station to indicate that the capability information is saved in the terminal (Kronander, page 2, paragraph 19; i.e., [0019] The one or more preferred locations and/or the one or more preferred movement paths may be stored in a database ( e.g., by the base station or another network node in the wireless communication system, such as an MME), possibly associated with an ID or context of the wireless device); and
sending, by the terminal, the capability information to the third base station when second indication information sent by the third base station is received (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 26; i.e., [0026] which information on recharge needs and capabilities may be exchanged between the wireless device and the base station).
As to claim 9, Kronander teaches a configuration sending method, performed by a first base station, comprising:
sending, by the terminal, configuration information to a terminal (Kronander, page 1, paragraph 11; page 3, paragraph 26; i.e., [0011] which beams transmitted by base stations are suitable for wireless device charging. As a mere example, the wireless communication system may correspond to a cellular network, such as a 4G or 5G network, such as Wi-Fi networks, for example; [0026] which information on recharge needs and capabilities may be exchanged between the wireless device and the base station),
wherein the configuration information comprises a configuration for the terminal in a disconnected state to receive broadcast information from a second base station during an MDT process in accordance with the configuration (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 23; page 4, paragraph 30; i.e., [0023] broadcast signals transmitting system information (SI)); [0030] TAU Request message and the MME may provide the charging configuration in a TAU Accept message. When the wireless device enters an idle/inactive mode, it may be necessary to keep the context of the wireless in order to be able to continue transmitting charging signals to the wireless device. Corresponding information could be stored in the base station or another network node in the wireless communication system); and
determine capability information of the second base station for wireless charging according to the broadcast information (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 23; page 4, paragraph 30; i.e., [0023] synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) and secondary synchronization signals (SSS)), cell reference signals ( e.g., cell specific reference signals (CRS)), broadcast signals transmitting system information
(SI)); [0030] TAU Request message and the MME may provide the charging configuration in a TAU Accept message. When the wireless device enters an idle/inactive mode, it may be necessary to keep the context of the wireless in order to be able to continue transmitting charging signals to the wireless device).
But Kronander failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the configuration comprises time domain resources or frequency domain resources, and the broadcast information comprises the capability information of the second base station for wireless charging; wherein the configuration information is minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration information.
However, Siomina teaches the limitation wherein the configuration information is minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration information and comprises time domain resources or frequency domain resources; wherein the configuration information is minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration information (Siomina, page 11, paragraph 124-126; i.e., [0124] selecting and/or changing to or assisting a network node 16 in selecting and/or changing to the time and/or frequency resources ( e.g., to a time- and/or frequency domain pattern; [0125] minimization of drive tests (MDT), self-organizing network (SON), collecting statistics of the channel occupancy during a time period ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Kronander to substitute NR-U from Siomina for beamform signal from Kronander to to enable initial access and measurements. LTE DRS contains only primary synchronization signal (PSS)/secondary synchronization signal (SSS)/cell specific reference signal (CRS) (Siomina, page 1, paragraph 5).
As to claim 10, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 9, wherein the configuration information further comprises target capability information for the terminal to save the capability information that matches the target capability information (Kronander, page 4, paragraph 30; i.e., [0030] TAU Request message and the MME may provide the charging configuration in a TAU Accept message. When the wireless device enters an idle/inactive mode, it may be necessary to keep the context of the wireless in order to be able to continue transmitting charging signals to the wireless device. Corresponding information could be stored in the base station or another network node in the wireless communication system).
As to claim 14, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 13, wherein obtaining the capability information from the terminal comprises:
receiving first indication information sent by the terminal (Kronander, page 2, paragraph 17; i.e., [0017] based on the feedback received from the wireless device during the movement, one or more preferred locations and/or one or more preferred movement paths at which favorable wireless charging conditions are present);
determining, according to the first indication information, that the capability information is saved in the terminal (Kronander, page 2, paragraph 19; i.e., [0019] The one or more preferred locations and/or the one or more preferred movement paths may be stored in a database ( e.g., by the base station or another network node in the wireless communication system, such as an MME), possibly associated with an ID or context of the wireless device);
sending second indication information to the terminal for instructing the terminal to send the capability information to the first base station (Kronander, page 2, paragraph 17; i.e., [0017] based on the feedback received from the wireless device during the movement, one or more preferred locations and/or one or more preferred movement paths at which favorable wireless charging conditions are present).
As to claim 15, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 13, wherein sending, by the first base station, the capability information to at least one of a core network or a network management system for configuring wireless charging capability of the second base station based on the capability information (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 26; i.e., [0026] which information on recharge needs and capabilities may be exchanged between the wireless device and the base station).
