1DETAILED 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 .
Drawings
FIGs. 1-3, 9A and 9B are objected because at least some of objects has only digital symbols which make it difficult for readers to understand.
Claim Objections
Claims 108, 111, 117, 119, 121, 123 and 124 are objected as follows.
Claims 108 and 121 are objected because each of them recites “wherein the part of the scheduling gap comprises at least a portion of the scheduling gap after a part of the scheduling gap corresponding to possible reception of an early paging indication by the second user equipment.”. This claim needs clarity. For example, it is unclear whether “the part of the scheduling gap” and “a part of the scheduling gap” are the same object or not
Claims 111 and 124, each recites: “the pre-configuration information comprising information to inform the first user equipment that early end of the scheduling gap is possible and/or to configure the first user equipment to monitor for the configuration information”. This claim limitation needs clarity. For example, it is unclear what does it mean by “early end of the scheduling gap is possible” and how to present it.
Claim 117 recites “detect no response from the first user equipment; and in response to not detecting a response from the first user equipment, schedule traffic for the first user equipment during the part of the scheduling gap.”. These are negative claim limitations, and they place little restrictions on the subject matter.
To continue prosecution on merit, the claims are interpreted as best understood.
Claim 119 is objected to because informalities. For example, it recites “… the determining whether to transmit a response comprises the apparatus is configured to: determine whether to transmit a response on the at least one uplink grant; and the transmitting a response comprises the apparatus is configured to: transmit a response on at least one of the at least one uplink grant.”. The claim language is inconsistent (“determine” and “the transmitting” are not consistent) and not concise (“the apparatus is configured to: transmit a response on at least one of the at least one uplink grant” was tedious). Furthermore, the claim recites “the transmitting a response …” and “the determining whether to transmit a response …”. There is an insufficient antecedent basis for each of these limitations in the claim.
Claim 123 recites “the transmitting of the response …”. There is an insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Furthermore, the claim language is not concise. For example, it recites “the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:”, which is already stated in the parent claim.
Appropriate correction or clarification is required.
To continue prosecution on merit, the claims will be interpreted as best understood.
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.
Claims 105-106, 109-110, 112-113, 118-119 and 112-123 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20220264587 A1) in view of Chen (US 20230047213 A1).
For claim 105, Zhang discloses an apparatus (FIG. 5, apparatus 400) comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor (the processor, memory storing software code of the apparatus), cause the apparatus to:
enable scheduling gap usage in relation to a device with multiple subscriptions comprising at least a first subscription configured to enable a first user equipment at the device and a second subscription configured to enable a second user equipment (FIGs. 4-9 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 4 shows first subscription with a first UE USIM_A and second subscription with a second UE USIM_B and [0058]-[0077], which teaches enabling scheduling gap switching between two subscriptions) to cause the device to:
determine if there is traffic to schedule for the first user equipment, in radio connected mode, during a part of a configured scheduling gap for the first user equipment corresponding to a paging occasion of the second user equipment, the second user equipment not in radio connected mode (FIGs. 4-9 and the associated text, such as FIG. 4 shows a paging to enters connected mode for USIM_B, and FIG. 6 shows “schedule gap” for UE);
if it is determined that there is traffic to schedule for the first user equipment during a part of the scheduling gap, transmit configuration information to the first user equipment to configure the first user equipment to provide a response indicating device availability of the device for the part of the scheduling gap (FIGs. 4-9 and the associated text, such as FIG. 6 shows that UE transmits TAU request including schedule gap negotiation capable in step 1, and FIG. 7, step 704 in view of “[0026] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communication by a UE …” and “[0079] … At 704, the UE transmits an indication of schedule gap support information for the UE to the network. The schedule gap support information includes information associated with transitioning from a first RAN associated with a first USIM of the UE to at least a second RAN associated with a second USIM of the UE.”); and
monitor for paging response from the first user equipment (“[0061] the UE monitors a paging channel used by RAN 404B and decides to respond to a paging request from RAN 404B. …”).
