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 .
DETAILED ACTION
a. Claims 1-18 in the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, are being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
b. This is a first action on the merits based on Applicant’s claims submitted on 03/21/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/21/2024 and 10/08/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Martin et al. Foreign Patent WO2023055700A1 (hereinafter “Martin”).
Regarding claim 1
Martin discloses an apparatus (“WTRU 102” in Fig. 1B; [0037]) comprising:
at least one processor (“processor 118” in Fig. 1B; [0037]); and
at least one memory (“non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132” in Fig. 1B; [0037]) storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
perform a first determination that a mobility of the apparatus (“serving cell and neighbor cell measurements may be important for ensuring the WTRU mobility (i.e. to ensure a WTRU remains in coverage of the best cell and is always reachable (i.e. may be paged) by the network and may initiate a call).” [0103]) is below a mobility threshold (“Conditions for unreliability may include: a WUS quality is below a threshold (e.g. over a period) or a WUS cannot be detected (e.g. over a period).” [0115]);
perform a second determination that the apparatus is in Wake Up Signal coverage of at least two cells (“This allows a WTRU to perform measurements (e.g. reference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements) on the serving cell and, when needed, neighbor cells using reference symbols transmitted by the cell(s) during the times when the main receiver is required to monitor for paging on a PDCCH.” [0104]);
send, to a serving cell and when the first determination and second determination have been performed, a message comprising: an indication that the apparatus is suspending radio resource management measurements (“perform radio resource management measurements… in a sleep mode when the WUR is monitoring for the WUS.” [0003-0004] and also “when … signal quality (e.g. measurement) is under a certain threshold or a certain number of WUS samples were not detected … the WTRU may fall back to … normal RRM measurements” [0171]) and a list of cells indicating one or more of the at least two cells (“This allows a WTRU to perform measurements (e.g. reference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements) on the serving cell and, when needed, neighbor cells using reference symbols transmitted by the cell(s) during the times when the main receiver is required to monitor for paging on a PDCCH.” [0104]).
Regarding claim 2
Martin previously discloses an apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to:
Martin further discloses receive, from the serving cell (“A WTRU may receive a response from a cell or gNB. The response may be included in a RAR. The response may be provided in another message. The response may be provided in a MAC-CE. The response may acknowledge an indication or request from the WTRU.” [0154]), a rejection response to the message (“WUS operation denied” [0155]);
perform radio resource management measurements based on the rejection response (“If WUS operation is denied or the WUS is indicated as not transmitted, the WTRU may use or return to normal DRX operation without considering WUS/WUR activity. For example, if WUS operation is denied or the WUS is indicated as not transmitted, the WTRU may use its DRX cycle (e.g. without monitoring for the WUS) to determine when to monitor for a PDCCH. For example, if the WUS operation conditions are all accepted, the WTRU may use the WUS to determine when to monitor for a PDCCH.” [0159]).
Regarding claim 3
Martin previously discloses an apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to:
Martin further discloses receive, from the serving cell (“A WTRU may receive a response from a cell or gNB. The response may be included in a RAR. The response may be provided in another message. The response may be provided in a MAC-CE. The response may acknowledge an indication or request from the WTRU.” [0154]), a confirmation response to the message (“The response may indicate one or more of the following: WUS indication or request from the WTRU is acknowledged; WUS operation is accepted, meaning for example that a WUS is or will be transmitted” [0155]);
enter a first mode (i.e. “sleep mode”) wherein the apparatus does not perform radio resource management measurements (“The main transceiver may be further configured to perform radio resource management measurements. The main transceiver may be configured to be in a sleep mode when the WUR is monitoring for the WUS.” [0004]);
monitor, when in the first mode, a Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell (“The WTRU may perform actions after receiving the response from the cell or gNB based on the response received from the cell or gNB. For example, if the response indicates WUS usage, transmission or activation, the WTRU may use the WUS.” [0156]).
Regarding claim 4
Martin previously discloses an apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the apparatus is caused to:
Martin further discloses monitor, when in the first mode, a Wake Up Signal beacon from a cell of the list of cells (“The WTRU may perform actions after receiving the response from the cell or gNB based on the response received from the cell or gNB. For example, if the response indicates WUS usage, transmission or activation, the WTRU may use the WUS.” [0156] , wherein the monitoring of the cell of the list of cells is performed at a lower periodicity than the monitoring of the Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell (“A cell update may be performed if the WTRU does not see the signal it is expecting. For example, the WTRU does not observe a rate/periodicity of the WUS.” [0169] which imply monitoring WUS in different cells with different periodicity).
