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 § 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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) 1-7, 9, 12-17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng et al. (US 2020/0396633, hereinafter “Tseng”) in view of Zhao et al. (US 2023/0164642, hereinafter “Zhao”) and further in view of 3GPP ("Remaining Issues on Early Measurement," 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #107, Prague, Czech Republic, Aug. 26–30, 2019, document R2-1910745, hereinafter “3GPP ZTE”).
For claims 1 and 19, Tseng discloses A measurement method (FIG. 12 illustrates a signaling flow among a UE and multiple serving cells; see Tseng par. 0122), comprising:
receiving, by a terminal, control information sent by a network-side device (As shown in FIG. 12, in action 1208, a UE 1202 may receive a first measurement configuration from a first serving cell 1204 (e.g., via RRC signaling); see Tseng par. 0055, 0123); and
performing, by the terminal, early measurement according to the control information and measurement configuration information to obtain an early measurement result (In action 1212, the UE 1202 may perform the (early) measurement in the RRC inactive state or the RRC idle state and generate a first measurement result accordingly; see Tseng par. 0127); wherein
the control information is used to indicate at least one of the following:
the first cell supports the terminal to perform early measurement in the first cell (A serving cell may provide control signaling or indication in the msgB (which is the response to the msgA transmitted by the UE) in the 2-step RA procedure. In addition, the serving cell may configure and request an early measurement report on the 2-step RA for the NR-U measurement reporting; see Tseng par. 0130); or
the first cell supports the terminal to report availability of an early measurement result after entering a connected state in the first cell (In action 1006, the UE may retain the first measurement result when the UE transitions from the first RRC state to a second RRC state. For example, once the UE obtains the first measurement result in the first RRC state, the UE may not drop/cancel/release the first measurement result when the UE transitions from the first RRC state to the second RRC state (e.g., an RRC idle state, an RRC inactive state, or an RRC connected state, which is different from the first RRC state). In other words, the UE may perform the RRC transition (e.g., switching from the first RRC state to the second RRC state) without dropping/canceling/releasing the first measurement result, so after the RRC transition, the UE may still keep the first measurement result; see Tseng par. 0114).
Tseng does not explicitly disclose a first cell provides a first service through evolved packet system (EPS) fallback and/or radio access technology (RAT) fallback, wherein the first service comprises a voice service; or the first cell requires early measurement information related to load control;.
Zhao discloses a first cell provides a first service through evolved packet system (EPS) fallback and/or radio access technology (RAT) fallback, wherein the first service comprises a voice service (maintaining, by the user equipment, a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the LTE cell after a voice bearer of VoLTE is released, and measuring, according to a cell connected mode frequency priority, a service quality of an adjacent cell of the user equipment, wherein the cell connected mode frequency priority is set with a priority of an adjacent NR cell higher than a priority of an adjacent LTE cell, such that priority is given to measuring the service quality of the adjacent NR cell of the user equipment; and redirecting, by the user equipment, to the NR cell which is an adjacent NR cell in a case where a service quality measurement result of the NR cell reaches a predetermined threshold; see Zhao par. 0005). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Zhao's arrangement in Tseng's invention to redirect the user equipment to the NR cell, so that a return delay is reduced, and the user experience is optimized (see Zhao par. 0029).
3GPP ZTE discloses the first cell requires early measurement information related to load control (The network can request for all measurement results, or request part of the measurement results according to its local policy, the foreseen UE traffic volume, RRC setup/resume cause value, and current network traffic load; see 3GPP ZTE page 2 under Proposal 2). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use 3GPP ZTE's arrangement in Tseng's invention to so that it is beneficial in UE power saving to indicate UE which frequency is applicable for its selected PLMN so that unnecessary measurement can be avoided on a frequency if UE's operator does not own that frequency (see 3GPP ZTE page 1 under 2. Discussion).
Specifically for claim 19, Tseng discloses A terminal, comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor, wherein the program or the instructions, when executed by the processor, causes the terminal to perform (16. A User Equipment (UE) for handling measurement operations in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor being configured to:; see Tseng page 33, claim 16).
For claim 2, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the early measurement comprises at least one of the following:
measurement performed in an idle state, measurement performed in inactive state, measurement performed when entering a connected state from the idle state, measurement performed when entering the connected state from the inactive state, measurement performed when the network-side device requests for a measurement result, or measurement performed when receiving control information sent by the network-side device (a UE may perform measurements when operating in an (NR/LTE) RRC inactive state or an (NR/LTE) RRC idle state. Such measurements may be referred to as an "early measurement". Moreover, the early measurement configuration and corresponding measurement results may still be stored while the UE moves from the (NR/LTE) RRC inactive state to the (NR/LTE) RRC idle state. In addition, in some embodiments, the UE may keep implementing early measurement (and/or keep the measurement results) based on the stored early measurement configuration ( e.g., while the UE moves from the RRC inactive state to the RRC idle state within the same RAT). In some additional embodiments, the UE may keep implementing early measurement ( and/or keep the measurement result) based on the stored early measurement configuration while the UE moves from the RRC inactive state to the RRC idle state of different RAT; see Tseng par. 0049).