Zhang is silent but Chen, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses that paging information includes scheduling gap (“[0064] … other paging related information (e.g., a required measurement gap, a required scheduling gap, …”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Chen above to the monitoring paging by Zhang to yield a predictable result of monitoring parameter of scheduling gap.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Zhang with Chen for the benefit of monitoring a desired parameter of scheduling gap [0064] of Chen).
For claim 118, Zhang discloses an apparatus (FIG. 5, apparatus 400) comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code;
the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor (the processor, memory storing software code of the apparatus), cause the apparatus to:
support scheduling gap usage in relation to a device with multiple subscriptions comprising at least a first subscription configured to enable a first user equipment at the device and a second subscription configured to enable a second user equipment at the device (FIGs. 4-6 and the associated text, such as FIG. 4 shows a device with a first subscription with a first UE USIM_A and a second subscription with a second UE USIM_B and [0058]-[0077], which teaches enabling scheduling gap switching between two subscriptions) to:
receive configuration information to configure the first user equipment, in radio connected mode, to provide a response indicating device availability of the device for a part of a configured scheduling gap for the first user equipment corresponding to a paging occasion of the second user equipment, the second user equipment not in radio connected mode (FIGs. 4-9 and the associated text, such as FIG. 6 in view of “[0025] FIG. 6 depicts another example call flow for configuring scheduling gap support information …”; and FIG. 4 shows step 1 “USIM_A is a connected mode” and USIM_B is not in a connected mode as it tries to enter into a connected mode via paging in step 2, implying USIM_B being not in connected mode);
determine whether to transmit a response indicating device availability of the device for the part of the configured scheduling gap (FIGs. 4-9 and the associated text, such as FIG. 8, step 804 and “[0085] … The schedule gap support information may include information associated with transitioning from a first RAN associated with a first USIM of the UE to a second RAN associated with a second USIM of the UE. At 804, the RAN node generates an initial context setup response message …”); and
if it is determined that a response is to be sent, transmit a response in network RAN/CN (FIGs. 4-9 and the associated text, such as FIG. 8, step 806 and “[0085] … At 806, the RAN node transmits the initial context setup response message …”).
Zhang is silent on a response including schedule gap inform is passed to the second UE. Chen, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses that paging information includes scheduling gap in with UEs (“[0064] … other paging related information (e.g., a required measurement gap, a required scheduling gap, …”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Chen above to the paging by Zhang (e.g., FIG. 4) to yield a predictable result of including scheduling gap information in the paging message.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Zhang with Chen for the benefit of exchanging scheduling gap information using paging messages [0064] of Chen).
As to claim 106, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claim 105, Zhang further discloses:
wherein the configuration information comprises at least one uplink grant and the monitoring for a response from the first user equipment comprises the apparatus being enabled to monitor for a response from the first user equipment on the at least one uplink grant (“[0051] ... A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.”; note that data transmission on uplink suggests uplink grant).
As to claims 109 and 122, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claims 105 and 118, Zhang further discloses:
wherein the configuration information comprises information to inform the first user equipment that there is traffic to be scheduled for the first user equipment during the part of the scheduling gap (suggested by FIG. 4 in view of “[0051] ... A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.”; note that FIG. 4 discloses “schedule” in [0051] suggests configuration and FIG. 4 shows USIM_A in connected mode switching to USIM_B and there is traffic for the first UE during at least a part a part of the duration).
As to claim 110, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claim 105, and is silent but Tseng, in the same field of wireless communication, discloses:
receive a response from the first user equipment, the response indicating that the first user equipment is available for scheduling of traffic in the part of the scheduling gap (FIGs. 4 and 8, step 3); and
in response to receiving the response from the first user equipment, schedule traffic for the first user equipment during the part of the scheduling gap (FIG. 4 shows USIM_A in connected mode switching to USIM_B and there is traffic for the first UE to receive or transmit during at least a part of the scheduling gap).