Regarding claim 5
Martin previously discloses an apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the apparatus is caused to:
Martin further discloses determine that a quality of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell is below a quality threshold (“determining that the WUS is not detected by determining that a measurement of the WUS is less than the threshold value for WUS detection for N consecutive monitoring occasions” [0003] and furthermore “Conditions for unreliability may include: a WUS quality is below a threshold (e.g. over a period) or a WUS cannot be detected (e.g. over a period).” [0115]);
monitor, when the quality of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell is determined to be below a quality threshold, Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells (“For robustness, the WTRU may monitor WUS quality… Conditions for unreliability may include: a WUS quality is below a threshold (e.g. over a period) or a WUS cannot be detected (e.g. over a period).” [0115]) indicated in the list of cells (i.e. “neighbor cells” [0104]).
Regarding claim 6
Martin previously discloses an apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the apparatus is caused to:
Martin further discloses determine that a quality of each of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells indicated in the list of cells is below a respective quality threshold (“determining that the WUS is not detected by determining that a measurement of the WUS is less than the threshold value for WUS detection for N consecutive monitoring occasions” [0003] and furthermore “Conditions for unreliability may include: a WUS quality is below a threshold (e.g. over a period) or a WUS cannot be detected (e.g. over a period).” [0115]);
send, to the serving cell and when the quality of each of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells indicated in the list of cells is determined to be below a respective quality threshold (“A WTRU may indicate a reason or cause for sending a preamble or a message such as a MSG1 , a MSG3, a MSGA, an UL-CCCH message, an RRC request, an RRS resume request, an RRC connection reestablishment request and/or a cell update. The indicated reason may be at least one of the following: WUS capable WTRU is present (e.g. camped on the cell or receiving from the cell); WUS is out of coverage (e.g. WUS not detected or below a threshold); WUS is in coverage (e.g. WUS detected or above a threshold); rapid sync (e.g. rapid sync signal) is out of coverage; rapid sync (e.g. rapid sync signal) is in coverage.” [0152]), a request to resume radio resource management measurements (“A WTRU may detect or determine that a WUS is low quality… The WTRU may wake up its main receiver based on a regular configured DRX and start normal RRM measurements on the cell’s synchronization signal blocks (SSBs).” [0171]).
Regarding claim 7
Martin previously discloses an apparatus according to claim 5,
Martin further discloses wherein the quality of at least one of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell and each of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells indicated in the list of cells is determined based on whether a predetermined number of previous beacons is correctly received or not (“For example, the WUS may be undetectable for a number of occasions (N) which may be configurable or predefined.” [0115] and furthermore “The WUS quality may be monitored using single measurement samples (e.g. a one shot WUS measurement) or a sliding window of an n number of averaged WUS measurement samples.” [0170]).
Regarding claim 8
A method comprising:
performing a first determination that a mobility of an apparatus is below a mobility threshold;
performing a second determination that the apparatus is in Wake Up Signal coverage of at least two cells;
sending, to a serving cell and when the first determination and second determination have been performed, a message comprising: an indication that the apparatus is suspending radio resource management measurements and a list of cells indicating one or more of the at least two cells.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 8 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 1. Therefore method claim 8 corresponds to apparatus claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 9
The method according to claim 8, further comprising:
receiving, from the serving cell, a rejection response to the message;
performing radio resource management measurements based on the rejection response.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 9 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 2. Therefore method claim 9 corresponds to apparatus claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 2 rejection above.
Regarding claim 10
The method according to claim 8, further comprising:
receiving, from the serving cell, a confirmation response to the message;
entering a first mode wherein the apparatus does not perform radio resource management measurements;
monitoring, when in the first mode, a Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 10 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 3. Therefore method claim 10 corresponds to apparatus claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 3 rejection above.
Regarding claim 11
The method according to claim 10, further comprising:
monitoring, when in the first mode, a Wake Up Signal beacon from a cell of the list of cells, wherein the monitoring of the cell of the list of cells is performed at a lower periodicity than the monitoring of the Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 11 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 4. Therefore method claim 11 corresponds to apparatus claim 4 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 4 rejection above.
Regarding claim 12
The method according to claim 10, further comprising:
determining that a quality of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell is below a quality threshold;
monitoring, when the quality of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell is determined to be below a quality threshold, Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells indicated in the list of cells.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 12 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 5. Therefore method claim 12 corresponds to apparatus claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 5 rejection above.
