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 12, 22, and 24 are 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 12 recites the limitation "according to claim 11" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim since claim 11 is cancelled.
Claim 22 recites the limitation "according to claim 21" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim since claim 21 is cancelled.
Claim 24 recites the limitation "according to claim 23" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim since claim 23 is cancelled.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 13, and 27-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hwang et al. (US 20210083730 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hwang et al. teach A method for receiving a signal, performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
sending capability information to a base station, wherein the capability information is configured to indicate whether the UE supports a capability of receiving signals corresponding to different sub-carrier spacings (SCSs) simultaneously (Hwang [0193] The UE may transmit the capability information about supporting of simultaneous reception of multiple numerologies to the serving cell.); and
obtaining a scheduling instruction sent by the base station based on the capability information (Hwang [0197] The serving cell may configure a measurement gap for a UE that does not support simultaneous reception of a CSI-RS of a neighbor cell which has a different numerology from that of data (transmitted from the serving cell) in an active DL BWP and DL data of the serving cell.), and receiving the signals based on the scheduling instruction (Hwang [0198] the UE may receive the CSI-RS of the neighbor cell which has a different numerology from that of the DL data of the serving cell).
Regarding claim 13, Hwang et al. teach A method for receiving a signal, performed by a base station ([0043] base station (BS) 20), comprising:
receiving capability information sent by a user equipment (UE), wherein the capability information is configured to indicate whether the UE supports a capability of receiving signals corresponding to different sub-carrier spacings (SCSs) simultaneously(Hwang [0193] The UE may transmit the capability information about supporting of simultaneous reception of multiple numerologies to the serving cell.); and
sending a scheduling instruction to the UE based on the capability information (Hwang [0197] The serving cell may configure a measurement gap for a UE that does not support simultaneous reception of a CSI-RS of a neighbor cell which has a different numerology from that of data (transmitted from the serving cell) in an active DL BWP and DL data of the serving cell.), and sending the signals to the UE based on the scheduling instruction (Hwang [0198] the UE may receive the CSI-RS of the neighbor cell which has a different numerology from that of the DL data of the serving cell).
Regarding claim 27, Hwang et al. teach A user equipment (UE), comprising:
a transceiver (transceiver 9013 in Fig. 17);
a memory (memory 9012 in Fig. 17); and
a processor (processor 9011 in Fig. 17) respectively connected to the transceiver and the memory a transceiver (transceiver 9013 in Fig. 17);
a memory (memory 9012 in Fig. 17); and
a processor (processor 9011 in Fig. 17), and configured to:
send capability information to a base station, wherein the capability information is configured to indicate whether the UE supports a capability of receiving signals corresponding to different sub-carrier spacings (SCSs) simultaneously (Hwang [0193] The UE may transmit the capability information about supporting of simultaneous reception of multiple numerologies to the serving cell.); and
obtain a scheduling instruction sent by the base station based on the capability information (Hwang [0197] The serving cell may configure a measurement gap for a UE that does not support simultaneous reception of a CSI-RS of a neighbor cell which has a different numerology from that of data (transmitted from the serving cell) in an active DL BWP and DL data of the serving cell.), and receive the signals based on the scheduling instruction (Hwang [0198] the UE may receive the CSI-RS of the neighbor cell which has a different numerology from that of the DL data of the serving cell). .
Regarding claim 28, Hwang et al. teach A base station device ([0043] base station (BS) 20),, comprising:
a transceiver (transceiver 9021 in Fig. 17);
a memory (memory 9022 in Fig. 17); and
a processor (processor 9021 in Fig. 17) respectively connected to the transceiver and the memory (Fig. 17), configured to perform the method according to claim 13
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.
Claim(s) 2, 5-8, 10, 14, 17-20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. in view of Huawei, HiSilicon (Discussion on RSTD measurement, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG4 Meeting #95-e, R4-2007841, Electronic Meeting, 25 May – 5 June, 2020).