As to claim 112, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claim 105, Zhang further discloses:
wherein the configuration information comprises a physical downlink control channel with a single uplink grant (“[0048] At the BS 110a, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller/processor 240. The control information may be for the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc.” and “[0050] On the uplink, at UE 120a, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) from the controller/processor 280. … [0051] … A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.”).
As to claim 113, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claim 109, Zhang further discloses:
wherein the configuration information comprises information at least indicative of a traffic type and/or a service type associated with the traffic (FIGs. 5-6, such as “[0073] FIG. 6 depicts an example call flow 600 in which the core network determines schedule gap support information based on different types of schedule gap information received from different entities …”).
As to claim 116, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claim 105, Zhang further discloses:
receive a response from the first user equipment, the response indicating that the first user equipment is not available for scheduling of traffic in the part of the scheduling gap (The received response indicating first UE not available is an obvious try according to MPEP 2143(E) because it is one of only two predictable solutions); and in response to receiving the response from the first user equipment, prevent scheduling of traffic for the first user equipment during the part of the scheduling gap (Not scheduling traffic is an obvious try according to MPEP 2143(E) because it is one of only two available options; note that these are negative claim limitations, and they place little restrictions on the subject matter).
As to claim 117, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claim 105, Zhang further discloses:
detect no response from the first user equipment (The received response indicating first UE not available is an obvious try according to MPEP 2143(E) because it is one of only two predictable solutions); and in response to not detecting a response from the first user equipment, schedule traffic for the first user equipment during the part of the scheduling gap (Scheduling traffic is an obvious try according to MPEP 2143(E) because it is one of only two available options; note that these are negative claim limitations, and they place little restrictions on the subject matter).
As to claim 119, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claim 118, Zhang further discloses:
the configuration information comprises at least one uplink grant (“[0051] ... A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.”; note that data transmission on uplink suggests uplink grant);
the determining whether to transmitting a response comprises to:
determine whether transmiting a response on the at least one uplink grant (FIGs. 5-9, such as FIG. 8, step 806 “Transmit the initial context setup response message”); and
transmit a response comprises transmitting a response on at least one one uplink grant (FIG. 8, step 806 “Transmit the initial context setup response message” in view of “[0051] ... A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.”; note that data transmission on uplink suggests uplink grant).
As to claim 123, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claim 118, Zhang further discloses:
wherein the transmitting of the response comprises transmitting a response indicating that the first user equipment is available for scheduling of traffic in the part of the scheduling gap (FIGs. 4 and 6, step 3);
wherein the transmitting of the response comprises receive traffic for the first user equipment during the part of the scheduling gap (FIG. 4 shows USIM_A in connected mode switching to USIM_B and there is traffic for USIM_A to receive or transmit during at least a part of the scheduling gap);
receive a response from the first user equipment, the response indicating that the first user equipment is available for scheduling of traffic in the part of the scheduling gap (FIG. 4 shows USIM_A in connected mode switching to USIM_B and there is traffic for USIM_A to receive or transmit during in at least a part of the scheduling gap).
Claims 107-108, 111, 115, 120-121 and 124 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20220264587 A1) in view of Chen (US 20230047213 A1), further in view of Tseng (US 20230108646 A1).
As to claims 107 and 120, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claims 105 and 118, and is silent but Tseng, in the same field of wireless communication, discloses:
receive assistance information, the assistance information comprising information at least indicative of an early paging indication configuration of the second user equipment at a network (FIGs. 3-9 and associated text, such as “[0007] In one embodiment, a UE receives a paging configuration in a wireless communication system. The UE determines a Paging Early Indicator (PEI)-carrying radio frame based on the paging configuration”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Tseng to the paging by Zhang in view of Chen to yield a predictable result of improving power consumption.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Tseng with Zhang in view of Chen for the benefit of improving power consumption ([0006] of Tseng).