Regarding claim 13
The method according to claim 12, further comprising:
determining that a quality of each of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells indicated in the list of cells is below a respective quality threshold;
sending, to the serving cell and when the quality of each of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells indicated in the list of cells is determined to be below a respective quality threshold, a request to resume radio resource management measurements.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 13 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 6. Therefore method claim 13 corresponds to apparatus claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 6 rejection above.
Regarding claim 14
The method according to claim 12, wherein the quality of at least one of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacon from the serving cell and each of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells indicated in the list of cells is determined based on whether a predetermined number of previous beacons is correctly received or not.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 14 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 7. Therefore method claim 14 corresponds to apparatus claim 7 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 7 rejection above.
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 of this title, 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.
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 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.
Claims 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Martin et al. Foreign Patent WO2023055700A1 (hereinafter “Martin”), and in view of Liu et al. US Pub 2019/0150114 (hereinafter “Liu”).
Regarding claim 15
Martin discloses an apparatus (“serving cell” [0103]) comprising:
Martin further discloses receive, from a user equipment (“WTRU 102” in Fig. 1B; [0037]) when a first determination that a mobility of the user equipment (“serving cell and neighbor cell measurements may be important for ensuring the WTRU mobility (i.e. to ensure a WTRU remains in coverage of the best cell and is always reachable (i.e. may be paged) by the network and may initiate a call).” [0103]) is below a mobility threshold (“Conditions for unreliability may include: a WUS quality is below a threshold (e.g. over a period) or a WUS cannot be detected (e.g. over a period).” [0115]) and when a second determination that the user equipment is in Wake Up Signal coverage of at least two cells have been performed (“This allows a WTRU to perform measurements (e.g. reference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements) on the serving cell and, when needed, neighbor cells using reference symbols transmitted by the cell(s) during the times when the main receiver is required to monitor for paging on a PDCCH.” [0104]), a message comprising: an indication that the user equipment is suspending radio resource management measurements and a list of cells (i.e. “neighbor cells” [0104]) indicating one or more of the at least two cells (“perform radio resource management measurements… in a sleep mode when the WUR is monitoring for the WUS.” [0003-0004] and also “when … signal quality (e.g. measurement) is under a certain threshold or a certain number of WUS samples were not detected … the WTRU may fall back to … normal RRM measurements” [0171]).
Martin does not specifically a cell comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions.
In an analogous art, Liu discloses a serving cell (“base station 105” in Fig. 15; [0164]) supporting WUS receivers comprising:
at least one processor (“processor 1520” in Fig. 15; [0164]); and
at least one memory storing instructions (“memory 1525” in Fig. 15; [0164])
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Martin’s method for RRM measurements using WUS receivers to include Liu’s fallback mode for wake-up signal (WUS) receivers, in order to maximize power saving by using WUS (Liu [0004]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Liu’s fallback mode for wake-up signal (WUS) receivers into Martin’s method for RRM measurements using WUS receivers since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 16
Martin, as modified by Liu, previously discloses an apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus is caused to:
send, to the user equipment, a rejection response to the message, the rejection response, wherein the user equipment continues performing radio resource management measurements based on the rejection response.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 16 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 2. Therefore apparatus claim 16 corresponds to apparatus claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 2 rejection above.
Regarding claim 17
Martin, as modified by Liu, previously discloses an apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus is caused to:
send, to the user equipment, a confirmation response to the message;
wherein the user equipment enters a first mode wherein the apparatus does not perform radio resource management measurements based on the confirmation response, and
wherein the user equipment monitors, when in the first mode, a Wake Up Signal beacon from the apparatus.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 17 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 3. Therefore apparatus claim 17 corresponds to apparatus claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 3 rejection above.
Regarding claim 18
Martin, as modified by Liu, previously discloses an apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus is caused to:
determine that a quality of each of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells indicated in the list of cells is below a respective quality threshold;
receive, from the user equipment and when the quality of each of the monitored Wake Up Signal beacons from all cells indicated in the list of cells is determined to be below a respective quality threshold by the user equipment, a request to resume radio resource management measurements;
send radio resource management signals to the user equipment based on the request to resume radio resource management measurements.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 18 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 6. Therefore apparatus claim 18 corresponds to apparatus claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 6 rejection above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG M NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-8184. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am - 6:30pm.
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/CHUONG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411