Examiner’s note: some or all of the optional limitations above have not been considered yet for rejection at this stage.
For claim 3, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving, by a terminal, control information sent by a network-side device comprises:
receiving, by the terminal, a first message sent by the network-side device, wherein the first message comprises the control information (As shown in FIG. 3B, in action 336, the UE 332 may receive a measurement configuration (e.g., an early measurement configuration) from the RAN 334 (e.g., a serving cell) via dedicated control signaling; see Tseng par. 0055); and
the first message comprises at least one of the following:
a broadcast message (the early measurement configuration may be provided to the UEs via broadcasting message (e.g., system information or on-demand system information in the NR protocols), not via the RRC release message; see Tseng par. 0061); or
a radio resource control (RRC) release message (the UE 202 may receive the measurement configuration by receiving the broadcasting system information or the UE-specific control signaling (e.g., RRCRelease message) from the serving RAN 204; see Tseng par. 0043).
For claim 4, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 1, after the performing, by the terminal, early measurement according to the control information and measurement configuration information to obtain an early measurement result, further comprising:
sending, by the terminal, a first indication to the network-side device (In action 1214, the UE 1202 may transmit, in response to receiving the measurement report request, the first measurement result to the second serving cell 1206; see Tseng par. 0128); wherein
the first indication is used for indicating that the terminal has the early measurement result (the first measurement result may be included in an RRC resume complete message if the corresponding measurement report request is transmitted via an RRC resume message. In some other implementations, the first measurement result may be included in an RRC setup complete message if the corresponding measurement report request is transmitted via an RRC setup message; see Tseng par. 0129).
For claim 5, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement result comprises at least one of the following:
a measurement result related to EPS fallback;
a measurement result related to RAT fallback; or
an available early measurement result (In action 310, the UE 302, if operating in the RRC inactive state, may transmit the msgA to the serving RAN 304. The msgA may include, for example, an RRC resume request message with/without an indication that the "early measurement report (e.g., NR-U measurement and/or NR measurement) is available" while the RRC inactive UE 302 is requesting to resume its own RRC connection with the serving RAN 304; see Tseng par. 0052-0053, 0058, 0091).
Tseng does not explicitly disclose a measurement result related to load control. 3GPP ZTE discloses a measurement result related to load control (The network can request for all measurement results, or request part of the measurement results according to its local policy, the foreseen UE traffic volume, RRC setup/resume cause value, and current network traffic load; see 3GPP ZTE page 2 under Proposal 2). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use 3GPP ZTE's arrangement in Tseng's invention to so that it is beneficial in UE power saving to indicate UE which frequency is applicable for its selected PLMN so that unnecessary measurement can be avoided on a frequency if UE's operator does not own that frequency (see 3GPP ZTE page 1 under 2. Discussion).
Examiner’s note: some or all of the optional limitations above have not been considered yet for rejection at this stage.
For claim 6, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the terminal, measurement result request information sent by the network-side device (In action 1210, the UE 1202 may receive a measurement report request from a second serving cell 1206; see Tseng par. 0124); wherein
the measurement result request information is used to request for at least one of the following:
a measurement result related to EPS fallback;
a measurement result related to RAT fallback;
a measurement result related to load control;
a measurement result in an idle state; or
a measurement result in an inactive state (the UE 1102 may further perform, in the first RRC state (e.g., an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state), a second measurement operation (e.g., the early measurement) based on the second measurement configuration to generate a second measurement result of the at least one second cell; see Tseng par. 0119; The first measurement configuration may indicate at least one first cell applicable for being measured by the UE in a first RRC state ( e.g., an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state) and optionally a first carrier frequency to which the at least one first cell belongs; see Tseng par. 0123).
Examiner’s note: some or all of the optional limitations above have not been considered yet for rejection at this stage.