Regarding claim 2, Hwang et al. teach The method according to claim 1, but do not teach
wherein the capability information is configured to indicate at least one of:
whether the UE supports a capability 1, wherein the capability 1 comprises: when a positioning reference signal (PRS) to be measured and a data signal of a current serving cell correspond to different SCSs, the UE being capable of receiving the PRS to be measured and the data signal of the current serving cell simultaneously; or
whether the UE supports a capability 2, wherein the capability 2 comprises: when the positioning reference signal (PRS) to be measured and a reference signal of the current serving cell correspond to different SCSs, the UE being capable of receiving the PRS to be measured and the reference signal of the current serving cell simultaneously.
In a similar endeavor, Huawei, HiSilicon teaches
wherein the capability information is configured to indicate at least one of:
whether the UE supports a capability 1, wherein the capability 1 comprises: when a positioning reference signal (PRS) to be measured and a data signal of a current serving cell correspond to different SCSs (Huawei Proposal 13: RAN4 to define a new UE capability to indicate if UE supports concurrent PRS measurement and data reception in the UE active BWP with a different numerology), the UE being capable of receiving the PRS to be measured and the data signal of the current serving cell simultaneously (Huawei section 205 UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell,).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Hwang et al. UE capability by incorporating Huawei new capability as a capability 1 to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have received data from the serving cell and enabled measuring PRS simultaneously.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim 2, wherein the PRS to be measured comprises a PRS to be measured of a neighbor cell (section 2.1 when neighbour DL PRS resource and reference DL PRS resource belong to the same positioning frequency layer).
The motivation of doing so would have received data from the serving cell and enabled measuring PRS simultaneously.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim 2, wherein the reference signal of the current serving cell comprises at least one of:
a synchronous signal block (SSB) of the current serving cell (Hwang [0010] receiving, from a serving cell, a synchronization signal (SS)/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB));
a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) of the current serving cell; or
a PRS of the current serving cell.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim 2, wherein sending the capability information to the base station comprises one of:
sending capability information (Hwang [0193] The UE may transmit the capability information about supporting of simultaneous reception of multiple numerologies to the serving cell) indicating whether the UE supports the capability 1 to the base station (Huawei section 205 UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell,);
sending capability information indicating whether the UE supports the capability 2 to the base station; or
sending capability information indicating whether the UE supports a capability 1 and whether the UE supports the capability 2 to the base station.
The motivation of doing so would have received data from the serving cell and enabled measuring PRS simultaneously.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim 7, wherein in a case of sending the capability information (Hwang [0193] The UE may transmit the capability information about supporting of simultaneous reception of multiple numerologies to the serving cell) indicating whether the UE supports the capability 1 to the base station (Huawei section 2.5 UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell), obtaining the scheduling instruction sent by the base station based on the capability information (Huawei section 2.5 measurement gap is not needed and no scheduling restriction should be allowed), and receiving the signals based on the scheduling instruction comprises:
determining the capability information indicating that the UE supports the capability 1 (Huawei section 2.5 When PRS is within UE active BWP, UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell), obtaining a scheduling instruction for indicating that the PRS to be measured and the data signal of the current serving cell are scheduled simultaneously on a target bandwidth part (BWP) which is sent by the base station (Huawei section 2.5 measurement gap is not needed and no scheduling restriction should be allowed), and receiving the PRS to be measured and the data signal of the current serving cell simultaneously on the target BWP (Huawei section 2.5 UE supports concurrent PRS measurement and data reception in the UE active BWP with a different numerology); or
determining the capability information indicating that the UE does not support the capability 1, obtaining a scheduling instruction for indicating that the PRS to be measured is scheduled on the target BWP which is sent by the base station, and receiving the PRS to be measured on the target BWP, and being incapable of receiving the data signal of the current serving cell during a period of measuring the PRS to be measured by the UE.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim, wherein in a case of sending the capability information (Hwang [0193] The UE may transmit the capability information about supporting of simultaneous reception of multiple numerologies to the serving cell) indicating whether the UE supports the capability 2 to the base station(Huawei section 2.5 UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell, obtaining the scheduling instruction sent by the base station based on the capability information (Huawei section 2.5 measurement gap is not needed and no scheduling restriction should be allowed), and receiving the signals based on the scheduling instruction comprises:
determining the capability information indicating that the UE supports the capability 2 (Huawei section 2.5 When PRS is within UE active BWP, UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell), obtaining a scheduling instruction for indicating that the PRS to be measured and the reference signal of the current serving cell are scheduled simultaneously on a target bandwidth part (BWP) which is sent by the base station (Huawei section 2.5 measurement gap is not needed and no scheduling restriction should be allowed), and receiving the PRS to be measured and the reference signal of the current serving cell simultaneously on the target BWP (Huawei section 2.5 UE supports concurrent PRS measurement and data reception in the UE active BWP with a different numerology); or
determining the capability information indicating that the UE does not support the capability 2, obtaining a scheduling instruction for indicating that the PRS to be measured is scheduled on the target BWP from the base station, and receiving the PRS to be measured on the target BWP, and being incapable of measuring the reference signal of the current serving cell during a period of measuring the PRS to be measured by the UE.
