DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to applicant's communication filed on 06/12/2026, wherein:
Claim 1-20 are pending.
Claim 1-20 are amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to pending claims have been considered but are moot because of the new ground of rejections.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sogabe et al. (US 20240237138 A1) in view of Kim (US 20230124679 A1), Kong et al. (WO 2022188751 A1), and Vivo (3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #121, “Enhanced eDRX in RRC_INACTIVE for eRedCap UEs”, Athens, Greece, 27th Feb. - 3ʳᵈ Mar. 2023, provided by Applicant on 10/01/2024).
Regarding claim 1, Sogabe discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (Fig. 7), the method comprising:
receiving, from the base station, an RRC release message associated with configuration for the RRC inactive state including eDRX configuration information for the RAN paging (Fig. 7 step 307 and ¶0104 – “Subsequently, when an instruction about the transition to the inactive state is given to the terminal 10, the base station 20 transmits, to the terminal 10, an RRC release message including the determined “eDRX parameter” for the inactive state (S307)”); and
performing, based on the eDRX configuration information for the RAN paging included in the RRC release message, a paging monitoring operation in the RRC inactive state (Fig. 7 step 308 and ¶0105 – “The terminal 10 configures the eDRX parameter for the inactive state included in the RRC release message (stores the eDRX parameter in the storage device 12) (S308)”; Fig. 8 step 407-408, Fig. 27 and ¶0162 disclose monitoring paging based on eDRX configuration in inactive mode).
However, the reference is silent on details about (1) receiving, from a base station, system information block 1 (SIB1) including first information, the first information indicating that an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) for a radio access network (RAN) paging is allowed for UEs in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state; (2) receiving, from the base station, a UE capability enquiry message; transmitting, to the base station, a UE capability message as a response to the UE capability enquiry message, the UE capability message including second information indicating support of the eDRX in the RRC inactive state , (3) wherein a cycle of the eDRX is longer than 10.24 seconds.
Kim discloses receiving, from a base station, system information block 1 (SIB1) including first information, the first information indicating that an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) for a radio access network (RAN) paging is allowed for UEs in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state (Fig. 3C step 3B-13; and ¶0173 – “the SIB1 of the cell includes information indicating that extended discontinuous reception is allowed, the extended discontinuous reception is applied to the INACTIVE UE in the cell”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Sogabe to incorporate ability to provide indication of eDRX support in SIB1 from Kim because doing so would make use of known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way (MPEP §2141 -III) to provide UE necessary system information.
However, the combined teaching is silent on details about (2) and (3).
Kong discloses receiving, from the base station, a UE capability enquiry message; transmitting, to the base station, a UE capability message as a response to the UE capability enquiry message, the UE capability message including second information indicating support of the eDRX in the RRC inactive state (Page 79 - “If the access network device wants to determine whether to send the second parameter information to the terminal and the core network device according to the capability information of the terminal, before S402, the access network device may send a terminal capability enquiry (UE capability enquiry) message to the terminal to request Terminal capability information, and receive terminal capability information (UE capability info) from the terminal. The terminal capability information may indicate at least one of the following information: whether the terminal supports eDRX, whether the terminal supports the RRC-inactive state, and whether the terminal supports eDRX in the RRC-inactive state”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Sogabe and Kim to incorporate eDRX enquiry from Kong because doing so would make use of known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way (MPEP §2141 -III) to provide base station ability to obtain eDRX capability from UE.
However, the combined teaching of Sogabe, Kim, and Kong is silent on details about (3) wherein a cycle of the eDRX is longer than 10.24 seconds.
Vivo discloses wherein a cycle of the eDRX is longer than 10.24 seconds (Section 2.4 – “Similarly, it is necessary for UEs to indicate network if it supports the eDRX cycle longer than 10.24s in RRC_INACTIVE… Proposal 9: Introducing additional UE capability for UE supporting RRC_INACTIVE eDRX cycle longer than 10.24s. For UE supporting RRC_INACTIVE eDRX cycle longer than 10.24s feature, it is mandatory to support RRC_IDLE eDRX cycle longer than 10.24s”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Sogabe, Kim, and Kong to incorporate extended eDRX longer than 10.24s from Vivo because doing so would apply a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (MPEP §2141 -III) to reduce power consumption of mobile device.
Regarding claim 2, the combined teaching of Sogabe, Kim, Kong and Vivo discloses the method of claim 1, wherein whether to use the eDRX is identified based on the first information (Sogabe - Fig. 6 step 206 and ¶0083 disclose obtaining eDRX configuration for inactive state and performing eDRX in inactive state based on the received information).