For claim 7, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 6, after the receiving, by the terminal, measurement result request information sent by the network-side device, further comprising:
sending, by the terminal, a measurement report to the network-side device based on the measurement result request information (In action 1214, the UE 1202 may transmit, in response to receiving the measurement report request, the first measurement result to the second serving cell 1206; see Tseng par. 0128), wherein the measurement report comprises the early measurement result (Then, the serving cell may request the early measurement report from the UE by sending a 'Early measurement Enquiry message (with at least one of the indicated associated RAT)' to the UE. After receiving the 'Early measurement Enquiry message', the UE would deliver the requested early measurement report (e.g., retained by the UE before the RRC Connection Establishment procedure) to the serving cell in one dedicated Uplink (RRC) signaling after the UE RRC Connection Establishment procedure is finished; see Tseng par. 0091);
wherein the sending a measurement report to the network-side device comprises:
sending, by the terminal, a fourth message to the network-side device, wherein the fourth message comprises the measurement report; and
the fourth message comprises at least one of the following:
an RRC resume completion message, an RRC reconfiguration completion message, an uplink information transmission message, a terminal information response message, or uplink dedicated control channel information (the serving cell may directly request the UE to report the (NR-U) measurement report in the msg4 (e.g., by indicating the early measurement request and configuring the UL grant in the msg4 with the RRCResume message), without regard to whether the UE indicates the early measurement is available or whether the UE provides the UL-BSR in the msg3. The UE may transmit the early measurement to the serving cell in the following RRCResumeComplete message, which may be transmitted in Signaling Radio Bearer 1 (SRB1) with activated security keys. In some implementations of 4-step RA procedure, to an RRC idle UE, the serving cell may provide the UL grant for the early measurement report only when the security is activated by the serving cell in the Network Response message (msg4) (e.g., the UE sends the RRCSetupRequest (or RRCConnectionRequest) message via the msg3 and the serving cell replies the UE with the RRCSetup (or RRCConnectionSetup) message in the msg4 with the UL grant. In some implementations, the security may be activated at the UE side after the UE receives the RRC(Connection) Setup message successfully. In addition, the UE may provide the early measurement report with the activated security keys. In some other implementations, the serving cell may directly request the UE to report the (NR-U) measurement report in the msg4 (e.g., by indicating the early measurement request and configuring the UL grant in the msg4 with the RRC(Connection)Setup message), without regard to whether the UE indicates the early measurement is available or whether the UE provides the UL-BSR in the msg3. The UE may transmit the early measurement to the serving cell in the following RRC(Connection) SetupComplete message, which may be transmitted in Signaling Radio Bearer 1 (SRB1) with activated security keys; Tseng par. 0092-0093).
Examiner’s note: some or all of the optional limitations above have not been considered yet for rejection at this stage.
For claim 9, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal has a first capability (the UE 402 may indicate to the RAN 404 that the UE 402 is capable of performing the "NR-U measurement" (or NR measurement/E-UTRA measurement/LAA measurement) via the UL measurement capability message; see Tseng par. 0075); and
the first capability comprises at least one of the following:
supporting EPS fallback, supporting to obtain a voice service through an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), supporting to obtain a voice service through a 5G core network, supporting load control, or supporting to report an early measurement result (In some implementations, as a reply to the UL measurement capability message, the RAN 404 may configure a measurement configuration for the early measurement to the UE through the dedicated control signaling (e.g., in an RRC message, such as an RRCRelease message or an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message). In some implementations, the measurement configuration for the early measurement may be provided in a suspend configuration (Suspendconfig), which means the UE 402 may not reuse this measurement configuration after the UE 402 transitions from the RRC inactive state to the RRC idle state; see Tseng par. 0077).
Examiner’s note: some or all of the optional limitations above have not been considered yet for rejection at this stage.
For claim 12, Tseng discloses A measurement configuration method (FIG. 12 illustrates a signaling flow among a UE and multiple serving cells; see Tseng par. 0122), comprising:
sending, by a network-side device, control information to a terminal (As shown in FIG. 12, in action 1208, a UE 1202 may receive a first measurement configuration from a first serving cell 1204 (e.g., via RRC signaling); see Tseng par. 0055, 0123); wherein
the control information comprises at least one of the following:
the first cell supports the terminal to perform early measurement in the first cell (A serving cell may provide control signaling or indication in the msgB (which is the response to the msgA transmitted by the UE) in the 2-step RA procedure. In addition, the serving cell may configure and request an early measurement report on the 2-step RA for the NR-U measurement reporting; see Tseng par. 0130); or
the first cell supports the terminal to report availability of an early measurement result after entering a connected state in the first cell (In action 1006, the UE may retain the first measurement result when the UE transitions from the first RRC state to a second RRC state. For example, once the UE obtains the first measurement result in the first RRC state, the UE may not drop/cancel/release the first measurement result when the UE transitions from the first RRC state to the second RRC state (e.g., an RRC idle state, an RRC inactive state, or an RRC connected state, which is different from the first RRC state). In other words, the UE may perform the RRC transition (e.g., switching from the first RRC state to the second RRC state) without dropping/canceling/releasing the first measurement result, so after the RRC transition, the UE may still keep the first measurement result; see Tseng par. 0114).
Tseng does not explicitly disclose a first cell provides a first service through evolved packet system (EPS) fallback and/or radio access technology (RAT) fallback, wherein the first service comprises a voice service; or the first cell requires early measurement information related to load control;.