As to claim 17, Kronander teaches a capability receiving method, performed by at least one of a core network or a network management system, comprising:
receiving, by at least one of the core network or the network management system, capability information of a second base station for wireless charging sent by a third base station (Kronander, page 1, paragraph 11; page 3, paragraph 26; i.e., [0011] which beams transmitted by base stations are suitable for wireless device charging. The wireless device may correspond to any device that is capable of being wirelessly charged using a charging beam received from a base station of the wireless communication system. The wireless device may correspond to a user equipment (UE), such as a mobile phone or drone, or simply a wireless sensor, such as a sensor deployed in an IoT system; [0026] which information on recharge needs and capabilities may be exchanged between the wireless device and the base station),
wherein the capability information is obtained by a terminal from broadcast information of the second base station and sent to the third base station (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 23; page 4, paragraph 30; i.e., [0023] broadcast signals transmitting system information (SI)); [0030] TAU Request message and the MME may provide the charging configuration in a TAU Accept message. When the wireless device enters an idle/inactive mode, it may be necessary to keep the context of the wireless in order to be able to continue transmitting charging signals to the wireless device), and
wherein the broadcast information is received in a disconnected state in accordance with configuration information sent by a first base station (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 23; page 4, paragraph 30; i.e., [0023] broadcast signals transmitting system information (SI)); [0030] TAU Request message and the MME may provide the charging configuration in a TAU Accept message. When the wireless device enters an idle/inactive mode, it may be necessary to keep the context of the wireless in order to be able to continue transmitting charging signals to the wireless device).
But Kronander failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the configuration information is minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration information and comprises time domain resources or frequency domain resources; received during an MDT process.
However, Siomina teaches the limitation wherein the configuration information is minimization of drive tests (MDT) configuration information and comprises time domain resources or frequency domain resources; received during an MDT process (Siomina, page 11, paragraph 124-126; i.e., [0124] selecting and/or changing to or assisting a network node 16 in selecting and/or changing to the time and/or frequency resources ( e.g., to a time- and/or frequency domain pattern; [0125] minimization of drive tests (MDT), self-organizing network (SON), collecting statistics of the channel occupancy during a time period ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Kronander to substitute NR-U from Siomina for beamform signal from Kronander to to enable initial access and measurements. LTE DRS contains only primary synchronization signal (PSS)/secondary synchronization signal (SSS)/cell specific reference signal (CRS) (Siomina, page 1, paragraph 5).
As to claim 20, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 17, wherein configuring wireless charging capability of the second base station based on the capability information (Kronander, page 2, paragraph 12; i.e., [0012 The one or more charging power values may be provided with timestamps indicating when these values were observed. The information indicative of a direction of the charging beam at which the maximum charging power value).
As to claim 21, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 20, wherein configuring the wireless charging capability of the second base station based on the capability information comprises at least one of:
configuring the second base station to support wireless charging when determining according to the capability information that the second base station does not support wireless charging; or
adjusting one or more wireless charging parameters that do not match standard charging parameters, wherein the capability information comprises one or more wireless charging parameters, and wherein one or more adjusted wireless charging parameters match the standard charging parameters (Kronander, page 3, paragraph 20-21; i.e., [0020] a beam identifier identifying the respective charging beam, wherein the beam identifier may be associated with the charging quality).
As to claim 32, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 1, wherein the capability information comprises an identifier of the second base station (Kronander, page 2, paragraph 15; i.e., [0015] Charging of the wireless device may be carried out once the scan procedure and/or the directing procedure is completed. The base station may thus charge the wireless device by transmitting, to the wireless device, the charging beam, wherein, in case of completion of the scan procedure, the charging beam may be the adjusted charging beam).
As to claim 33, Kronander-Siomina teaches the method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the terminal according to the broadcast information, capability information for wireless charging of neighboring base stations of the second base station (Kronander, page 4, paragraph 30; i.e., [0030] TAU Request message and the MME may provide the charging configuration in a TAU Accept message. When the wireless device enters an idle/inactive mode, it may be necessary to keep the context of the wireless in order to be able to continue transmitting charging signals to the wireless device. Corresponding information could be stored in the base station or another network node in the wireless communication system).
Claim(s) 11-12 & 18-19 is/are directed to a method claims and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 2-3. Therefore, claim(s) 11-12 & 18-19 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 2-3.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-4, 6-7, 9-15, 17-21, 32-33 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Listing of Relevant Arts
Shin, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 11239683 B2 discloses wireless charging power and idle phase.
Kang, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20210265869 A1 discloses charging the wireless power, disable signal.
Contact Information
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
THUONG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3864. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:00-6:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached on 571-270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THUONG NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416