Regarding claim 3, the combined teaching of Sogabe, Kim, Kong and Vivo discloses the method of claim 2, wherein the UE indicates support of the second information only in case that the UE supports the eDRX in an RRC idle state, and wherein the first information is supported in case that the base station supports the eDRX in the RRC idle state (Sogabe – Fig. 7 discloses the first information for supporting inactive eDRX from base station to UE in step S307 in the case that the base station and UE supporting eDRX in idle state indicated in step S300-S303 and ¶0092-0104) .
Regarding claim 4, the combined teaching of Sogabe, Kim, Kong and Vivo discloses the method of claim 1, wherein a RAN paging message is transmitted to another base station from the base station , wherein the RAN paging message includes configuration information for the eDRX, and wherein the configuration information includes information on the cycle of the eDRX that is longer than 10.24 seconds and information on paging time window (PTW) (Sogabe - Fig. 8 step S406 and ¶0120-0121 disclose sending paging message to another base station including inactive eDRX parameter including PTW; ¶0055 disclose eDRX can be longer than 10.24s).
Regarding claim 5, the combined teaching of Sogabe, Kim, Kong and Vivo discloses the method of claim 2, wherein the UE capability message includes third information indicating support of the eDRX in an RRC idle state (Sogabe - Fig. 7 step 300 and ¶0092 – “The terminal 10 that desires the validation of the eDRX transmits, to the core network 30, the registration request message including the “eDRX parameter” indicating the eDRX operation desired (requested) to be configured (S300)”, which indicates capability of eDRX in RRC idle), and wherein the SIB1 includes fourth information indicating allowing of the eDRX in the RRC idle state (Sogabe - Fig. 7 step. 302 and ¶0094 – “the core network 30 transmits, to the terminal 10, the registration accept message including the determined “eDRX parameter” for the idle state (S302)”; Kim - Fig. 3C step 3B-13 and ¶0173 disclose using SIB1 to transmit eDRX allowance indication). The combined teaching would be obvious for the same reason indicated in claim 1.
Regarding claim 6, Sogabe discloses a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
transmitting, to the UE, an RRC release message associated with configuration for the RRC inactive state including eDRX configuration information for the RAN paging Fig. 7 step 307 and ¶0104 – “Subsequently, when an instruction about the transition to the inactive state is given to the terminal 10, the base station 20 transmits, to the terminal 10, an RRC release message including the determined “eDRX parameter” for the inactive state (S307)”)
wherein, based on the eDRX configuration information for the RAN paging included in the RRC release message, a paging monitoring operation is performed in the RRC inactive state (Fig. 7 step 308 and ¶0105 – “The terminal 10 configures the eDRX parameter for the inactive state included in the RRC release message (stores the eDRX parameter in the storage device 12) (S308)”; Fig. 8 step 407-408, Fig. 27 and ¶0162 disclose monitoring paging based on eDRX configuration in inactive mode).
However, the reference is silent on details about (1) broadcasting system information block 1 (SIB1) including first information, the first information indicating that an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) for a radio access network (RAN) paging is allowed for UEs in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state; (2) transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a UE capability request enquiry message; receiving, from the UE, a UE capability message as a response to the UE capability enquiry message, the UE capability message including second information indicating support of the eDRX in the RRC inactive state, (3) wherein a cycle of the eDRX is longer than 10.24 seconds.
Kim discloses (1) broadcasting system information block 1 (SIB1) including first information, the first information indicating that an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) for a radio access network (RAN) paging is allowed for UEs in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state (Fig. 3C step 3B-13; ¶0173 – “the SIB1 of the cell includes information indicating that extended discontinuous reception is allowed, the extended discontinuous reception is applied to the INACTIVE UE in the cell”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Sogabe to incorporate ability to provide indication of eDRX support in SIB1 from Kim because doing so would make use of known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way (MPEP §2141 -III) to provide UE necessary system information.
However, the combined teaching is silent on details about (2) and (3).
Kong discloses (2) transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a UE capability request enquiry message; receiving, from the UE, a UE capability message as a response to the UE capability enquiry message, the UE capability message including second information indicating support of the eDRX in the RRC inactive state (Page 79 - “If the access network device wants to determine whether to send the second parameter information to the terminal and the core network device according to the capability information of the terminal, before S402, the access network device may send a terminal capability enquiry (UE capability enquiry) message to the terminal to request Terminal capability information, and receive terminal capability information (UE capability info) from the terminal. The terminal capability information may indicate at least one of the following information: whether the terminal supports eDRX, whether the terminal supports the RRC-inactive state, and whether the terminal supports eDRX in the RRC-inactive state”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Sogabe and Kim to incorporate eDRX inquiry from Kong because doing so would make use of known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way (MPEP §2141 -III) to provide base station ability to obtain eDRX capability from UE.
However, the combined teaching is silent on details about (3).