Zhao discloses a first cell provides a first service through evolved packet system (EPS) fallback and/or radio access technology (RAT) fallback, wherein the first service comprises a voice service (maintaining, by the user equipment, a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the LTE cell after a voice bearer of VoLTE is released, and measuring, according to a cell connected mode frequency priority, a service quality of an adjacent cell of the user equipment, wherein the cell connected mode frequency priority is set with a priority of an adjacent NR cell higher than a priority of an adjacent LTE cell, such that priority is given to measuring the service quality of the adjacent NR cell of the user equipment; and redirecting, by the user equipment, to the NR cell which is an adjacent NR cell in a case where a service quality measurement result of the NR cell reaches a predetermined threshold; see Zhao par. 0005). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Zhao's arrangement in Tseng's invention to redirect the user equipment to the NR cell, so that a return delay is reduced, and the user experience is optimized (see Zhao par. 0029).
3GPP ZTE discloses the first cell requires early measurement information related to load control (The network can request for all measurement results, or request part of the measurement results according to its local policy, the foreseen UE traffic volume, RRC setup/resume cause value, and current network traffic load; see 3GPP ZTE page 2 under Proposal 2). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use 3GPP ZTE's arrangement in Tseng's invention to so that it is beneficial in UE power saving to indicate UE which frequency is applicable for its selected PLMN so that unnecessary measurement can be avoided on a frequency if UE's operator does not own that frequency (see 3GPP ZTE page 1 under 2. Discussion).
For claim 13, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 12, wherein the sending, by a network-side device, control information to a terminal comprises:
sending, by the network-side device, a first message to a terminal, wherein the first message comprises the control information (As shown in FIG. 3B, in action 336, the UE 332 may receive a measurement configuration (e.g., an early measurement configuration) from the RAN 334 (e.g., a serving cell) via dedicated control signaling; see Tseng par. 0055); and
the first message comprises at least one of the following:
a broadcast message (the early measurement configuration may be provided to the UEs via broadcasting message (e.g., system information or on-demand system information in the NR protocols), not via the RRC release message; see Tseng par. 0061); or
a radio resource control (RRC) release message (the UE 202 may receive the measurement configuration by receiving the broadcasting system information or the UE-specific control signaling (e.g., RRCRelease message) from the serving RAN 204; see Tseng par. 0043).
For claim 14, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 12, after the sending, by a network-side device, control information to a terminal, further comprising:
receiving, by the network-side device, a first indication sent by the terminal(In action 1214, the UE 1202 may transmit, in response to receiving the measurement report request, the first measurement result to the second serving cell 1206; see Tseng par. 0128); wherein
the first indication is used for indicating that the terminal has the early measurement result (the first measurement result may be included in an RRC resume complete message if the corresponding measurement report request is transmitted via an RRC resume message. In some other implementations, the first measurement result may be included in an RRC setup complete message if the corresponding measurement report request is transmitted via an RRC setup message; see Tseng par. 0129);
wherein the receiving, by the network-side device, a first indication sent by the terminal comprises:
receiving, by the network-side device, a second message sent by the terminal, wherein the second message comprises the first indication (In action 1214, the UE 1202 may transmit, in response to receiving the measurement report request, the first measurement result to the second serving cell 1206; see Tseng par. 0128); and
the second message comprises at least one of the following:
an RRC establishment request message, an RRC establishment completion message, an RRC resume request message, or an RRC resume completion message (the first measurement result may be included in an RRC resume complete message if the corresponding measurement report request is transmitted via an RRC resume message. In some other implementations, the first measurement result may be included in an RRC setup complete message if the corresponding measurement report request is transmitted via an RRC setup message; see Tseng par. 0129).
Examiner’s note: some or all of the optional limitations above have not been considered yet for rejection at this stage.
For claim 15, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 12, wherein the measurement result comprises at least one of the following:
a measurement result related to EPS fallback;
a measurement result related to RAT fallback; or
an available early measurement result (In action 310, the UE 302, if operating in the RRC inactive state, may transmit the msgA to the serving RAN 304. The msgA may include, for example, an RRC resume request message with/without an indication that the "early measurement report (e.g., NR-U measurement and/or NR measurement) is available" while the RRC inactive UE 302 is requesting to resume its own RRC connection with the serving RAN 304; see Tseng par. 0052-0053, 0058, 0091).
Tseng does not explicitly disclose a measurement result related to load control. 3GPP ZTE discloses a measurement result related to load control (The network can request for all measurement results, or request part of the measurement results according to its local policy, the foreseen UE traffic volume, RRC setup/resume cause value, and current network traffic load; see 3GPP ZTE page 2 under Proposal 2). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use 3GPP ZTE's arrangement in Tseng's invention to so that it is beneficial in UE power saving to indicate UE which frequency is applicable for its selected PLMN so that unnecessary measurement can be avoided on a frequency if UE's operator does not own that frequency (see 3GPP ZTE page 1 under 2. Discussion).