Regarding claim 14, Hwang et al. teach The method according to claim 13, but do not teach
wherein the capability information is configured to indicate at least one of:
whether the UE supports a capability 1, wherein the capability 1 comprises: when a positioning reference signal (PRS) to be measured and a data signal of a current serving cell correspond to different SCSs, the UE being capable of receiving the PRS to be measured and the data signal of the current serving cell simultaneously; or
whether the UE supports a capability 2, wherein the capability 2 comprises: when a positioning reference signal (PRS) to be measured and a reference signal of a current serving cell correspond to different SCSs, the UE being capable of receiving the PRS to be measured and the reference signal of the current serving cell simultaneously.
In a similar endeavor, Huawei, HiSilicon teaches
wherein the capability information is configured to indicate at least one of:
whether the UE supports a capability 1, wherein the capability 1 comprises: when a positioning reference signal (PRS) to be measured and a data signal of a current serving cell correspond to different SCSs (Huawei Proposal 13: RAN4 to define a new UE capability to indicate if UE supports concurrent PRS measurement and data reception in the UE active BWP with a different numerology), the UE being capable of receiving the PRS to be measured and the data signal of the current serving cell simultaneously (Huawei section 205 UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell,).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Hwang et al. UE capability by incorporating Huawei new capability as a capability 1 to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have received data from the serving cell and enabled measuring PRS simultaneously.
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim 14, wherein the PRS to be measured comprises a PRS to be measured of a neighbor cell (section 2.1 when neighbour DL PRS resource and reference DL PRS resource belong to the same positioning frequency layer).
The motivation of doing so would have received data from the serving cell and enabled measuring PRS simultaneously.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim 14, wherein the reference signal of the current serving cell comprises at least one of:
a synchronous signal block (SSB) of the current serving cell (Hwang [0010] receiving, from a serving cell, a synchronization signal (SS)/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB));
a channel state information reference signal (CSI- RS) of the current serving cell; or
a PRS of the current serving cell.
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim 14, wherein receiving the capability information sent by the UE comprises one of:
receiving capability information indicating whether the UE supports the capability 1 which is sent by the UE ( (Hwang [0193] The UE may transmit the capability information about supporting of simultaneous reception of multiple numerologies to the serving cell, Huawei section 205 UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell,);;
receiving capability information indicating whether the UE supports the capability 2 which is sent by the UE; or
receiving capability information indicating whether the UE supports the capability 1 and whether the UE supports the capability 2 which is sent by the UE.
The motivation of doing so would have received data from the serving cell and enabled measuring PRS simultaneously.