Vivo discloses wherein a cycle of the eDRX is longer than 10.24 seconds (Section 2.4 – “Similarly, it is necessary for UEs to indicate network if it supports the eDRX cycle longer than 10.24s in RRC_INACTIVE… Proposal 9: Introducing additional UE capability for UE supporting RRC_INACTIVE eDRX cycle longer than 10.24s. For UE supporting RRC_INACTIVE eDRX cycle longer than 10.24s feature, it is mandatory to support RRC_IDLE eDRX cycle longer than 10.24s”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed the invention, to modify the invention of Sogabe, Kim, and Kong to incorporate extended eDRX longer than 10.24s from Vivo because doing so would apply a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results (MPEP §2141 -III) to reduce power consumption of mobile device.
Regarding claim 7, the combined teaching of Sogabe, Kim, Kong and Vivo discloses the method of claim 6, wherein whether to use the eDRX is identified based on the first information (Sogabe - Fig. 6 step 206 and ¶0083 disclose transmitting eDRX configuration for inactive state and wherein the information is used by UE for eDRX in inactive state).
Regarding claim 8, the combined teaching of Sogabe, Kim, Kong and Vivo discloses the method of claim 7, wherein support of the second information is indicated only in case that the UE supports the eDRX in an RRC idle state, and wherein the first information is supported in case that the base station supports the eDRX in the RRC idle state (Sogabe – Fig. 7 discloses the first information for supporting inactive eDRX from base station to UE in step S307 in the case that the base station and UE supporting eDRX in idle state indicated in step S300-S303 and ¶0092-0104) .
Regarding claim 9, the combined teaching of Sogabe, Kim, Kong and Vivo discloses the method of claim 6, wherein a RAN paging message is transmitted to another base station from the base station, wherein the RAN paging message includes configuration information for the eDRX, and wherein the configuration information includes information on the cycle of the eDRX that is longer than 10.24 seconds and information on paging time window (PTW) (Sogabe - Fig. 8 step S406 and ¶0120-0121 disclose sending paging message to another base station including inactive eDRX parameter including PTW; ¶0055 disclose eDRX can be longer than 10.24s).
Regarding claim 10, the combined teaching of Sogabe, Kim, Kong and Vivo discloses the method of claim 7, wherein the UE capability message includes third information indicating support of the eDRX in an RRC idle state, and wherein the SIB1 further includes fourth information indicating allowing of the eDRX in the RRC idle wherein the UE capability message includes third information indicating supporting of the eDRX in an RRC idle state (Sogabe - Fig. 7 step 300 and ¶0092 – “The terminal 10 that desires the validation of the eDRX transmits, to the core network 30, the registration request message including the “eDRX parameter” indicating the eDRX operation desired (requested) to be configured (S300)”, which indicates capability of eDRX in RRC idle), and wherein the system information includes fourth information indicating allowing of the eDRX in the RRC idle (Sogabe - Fig. 7 step. 302 and ¶0094 – “the core network 30 transmits, to the terminal 10, the registration accept message including the determined “eDRX parameter” for the idle state (S302)” Kim - Fig. 3C step 3B-13 and ¶0173 disclose using SIB1 to transmit eDRX allowance indication). The combined teaching would be obvious for the same reason indicated in claim 6.
Regarding claim 11, the scope and content of the claim recites a user equipment (UE) for performing the method of claim 1, therefore, being addressed as in claim 1.
Regarding claim 12, the scope and content of the claim recites a user equipment (UE) for performing the method of claim 2, therefore, being addressed as in claim 2.
Regarding claim 13, the scope and content of the claim recites a user equipment (UE) for performing the method of claim 3, therefore, being addressed as in claim 3.
Regarding claim 14, the scope and content of the claim recites a user equipment (UE) for performing the method of claim 4, therefore, being addressed as in claim 4.
Regarding claim 15, the scope and content of the claim recites a user equipment (UE) for performing the method of claim 5, therefore, being addressed as in claim 5.
Regarding claim 16, the scope and content of the claim recites a base station for performing the method of claim 6, therefore, being addressed as in claim 6.
Regarding claim 17, the scope and content of the claim recites a base station for performing the method of claim 7, therefore, being addressed as in claim 7.
Regarding claim 18, the scope and content of the claim recites a base station for performing the method of claim 8, therefore, being addressed as in claim 8.
Regarding claim 19, the scope and content of the claim recites a base station for performing the method of claim 9, therefore, being addressed as in claim 9.
Regarding claim 20 , the scope and content of the claim recites a base station for performing the method of claim 10, therefore, being addressed as in claim 10.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUNG HONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7928. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, JINSONG HU, can be reached on (571) 272-3965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DUNG HONG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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