Examiner’s note: some or all of the optional limitations above have not been considered yet for rejection at this stage.
For claim 16, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 12, after the sending, by a network-side device, control information to a terminal, further comprising:
sending, by the network-side device, measurement result request information to the terminal (In action 1210, the UE 1202 may receive a measurement report request from a second serving cell 1206; see Tseng par. 0124); wherein
the measurement result request information is used to request for at least one of the following:
a measurement result related to EPS fallback;
a measurement result related to RAT fallback;
a measurement result related to load control;
a measurement result in an idle state; or
a measurement result in an inactive state (the UE 1102 may further perform, in the first RRC state (e.g., an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state), a second measurement operation (e.g., the early measurement) based on the second measurement configuration to generate a second measurement result of the at least one second cell; see Tseng par. 0119; The first measurement configuration may indicate at least one first cell applicable for being measured by the UE in a first RRC state ( e.g., an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state) and optionally a first carrier frequency to which the at least one first cell belongs; see Tseng par. 0123);
wherein the sending, by the network-side device, measurement result request information to the terminal comprises:
sending, by the network-side device, a third message to the terminal, wherein the third message comprises the measurement result request information; and
the third message comprises at least one of the following:
an RRC resume message (The Network Response message may include a dedicated RRC message ( e.g., RRC resume message, RRC Setup message or RRC re-establishment message) and the (NR-U) UL radio resource allocation (e.g., the (NR-U) UL radio resource allocation for the UE to transmit the pending Measurement Report; see Tseng par. 0059, 0125), a terminal information request message, or an RRC reconfiguration message (the UE may also receive the UE-specific early measurement configuration in an RRC message ( e.g., the RRC Release message or the RRC reconfiguration message) and the UE may still apply the UE-specific NR-U measurement configuration, rather than the cell-specific early measurement configuration; see Tseng par. 0061).
Examiner’s note: some or all of the optional limitations above have not been considered yet for rejection at this stage.
For claim 17, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 16, after the sending, by the network-side device, measurement result request information to the terminal, further comprising:
receiving, by the network-side device, a measurement report fed back by the terminal, wherein the measurement report comprises the early measurement result (In action 1214, the UE 1202 may transmit, in response to receiving the measurement report request, the first measurement result to the second serving cell 1206; see Tseng par. 0128), wherein the measurement report comprises the early measurement result (Then, the serving cell may request the early measurement report from the UE by sending a 'Early measurement Enquiry message (with at least one of the indicated associated RAT)' to the UE. After receiving the 'Early measurement Enquiry message', the UE would deliver the requested early measurement report (e.g., retained by the UE before the RRC Connection Establishment procedure) to the serving cell in one dedicated Uplink (RRC) signaling after the UE RRC Connection Establishment procedure is finished; see Tseng par. 0091);
wherein the receiving, by the network-side device, a measurement report fed back by the terminal comprises:
receiving, by the network-side device, a fourth message fed back by the terminal, wherein the fourth message comprises the measurement report; and
the fourth message comprises at least one of the following:
an RRC resume completion message, an RRC reconfiguration completion message, an uplink information transmission message, a terminal information response message, or uplink dedicated control channel information (the serving cell may directly request the UE to report the (NR-U) measurement report in the msg4 (e.g., by indicating the early measurement request and configuring the UL grant in the msg4 with the RRCResume message), without regard to whether the UE indicates the early measurement is available or whether the UE provides the UL-BSR in the msg3. The UE may transmit the early measurement to the serving cell in the following RRCResumeComplete message, which may be transmitted in Signaling Radio Bearer 1 (SRB1) with activated security keys. In some implementations of 4-step RA procedure, to an RRC idle UE, the serving cell may provide the UL grant for the early measurement report only when the security is activated by the serving cell in the Network Response message (msg4) (e.g., the UE sends the RRCSetupRequest (or RRCConnectionRequest) message via the msg3 and the serving cell replies the UE with the RRCSetup (or RRCConnectionSetup) message in the msg4 with the UL grant. In some implementations, the security may be activated at the UE side after the UE receives the RRC(Connection) Setup message successfully. In addition, the UE may provide the early measurement report with the activated security keys. In some other implementations, the serving cell may directly request the UE to report the (NR-U) measurement report in the msg4 ( e.g., by indicating the early measurement request and configuring the UL grant in the msg4 with the RRC(Connection)Setup message), without regard to whether the UE indicates the early measurement is available or whether the UE provides the UL-BSR in the msg3. The UE may transmit the early measurement to the serving cell in the following RRC(Connection) SetupComplete message, which may be transmitted in Signaling Radio Bearer 1 (SRB1) with activated security keys; Tseng par. 0092-0093).
