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 .
Claims 23-24, 26-28, 31-36 and 40-56 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 23, 24, 26, 28, 32-34, 43-45, 47, 49-51 and 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated Leng et al, application no. 20240007998, hereinafter known as Leng.
As to claim 23, Leng discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory (Leng, figure 7, [0130]-[0140], [0159],-[0161], user equipment of the art with processor and memory), configured to: determine a radio resource control (RRC) state associated with the UE (Leng, [0069], RRC state of UE); and transmit, to a relay device, a paging configuration associated with the UE (Leng, [0078]-[0079], figure 3, step 310, remote device (UE) sending updated paging configuration to the relay device).
As to claim 24, Leng discloses wherein the paging configuration is transmitted based at least in part on a change in identifier associated with the UE, a change in paging cycle associated with the UE, or a change in the RRC state associated with the UE (Leng, [0082]-[0089], Plural configuration reasons including remote device ID updating and paging frame and paging occasion update).
As to claim 26, Leng discloses wherein the RRC state includes an idle state, and the paging configuration indicates an identifier associated with the UE and a dedicated core network paging cycle for the UE (Leng, page 3, table 1, paging message with RRC state in idle; paging configuration with mobile subscriber ID and page 3, [0041]-[0048], paging cycle).
As to claim 28, Leng discloses wherein the paging configuration indicates a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle associated with the UE (Leng, [0052], UE determining paging configuration with DRX metrics).
As to claim 32, Leng discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a relay device, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory (Leng, figure 8, [0130]-[0140], [0159],-[0161], Relay device of the art with processor and memory), configured to: receive, from a user equipment (UE) associated with a radio resource control (RRC) state, a paging configuration associated with the UE (Leng, [0078]-[0079], figure 3, step 310, remote device (UE) sending updated paging configuration to the relay device; Leng, [0069], RRC state of UE);); and determine whether to monitor paging occasions for the UE based at least in part on the paging configuration (Leng, figure 3, Step S320, [0079], relay UE to monitor paging occasions based on remote UE paging configuration).
As to claim 33, Leng discloses wherein the paging configuration is received based at least in part on a change in identifier associated with the UE, a change in paging cycle associated with the UE, or a change in the RRC state associated with the UE (Leng, [0082]-[0089], Plural configuration reasons including remote device ID updating and paging frame and paging occasion update).
As to claim 34, Leng discloses wherein the RRC state includes an idle state, and the paging configuration indicates an identifier associated with the UE and a dedicated core network paging cycle for the UE (Leng, page 3, table 1, paging message with RRC state in idle; paging configuration with mobile subscriber ID and page 3, [0041]-[0048], paging cycle).
As to claim 36, Leng disclose the apparatus of claim 32. Leng does not disclose however Hong discloses wherein the paging configuration indicates a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle associated with the UE (Leng, [0052], UE determining paging configuration with DRX metrics).
As to claim 43 and 44 the claims are rejected as applied to claims 23 and respectively above by Leng.
As to claims 45 and 47 the claims are rejected as applied to claims 26 and 28 respectively above by Leng.
As to claim 49 and 50 the claims are rejected as applied to claims 32 and 33 respectively above by Leng.
As to claims 51 and 53, the claims are rejected as applied to claims 34 and 36 respectively above by Leng in view of Hong.
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.
Claims 27, 35, 46 and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leng in view of Pan, Li-Te, application no. 2022/0182972, hereinafter known as Pan.
As to claim 27, Leng discloses wherein the RRC state includes an inactive state, and the paging configuration indicates an identifier associated with the UE (Leng, page 3, table 1, paging message with RRC state in idle; paging configuration with mobile subscriber ID and page 3). Leng does not disclose however Pan discloses the paging configuration indicates a radio access network (RAN) paging cycle (Pan, [0659]-[0664], paging configuration may include plural RAN information including RAN paging cycle at [0664]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Leng to include the limitations of the paging configuration indicates a radio access network (RAN) paging cycle as taught by Pan. RAN paging cycle allows UE such as remote and relay UE’s to align paging occasions accordingly.