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim 19, wherein in a case of receiving capability information (Hwang [0193] The UE may transmit the capability information about supporting of simultaneous reception of multiple numerologies to the serving cell) indicating whether the UE supports the capability 1 which is sent by the UE (Huawei section 2.5 UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell), sending the scheduling instruction to the UE based on the capability information (Huawei section 2.5 measurement gap is not needed and no scheduling restriction should be allowed), and sending the signals to the UE based on the scheduling instruction comprises:
determining the capability information indicating that the UE supports the capability 1 (Huawei section 2.5 When PRS is within UE active BWP, UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell), sending to the UE a scheduling instruction for indicating that the PRS to be measured and the data signal of the current serving cell are scheduled simultaneously on a target bandwidth part (BWP) (Huawei section 2.5 measurement gap is not needed and no scheduling restriction should be allowed), and sending the PRS to be measured and the data signal of the current serving cell simultaneously on the target BWP(Huawei section 2.5 UE supports concurrent PRS measurement and data reception in the UE active BWP with a different numerology); or
determining the capability information indicating the UE does not support the capability 1, sending to the UE a scheduling instruction for indicating that the PRS to be measured is scheduled on the target BWP, and sending the PRS to be measured on the target BWP, and being incapable of scheduling the data signal of the current serving cell during a period of measuring the PRS to be measured by the UE.
.
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Hwang et al. and Huawei teaches The method according to claim 21, wherein in a case of receiving capability information (Hwang [0193] The UE may transmit the capability information about supporting of simultaneous reception of multiple numerologies to the serving cell) indicating whether the UE supports the capability 2 which is sent by the UE (Huawei section 2.5 UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell), sending the scheduling instruction to the UE based on the capability information (Huawei section 2.5 measurement gap is not needed and no scheduling restriction should be allowed),, and sending the signals to the UE based on the scheduling instruction comprises:
determining the capability information indicating that the UE supports the capability 2 (Huawei section 2.5 When PRS is within UE active BWP, UE shall be able to simultaneously measure PRS and receive data from the serving cell), sending to the UE a scheduling instruction for indicating that the PRS to be measured and the reference signal of the current serving cell are scheduled simultaneously on a target bandwidth part (BWP) (Huawei section 2.5 measurement gap is not needed and no scheduling restriction should be allowed),, and sending the PRS to be measured and the reference signal of the current serving cell simultaneously on the target BWP (Huawei section 2.5 UE supports concurrent PRS measurement and data reception in the UE active BWP with a different numerology); or
determining the capability information indicating that the UE does not support the capability 2, sending to the UE a scheduling instruction for indicating that the PRS to be measured is scheduled on the target BWP, and sending the PRS to be measured on the target BWP, and being incapable of scheduling the reference signal of the current serving cell during a period of measuring the PRS to be measured by the UE.
Claims 3 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. in view of Huawei, HiSilicon, and in further view of 3GPP TS 38.306 V16.5.0 (Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; User Equipment (UE) radio access capabilities, 2021-06).
Regarding claim 3, Hwang et al. teach The method according to claim 1, but do not teach
wherein sending the capability information to the base station comprises one of:
sending the capability information to the base station via an information element (IE) MeasAndMobParameters signaling; or
sending the capability information to the base station via an IE MeasAndMobParametersMRDC signaling.
In a similar endeavor, 3GPP TS 38.306 teach
sending the capability information to the base station via an information element (IE) MeasAndMobParameters signaling (3GPP TS 38.306 section 4.2.9 MeasAndMobParameters); or
sending the capability information to the base station via an IE MeasAndMobParametersMRDC signaling (3GPP TS 38.306 section 4.2.9a MeasAndMobParametersMRDC).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Hwang et al. by incorporating the parameters defined in 3GPP TS 38.306 to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have enabled sending the capability information from the UE to the base station
Regarding claim 15, Hwang et al. teach The method according to claim 13, wherein receiving the capability information from the UE comprises one of:
receiving the capability information sent by the UE via an information element (IE) MeasAndMobParameters signaling (3GPP TS 38.306 section 4.2.9 MeasAndMobParameters); or
receiving the capability information sent by the UE via an IE MeasAndMobParametersMRDC signaling (3GPP TS 38.306 section 4.2.9a MeasAndMobParametersMRDC).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the examined application to have modified Hwang et al. by incorporating the parameters defined in 3GPP TS 38.306 to arrive at the invention
The motivation of doing so would have enabled sending the capability information from the UE to the base station
.
Conclusion
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/SAID M ELNOUBI/Examiner, Art Unit 2644