Examiner’s note: some or all of the optional limitations above have not been considered yet for rejection at this stage.
For claim 20, Tseng discloses A network-side device, comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor, wherein when the program or the instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the measurement configuration method according to claim 12 are implemented (FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a node 1300 for wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 13, a node 1300 may include a transceiver 1306, a processor 1308, a memory 1302, one or more presentation components 1304, and at least one antenna 1310; see Tseng par. 0131 and Fig. 13).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng, Zhao and 3GPP ZTE, and further in view of Virtej et al. (US 2019/0150014, hereinafter “Virtej”).
For claim 8, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 1 after the performing, by the terminal, early measurement according to the control information and measurement configuration information to obtain an early measurement result, further comprising:
storing, by the terminal, an early measurement result for a second cell (After receiving the target cell list, the UE may informed that the target cell list would be applicable to the early measurement report (so, the UE may measure and store the DL measurement results of these indicated target cells). The CC of the serving cell may also be included implicitly as one of the target CCs in the early measurement. One target cell list associated with the CC which is also the operating component carrier of the serving cell may also be provided by the serving cell (e.g., through broadcasting system information or RRCRelease message). The UE may measure and the store the DL-measurement results associated with the provided target cell list (and the serving cell); see Tseng par. 0102);
The combination of Tseng, Zhao and 3GPP ZTE does not explicitly disclose wherein the early measurement result corresponding to the second cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold; wherein the first threshold comprises at least one of the following: a reporting threshold for a measurement result of a frequency point corresponding to EPS fallback; a reporting threshold for a measurement result of a frequency point corresponding to RAT fallback; a reporting threshold for a measurement result of a frequency point corresponding to load control; or a reporting threshold corresponding to the early measurement result. Virtej discloses wherein the early measurement result corresponding to the second cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold; wherein the first threshold comprises at least one of the following: a reporting threshold for a measurement result of a frequency point corresponding to EPS fallback; a reporting threshold for a measurement result of a frequency point corresponding to RAT fallback; a reporting threshold for a measurement result of a frequency point corresponding to load control; or a reporting threshold corresponding to the early measurement result (In step 940, the user equipment may transmit to the network entity a traditional measurement report once the early measurement report or the one or more additional early measurement reports meet the threshold. In other words, the user equipment may revert to the traditional measurement reporting, and may stop transmitting the early measurement reports once the threshold is met. This may be referred to as multi-level measurement reporting. In step 950, the user equipment may transition from an active state or an idle state to an active state. Once the user equipment is active, the user equipment may transmit and/or receive traffic in a CA or DC mode from the secondary cell and the network entity. The secondary cell connection may have been set up by the network entity using the early measurement reports and/or the traditional measurement reports provided to the network entity by the user equipment; see Virtej par. 0071-0075). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Virtej's arrangement in Tseng's invention to improve cell access, for example, faster cell access may be help to improve the transition time of a user equipment from an idle or inactive state to a connected state (see Virtej par. 0002).
Claim(s) 10, 11 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng, Zhao and 3GPP ZTE and further in view of Ai et al. (EP 4468645 A2, hereinafter “Ai”).
For claim 10, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement configuration information comprises at least one of the following:
part of configuration information in system information block 4;
all configuration information in system information block 4;
part of configuration information in system information block 3;
all configuration information in system information block 3;
part of configuration information in system information block 5;
all configuration information in system information block 5;
part of configuration information in system information block 11;
all configuration information in system information block 11; or
configuration information in an RRC release message (As shown in FIG. 3A, in action 306, the UE 302 may receive a measurement configuration (e.g., an early measurement configuration) from the RAN 304 (e.g., a serving cell) via dedicated control signaling (e.g., RRCRelease message), broadcasting system information (e.g., System Information Block type 11, SIB 11), or on-demand system information. For example, the UE 302 may receive the measurement configuration via an RRC release message with Suspend configuration, so the UE may move to the RRC inactive state after receiving the RRC release message with Suspend configuration; see Tseng par. 0050);
wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal, measurement configuration related information sent by the network-side device (In action 1002, a UE may receive a first measurement configuration (e.g., in the system information) from a first serving cell; see Tseng par. 0111);
wherein the receiving, by the terminal, measurement configuration related information sent by the network-side device comprises:
the fifth message comprises at least one of the following:
a broadcast message or an RRC release message (For early measurement report, the UE may also initiate the 2-step RA procedure (or 4-step RA procedure) with one selected cell, which may be the original serving cell or one selected cell from the received target cells, for the early measurement report. However, it is also worthy to note, to one target component carrier, the UE may not be limited to measure only the cells provided in the target cell list associated with the target component carrier. Moreover, the UE may not be limited to only transmit early measurement report to the cells provided in the target cell list associated with the target component carrier. In some implementations, the serving cell, which provides the measurement configuration to the UE (e.g., through the RRCRelease message or through the broadcasting system information), may also be implicitly included as one of the target cell for measurement. Moreover, in some implementations, the serving frequency carrier, which is the operating frequency carrier of the serving cell, may also be implicitly included as one of the target component carrier for measurement; see Tseng par. 0102).