As to claim 35, Leng discloses wherein the RRC state includes an inactive state, and the paging configuration indicates an identifier associated with the UE (Leng, page 3, table 1, paging message with RRC state in idle; paging configuration with mobile subscriber ID and page 3). Leng does not disclose however Pan discloses the paging configuration indicates a radio access network (RAN) paging cycle (Pan, [0659]-[0664], paging configuration may include plural RAN information including RAN paging cycle at [0664]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Leng to include the limitations of the paging configuration indicates a radio access network (RAN) paging cycle as taught by Pan. RAN paging cycle allows UE such as remote and relay UE’s to align paging occasions accordingly.
As to claims 46 and 52, the claims are rejected as applied to claims 27 and 35 respectively above by Leng in view of Pan.
Claims 31, 40, 41, 48, 54 and 55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leng in view of Freda et al, application no. 2024/0163934, hereinafter known as Freda.
As to claim 31, Leng discloses the apparatus of claim 23. Leng does not disclose however Freda discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: transmit, to the relay device, at least one bit associated with the relay device not performing paging monitoring for the UE (Freda, [0207]-[0208], Use of bitmap with bit indications for devices in the network to determine paging monitoring).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Leng to include the limitations of wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: transmit, to the relay device, at least one bit associated with the relay device not performing paging monitoring for the UE as taught by Freda. Use of bitmap or bit indication in messages to send control information is well known in the art where paging monitoring indication provides instructions for device monitor paging accordingly.
As to claim 40, Leng discloses the apparatus of claim 32. Leng does not disclose however Freda discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive, from the UE, at least one bit associated with the relay device not performing paging monitoring for the UE, wherein the one or more processors, to determine whether to monitor paging occasions for the UE, are configured to determine not to monitor paging occasions for the UE based at least in part on the at least one bit (Freda, [0207]-[0208], Use of bitmap with bit indications for devices in the network to determine paging monitoring).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Leng to include the limitations of wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive, from the UE, at least one bit associated with the relay device not performing paging monitoring for the UE, wherein the one or more processors, to determine whether to monitor paging occasions for the UE, are configured to determine not to monitor paging occasions for the UE based at least in part on the at least one bit as taught by Freda. Use of bitmap or bit indication in messages to send control information is well known in the art where paging monitoring indication provides instructions for device monitor paging accordingly.
As to claim 41, Leng discloses the apparatus of claim 32. Leng does not disclose however Freda discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: detect radio link failure (RLF) with the UE, wherein the one or more processors, to determine whether to monitor paging occasions for the UE, are configured to determine not to monitor paging occasions for the UE based at least in part on the RLF (Freda, [0292], detecting a radio link failure for UE communication and adjusting and cancelling monitoring of paging accordingly).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Leng to include the limitations of detect radio link failure (RLF) with the UE, wherein the one or more processors, to determine whether to monitor paging occasions for the UE, are configured to determine not to monitor paging occasions for the UE based at least in part on the RLF as taught by Freda. Forgoing resources used for a particular communication, when there is a failure in that communication, frees up the resources for other uses.
As to claims 48, 54 and 55, the claims are rejected as applied to claims 31, 40 and 41 respectively above by Leng in view of Freda.
Claims 42 and 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Leng in view of Fu et al, application no. 2023/0063048, hereinafter known as Fu.
As to claim 42, Leng discloses the apparatus of claim 32. Leng does not disclose however Fu discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: detect expiry of a keep alive timer associated with the UE, wherein the one or more processors, to determine whether to monitor paging occasions for the UE, are configured to determine not to monitor paging occasions for the UE based at least in part on expiry of the keep alive timer (Fu, [0026]-[0030], exchange of keep alive messages between UEs and release communication resources therebetween when keep alive messages expire or are not received).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Leng to include the limitations of detect expiry of a keep alive timer associated with the UE, wherein the one or more processors, to determine whether to monitor paging occasions for the UE, are configured to determine not to monitor paging occasions for the UE based at least in part on expiry of the keep alive timer as taught by Fu. Keep alive messages are known in the art to determine if connections between devices are still valid and should be maintain or to release the resources when message expire or are not received. Release of resources accordingly communication frees up the resources for other uses.
As to claim 56, the claim is rejected as applied to claim 42 above by Leng in view of Fu.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GAUTAM SHARMA whose telephone number is (571)270-7182. The examiner can normally be reached 11am-8pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hassan Phillips can be reached at 571-272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GAUTAM SHARMA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/MOHAMMED S CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467