As to claims 108 and 121, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claims 105 and 118, and is silent but Tseng, in the same field of wireless communication, discloses:
wherein the part of the scheduling gap comprises at least a portion of the scheduling gap after a part of the scheduling gap corresponding to possible reception of an early paging indication by the second user equipment (FIGs. 3-9 and associated text, such as “[0018] FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method of early paging indication for power consumption enhancements from UE perspective in a 5G/NR network … “[0037] FIG. 5 illustrates a first embodiment of sequence based PEI detection in a given frame. ... A PEI burst consists of S (#SSB transmitted) PEI sequences, which is transmitted on different beams and indicates the paging of one PO.” and”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Tseng to the paging by Zhang in view of Chen to yield a predictable result of improving power consumption.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Tseng with Zhang in view of Chen for the benefit of improving power consumption ([0006] of Tseng).
As to claims 111 and 124, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claims 105 and 118, and is silent but Tseng, in the same field of wireless communication, discloses:
Transmit/receive pre-configuration information to the first user equipment, the pre-configuration information comprising information to inform the first user equipment that early end of the scheduling gap is possible and/or to configure the first user equipment to monitor for the configuration information (FIGs. 3-9 and associated text, such as “[0018] FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method of early paging indication for power consumption enhancements from UE perspective in a 5G/NR network … “[0037] FIG. 5 illustrates a first embodiment of sequence based PEI detection in a given frame. ... A PEI burst consists of S (#SSB transmitted) PEI sequences, which is transmitted on different beams and indicates the paging of one PO.” and”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Tseng to the paging by Zhang in view of Chen to yield a predictable result of improving power consumption.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Tseng with Zhang in view of Chen for the benefit of improving power consumption ([0006] of Tseng).
As to claim 115, Zhang in view of Chen discloses claim 105, Zhang further discloses: wherein the configuration information comprises information to configure the first user equipment to resume radio connected operation during the part of the scheduling gap unless the second user equipment receives an early indication of paging (FIGs. 3-9 and associated text, such as “[0018] FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method of early paging indication for power consumption enhancements from UE perspective in a 5G/NR network … “[0037] FIG. 5 illustrates a first embodiment of sequence based PEI detection in a given frame. ... A PEI burst consists of S (#SSB transmitted) PEI sequences, which is transmitted on different beams and indicates the paging of one PO.” and”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Tseng to the paging by Zhang in view of Chen to yield a predictable result of improving power consumption.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Tseng with Zhang in view of Chen for the benefit of improving power consumption ([0006] of Tseng).
Claim 114 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Chen and Tseng, further in view of Hoglun (US 20220086759 A1).
As to claim 114, Zhang in view of Chen and Tseng discloses claim 107, and is silent but Hoglun, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, disclose:
wherein the assistance information comprises paging probability information (“[0013] … Paging probability can be expressed as a function of the wireless device's traffic profile, DRX, eDRX, or power saving mode (PSM) configuration, paging configuration (number of narrowbands, paging carriers, nB parameter, etc.), and other parameters.”);
determine whether to transmit the configuration information based, at least in part, on the paging probability information or determining whether to schedule traffic for the first user equipment during the part of the scheduling gap based, at least in part on the paging probability information (“[0013] … Paging probability can be expressed as a function of the wireless device's traffic profile, DRX, eDRX, or power saving mode (PSM) configuration, paging configuration (number of narrowbands, paging carriers, nB parameter, etc.), and other parameters.” in view of the parent claim, such as by including the paging probability information in the initial context response message presented in FIG. 8 of Zhang). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Hoglun to the paging disclosed by Zhang in view of Chen and Tseng to yield a predictable result of identifying priority between wireless devices with the same service type.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Hoglun with Zhang in view of Chen and Tseng for the benefit of improving power consumption ([0013] of Hoglun).
Conclusion
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/JIANYE WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462