The combination of Tseng, Zhao and 3GPP ZTE does not explicitly disclose wherein the part of configuration information comprises: configuration information corresponding to a frequency point comprised in a first list; and the first list is used to indicate a valid area range for configuration information, and the first list comprises at least one frequency point and at least one cell corresponding to each frequency point; wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal, measurement configuration related information sent by the network-side device, wherein the measurement configuration related information comprises the first list. Ai discloses wherein the part of configuration information (the first message comprises early measurement configuration, wherein the early measurement configuration comprises at least one table; see Ai par. 0042) comprises: configuration information corresponding to a frequency point comprised in a first list; and the first list is used to indicate a valid area range for configuration information (the table further comprises at least one of the following parameters for a corresponding carrier frequency to support CSI-RS (Channel State Information-Reference Signal)-based measurement: refFreqCSI-RS, absThreshCIS-RS-Consolidation, and nrofCSlnrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage. In some embodiments, the refFreqCSI-RS is a parameter to configure Point A which is used for mapping a CSI-RS to physical resources, the absThreshCSI-RS-Consolidation is a parameter to configure absolute threshold for the consolidation of measurement results per CSI-RS resource(s) from L 1 filter(s), the nrofCSlnrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage is a parameter to configure the maximum number of measurement results per beam based on CSI-RS resources to be averaged, a physical cell ID, a reference cell ID or an index to a list of cell ID, which is used to indicate the cell providing the timing reference for CSI-RS resources without a SSB; see Ai par. 0054), and the first list comprises at least one frequency point and at least one cell corresponding to each frequency point; wherein the measurement configuration related information comprises the first list (In some embodiments, when the UE 104 selects or re-selects a cell of the BS 102 for camping or when the UE 104 updates system information of its camping cell, it updates a previous early measurement configuration according to a current early measurement configuration contained in the system information of the cell according to one of the following rules: when the UE 104 is configured with a first early measurement configuration containing a carrier frequency which is also contained in a second early measurement configuration in the system information of the cell, and the second early measurement configuration contains at least one CSI-RS based measurement configuration for at least one corresponding cell which is located in the carrier frequency, the UE 104 determines an updated first early measurement configuration by adding the at least one corresponding cell and the at least one CSI-RS based measurement configuration into the first early measurement configuration. In some embodiments, the updated first early measurement configuration is used by the UE 104 for the early measurement. In some embodiments, the carrier frequency contained in the first early measurement configuration or the second measurement configuration is the Point A which is used for mapping the CSI-RS to the physical resources; see Ai par. 0070).
The combination of Tseng and 3GPP ZTE does not explicitly disclose receiving, by the terminal, a fifth message sent by the network-side device, wherein the fifth message comprises the measurement configuration related information; and. Ai discloses receiving, by the terminal, a fifth message sent by the network-side device, wherein the fifth message comprises the measurement configuration related information; and (The method 400 continues with operation 412 in which a fifth message is transmitted by the BS 102 to the UE 104 according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the fifth message is to reconfigure the UE 104 with the CA and/or DC configuration. In some embodiments, the fifth message is a RRC reconfiguration message; see Ai par. 0107).
It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Ai's arrangement in Tseng's invention to implement early measurement specifically for RRC resume procedure so as to support fast MR-DC configuration and to support early measurement in 5G-NR (see Ai par. 0004).
For claim 11, the combination of Tseng, Zhao and 3GPP ZTE does not explicitly disclose The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement configuration information comprises frequency point information, and the frequency point information comprises a frequency point identifier and a maximum measurement bandwidth corresponding to each frequency point identifier. Ai discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement configuration information comprises frequency point information, and the frequency point information comprises a frequency point identifier and a maximum measurement bandwidth corresponding to each frequency point identifier (the table further comprises at least one of the following parameters for a corresponding carrier frequency to support CSI-RS (Channel State Information-Reference Signal)-based measurement: refFreqCSI-RS, absThreshCIS-RS-Consolidation, and nrofCSlnrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage. In some embodiments, the refFreqCSI-RS is a parameter to configure Point A which is used for mapping a CSI-RS to physical resources, the absThreshCSI-RS-Consolidation is a parameter to configure absolute threshold for the consolidation of measurement results per CSI-RS resource(s) from L 1 filter(s), the nrofCSlnrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage is a parameter to configure the maximum number of measurement results per beam based on CSI-RS resources to be averaged, a physical cell ID, a reference cell ID or an index to a list of cell ID, which is used to indicate the cell providing the timing reference for CSI-RS resources without a SSB; see Ai par. 0054, 0070). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Ai's arrangement in Tseng's invention to implement early measurement specifically for RRC resume procedure so as to support fast MR-DC configuration and to support early measurement in 5G-NR (see Ai par. 0004).
