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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, corresponding to claims 1-11, 20, and newly added claims 21-28 in the reply filed on 06/11/2024 is acknowledged.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-11 and 20-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. (US 2026/0150055) in view of Hu et al. (US 2025/0142499).
Regarding claims 1 and 20, Jung discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) and a method, the apparatus comprising:
at least one memory (Fig. 10 memory 1030; paragraph [0307]); and
at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory (Fig. 10 see controller 1020 and memory 930) and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory, the at least one processor is configured to:
obtain location information associated with the UE (Fig. 1; paragraphs [0034]-[0035]; e.g., UE may measure a distance between the UE and reference locations of different NTN cells);
detect, based on the location information associated with the UE, that a condition is met (paragraph [0062], [0077]; e.g., The UE may determine that a low mobility condition is satisfied in case that a value obtained by subtracting a reference distance (Dref) from a distance (D) between a reference location of a measured cell, e.g., a serving cell, and the location of the UE is smaller than a threshold value (DsearchDeltaP) configured by a network),
wherein the condition is associated with a parameter-based relationship of the UE to a first network node (paragraphs [0062], [0077]; e.g., a distance (D) between a reference location of a measured serving cell and the location of the UE is smaller than a threshold value (DSearchDeltaP)).
Jung discloses the UE receives the SSB from the base station (paragraphs [0167], [0308]), but fails to specifically disclose transmit, based on the condition being met, an indication associated with an activation or a deactivation of a set of synchronization signal block (SSB) transmissions at one or more of the first network node or a second network node.
However, Hu discloses transmit, based on the condition being met, an indication associated with an activation or a deactivation of a set of synchronization signal block (SSB) transmissions at one or more of the first network node or a second network node (paragraphs [0050], [0090], [0092]; e.g., indicated in an indication (e.g., in a previous SIB1 or in the confirmation message) which indicates where (e.g., in which frequency and time resources) the gNB will transmit future on-demand message (e.g., on-demand SSB/SIB1)).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Jung in combination of Hu as a whole, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention by applicant to transmit an indication associated with an activation or a deactivation of a set of synchronization signal block (SSB) transmissions at one or more of the first network node or a second network node in order to reduce power consumption in transmissions between UEs and network nodes (Hu: paragraphs [0003], [0036]).
Regarding claims 2 and 21, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus and the method of claims 1 and 20, wherein to transmit the indication associated with the activation or the deactivation of the set of SSB transmissions at one or more of the first network node or the second network node, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the indication to the second network node that is different from the first network node, wherein the second network node is an anchor node associated with the UE (Hu: paragraphs [0041], [0043], [0059]).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Jung in combination of Hu as a whole, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention by applicant to transmit the indication to the second network node that is different from the first network node, wherein the second network node is an anchor node associated with the UE in order to reduce power consumption in transmissions between UEs and network nodes (Hu: paragraph [0003]).
Regarding claims 3 and 22, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus and the method of claims 2 and 21, wherein to transmit the indication to the second network node, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the indication to the first network node via the second network node and backhaul coordination (Hu: paragraphs [0041], [0043], [0059]).
Regarding claims 4 and 23, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus and the method of claims 1 and 20, wherein to transmit the indication associated with the activation or the deactivation of the set of SSB transmissions at one or more of the first network node or the second network node, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the indication to the first network node, wherein the first network node is a network energy savings node associated with the UE (Jung: paragraph [0037], [0051]).
Regarding claims 5 and 24, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus and the method of claims 4 and 23, wherein to transmit the indication to the first network node, the at least one processor is configured to transmit an uplink wake-up signal (UL-WUS) to the first network node (Hu: paragraphs [0065], [0067]).
Regarding claims 6 and 25, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus and the method of claims 5 and 24, wherein the UL-WUS is associated with at least one of:
at least one repeated transmission of the UL-WUS, a UE signal timing associated with at least one of the second network node, an estimated location of the network energy savings node, or assistance information of a radio network associated with the UE, or a transmit power based on at least one of a fixed value, an estimated power level of a signal associated with the second network node, an estimated reference signal received power associated with the second network node, or an adjustment power associated with at least one of the UE or the second network node (Hu: paragraph [0041];e .g., the UE may be awake/active to perform cell selection/reselection based on a reference signal received from a candidate cell (e.g., a network energy saving (NES) cells)).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Jung in combination of Hu as a whole, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention by applicant have the UL-WUS is associated an estimated location of the network energy savings node order to reduce power consumption in transmissions between UEs and network nodes.
Regarding claim 7, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the UL-WUS is associated with a physical random access channel (PRACH) (Jung: paragraphs [0166], [0243]).
Regarding claim 8, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UE is a connected UE and the first network node is a secondary cell of the UE (Hu: paragraphs [0055], [0058]).
Regarding claims 9 and 26, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus and the method of claims 1 and 20, wherein to obtain the location information, the at least one processor is configured to obtain at least one of history data associated with the UE, assistance information associated with an anchor cell of the UE, or model information associated with an output of at least one of an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm or a machine learning (ML) model and one or more respective inputs (Jung: paragraph [0178], [0250]).
Regarding claims 10 and 27, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus and the method of claims 9 and 26, wherein the location information is based on at least one of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or a signaling positioning service of a radio network associated with the UE, wherein the history data is based on a connection history between the UE and the first network node, wherein the assistance information is based on a cell location of the first network node, a distance associated with the condition, or one or more resources associated with the indication, or wherein the one or more respective inputs include at least one of a downlink measurement of a signal associated with the anchor cell, sensing information associated with the UE, the location information, or the cell location (Jung: paragraph [0178], [0250]).
Regarding claim 11, Jung in combination with Hu discloses the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one transceiver coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, from the first network node and based on the indication being indicative of the activation, the set of SSB transmissions, wherein the set of SSB transmissions comprises at least one of a system information block type 1 (SIB1), a physical random access channel (PRACH), or a remaining minimum SIB1 (RMSI) (Jung: paragraphs [0163]-[0164], [0167]).
Claim 28 is drawn to a computer-readable medium storing computer executable code at a user equipment (UE) comprising code means for generating steps of claim 1. Therefore, the same rationale applied to claim 1 applies. In addition, Jung in combination with Hu inherently discloses a computer program product, i.e., given that Jung/Hu discloses a process (Jung: paragraph [0313]), the process would be implemented by a processor that requires a computer program product, e.g., a RAM, to function.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wu et al. (US 2024/0056948) discloses a UE receiving the SSB for use in synchronization and or measurement.
Qi (US 2025/0267585) discloses a network broadcasts a synchronization signals in MIS or SIB1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY X PHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7115. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 8:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Resha Desai can be reached at 571-270-7792. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY X PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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