For claim 18, Tseng discloses The method according to claim 12, further comprising:
sending, by the network-side device, measurement configuration related information to the terminal (In action 1002, a UE may receive a first measurement configuration (e.g., in the system information) from a first serving cell; see Tseng par. 0111),
the fifth message comprises at least one of the following:
a broadcast message or an RRC release message (For early measurement report, the UE may also initiate the 2-step RA procedure (or 4-step RA procedure) with one selected cell, which may be the original serving cell or one selected cell from the received target cells, for the early measurement report. However, it is also worthy to note, to one target component carrier, the UE may not be limited to measure only the cells provided in the target cell list associated with the target component carrier. Moreover, the UE may not be limited to only transmit early measurement report to the cells provided in the target cell list associated with the target component carrier. In some implementations, the serving cell, which provides the measurement configuration to the UE (e.g., through the RRCRelease message or through the broadcasting system information), may also be implicitly included as one of the target cell for measurement. Moreover, in some implementations, the serving frequency carrier, which is the operating frequency carrier of the serving cell, may also be implicitly included as one of the target component carrier for measurement; see Tseng par. 0102).
The combination of Tseng, Zhao and 3GPP ZTE does not explicitly disclose wherein the measurement configuration related information comprises the first list; and the first list is used to indicate a valid area range for configuration information, and the first list comprises at least one frequency point and at least one cell corresponding to each frequency point; wherein the sending, by the network-side device, measurement configuration related information to the terminal comprises: sending, by the network-side device, a fifth message to the terminal, wherein the fifth message comprises the measurement configuration related information; and.
Ai discloses wherein the measurement configuration related information comprises the first list (the first message comprises early measurement configuration, wherein the early measurement configuration comprises at least one table; see Ai par. 0042); and
the first list is used to indicate a valid area range for configuration information (the table further comprises at least one of the following parameters for a corresponding carrier frequency to support CSI-RS (Channel State Information-Reference Signal)-based measurement: refFreqCSI-RS, absThreshCIS-RS-Consolidation, and nrofCSlnrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage. In some embodiments, the refFreqCSI-RS is a parameter to configure Point A which is used for mapping a CSI-RS to physical resources, the absThreshCSI-RS-Consolidation is a parameter to configure absolute threshold for the consolidation of measurement results per CSI-RS resource(s) from L 1 filter(s), the nrofCSlnrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage is a parameter to configure the maximum number of measurement results per beam based on CSI-RS resources to be averaged, a physical cell ID, a reference cell ID or an index to a list of cell ID, which is used to indicate the cell providing the timing reference for CSI-RS resources without a SSB; see Ai par. 0054), and the first list comprises at least one frequency point and at least one cell corresponding to each frequency point (In some embodiments, when the UE 104 selects or re-selects a cell of the BS 102 for camping or when the UE 104 updates system information of its camping cell, it updates a previous early measurement configuration according to a current early measurement configuration contained in the system information of the cell according to one of the following rules: when the UE 104 is configured with a first early measurement configuration containing a carrier frequency which is also contained in a second early measurement configuration in the system information of the cell, and the second early measurement configuration contains at least one CSI-RS based measurement configuration for at least one corresponding cell which is located in the carrier frequency, the UE 104 determines an updated first early measurement configuration by adding the at least one corresponding cell and the at least one CSI-RS based measurement configuration into the first early measurement configuration. In some embodiments, the updated first early measurement configuration is used by the UE 104 for the early measurement. In some embodiments, the carrier frequency contained in the first early measurement configuration or the second measurement configuration is the Point A which is used for mapping the CSI-RS to the physical resources; see Ai par. 0070);
wherein the sending, by the network-side device, measurement configuration related information to the terminal comprises: sending, by the network-side device, a fifth message to the terminal, wherein the fifth message comprises the measurement configuration related information; and (The method 400 continues with operation 412 in which a fifth message is transmitted by the BS 102 to the UE 104 according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the fifth message is to reconfigure the UE 104 with the CA and/or DC configuration. In some embodiments, the fifth message is a RRC reconfiguration message; see Ai par. 0107).
It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Ai's arrangement in Tseng's invention to implement early measurement specifically for RRC resume procedure so as to support fast MR-DC configuration and to support early measurement in 5G-NR (see Ai par. 0004).
Conclusion
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/CHAE S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415