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 § 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 19-20, 23, 25-30, 33, 35-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Liu et al (EP-3644664 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Liu et al discloses a method (figs. 2-3), comprising: receiving (the first network node receives the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device from a second network node; page 1, paragraph 0004, 0024; paragraph 0061), by a first access network device, paging capability information from a core network device (the first network node receives the at least one transparent container sent by the second network node, under a case that the second network node initiates paging to the at least one terminal device; page 3, paragraph 0028-0029) or a second access network device (a first network node acquires an operating bandwidth capability of at least one terminal device to be paged; furthermore, a Core Network (CN) node may trigger a RAN node to initiate paging, or a primary RAN node may trigger a secondary RAN node to initiate paging; page 2, paragraph 0004-0005); determining (the first network node determines a center frequency point of the paging message corresponding to the first terminal group; page 4-5, paragraph 0032-0033), by the first access network device, a paging area based on the paging capability information (the second network node determines the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device); and sending (the first network node sends a paging message to the at least one terminal device according to the operating bandwidth capability of the at least one terminal device; page 2, paragraph 0007-0008), by the first access network device, a paging message to a terminal device in the paging area (the first network node sends the paging message to the at least one terminal device based on the operating bandwidth capability of the at least one terminal device; page 2-3, paragraph 0015-0016), wherein the paging capability information indicates one or more capabilities of: a maximum transmit power supported by the terminal device on a first frequency band (bandwidth configuration; maximum number of paging cells to be monitored; page 11, paragraph 0069-0070); a bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device (the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device refers to a maximum operating bandwidth supported by the terminal device, where paging is based on the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device; page 10, paragraph 0064-0065); whether the terminal device supports a frequency offset of 7.5 kHz; a type of the terminal device (determining, by the second network node, the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device according to an identifier (ID) of the terminal device and mapping relationships between IDs and operating bandwidth capabilities of terminal devices; note that the first network node sends the paging message to each terminal device in the first terminal group based on the minimum operating bandwidth capability; in addition, the first network node selects a minimum operating bandwidth capability from operating bandwidth capabilities of all terminal devices; page 5, paragraph 0034-0036; page 9, paragraph 0057); or a number of Rx chains supported by the terminal device.
Regarding claim 20, Liu et al discloses a method (figs. 2-3), wherein the paging capability information indicates a capability information identifier of the terminal device (send the paging message, and the specific frequency resource for the paging message in the frequency band range may be scheduled and indicated by the base station ; furthermore, the first network node acquires the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least terminal device according to an Identifier (ID) of the terminal device and mapping relationships between IDs and operating bandwidth capabilities of terminal devices; paragraph 0034-0036; paragraph 0057).
Regarding claim 23, Liu et al discloses a method (figs. 2-3), wherein the one or more capabilities comprise whether the terminal device supports the frequency offset of 7.5 kHz (bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device), and the determining, by the first access network device, the paging area based on the paging capability information comprises: when the terminal device does not support the frequency offset of 7.5 kHz (bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device; for instance, one cell of the base station is set to use a bandwidth such as 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20MHz to provide a downlink or uplink transmission service to UEs; different cells may be set to use different bandwidths; it means that the first network node may determine that the paging area does not include the first cell, that is, the first network node does not page the terminal device in the first cell; it determines cells in which the terminal device is paged; obtains a frequency band supported by the terminal device, and pages the terminal device in all cells corresponding to the frequency band supported by the terminal device ; paragraph 0069-0070), and the frequency offset of 7.5 kHz is set for a first cell (bandwidth configuration: frequency can be set for the first cell; determine whether or not a certain condition is satisfied; paragraph 0071), determining, by the first access network device, that the paging area does not comprise the first cell (the terminal device determines the center frequency point, corresponding to the terminal device, of the paging message according to an ID of a terminal group to which the terminal device belongs and mapping relationships between terminal groups and center frequency points ; it means that the terminal device determines cells in which the terminal device is paged; the terminal device does not camp on the first cell; forwarding information of a UE capability stored in the MME to the base station or sending a request from the MME to the base station to obtain a current UE capability from the UE in accordance with whether or not the certain condition is satisfied; paragraph 0034-0036; paragraph 0057). Note that a base station may send paging messages to the one or more target terminals based on operating bandwidth capability information of one or more target terminals to be paged.
Regarding claim 25, Liu et al discloses a method (figs. 2-3), wherein the first access network device comprises a central unit and a distributed unit (the first network node may include a central unit and a distributed unit), wherein the first access network device receives the paging capability information via the CU (the first network node receives the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device; paragraph 0004), and wherein the first access network device determines the paging area via the CU (the first network node may determine a bandwidth for sending of the paging message in the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device; paragraph 0082-0083).
Regarding claim 26, Liu et al discloses a method (figs. 2-3), wherein the first access network device comprises a central unit and a distributed unit (the first network node may include a central unit and a distributed unit), and wherein the first access network device receives the paging capability information via the CU (the first network node receives the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device; paragraph 0004), and wherein the first access network device sends the paging capability information to the DU via the CU (the first network node may send the paging message to the terminal device to be paged based on the bandwidth, determined in step 250 (fig. 3), for sending of the paging message; paragraph 0102-0103) for the DU to determine the paging area (the first network node may determine a bandwidth for sending of the paging message in the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device to be paged based on a certain rule; for instance, a minimum operating bandwidth capability sent in step 240 may be selected; fig. 3, paragraph 0101-0103).
Regarding claim 27, Liu et al discloses a method (figs. 2-3), comprising: obtaining (the first network node receives the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device from a second network node; paragraph 0004, 0024; paragraph 0061) paging capability information of a terminal device (obtain the bandwidth capability information of the terminal and send the bandwidth capability information to the secondary RAN node; paragraph 0004-0005); and sending (the first network node sends a paging message to the at least one terminal device according to the operating bandwidth capability of the at least one terminal device ; paragraph 0032-0033 ; paragraph 0007-0008) the paging capability information to a first access network device (paragraph 0007-0008), wherein the paging capability information indicates one or more capabilities of: a maximum transmit power supported by the terminal device on a first frequency band (bandwidth configuration; maximum number of paging cells to be monitored ; paragraph 0069-0070); a bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device (the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device refers to a maximum operating bandwidth supported by the terminal device, where paging is based on the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device; paragraph 0064-0065) ; whether the terminal device supports a frequency offset of 7.5 kHz; a type of the terminal device (determining, by the second network node, the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device according to an identifier (ID) of the terminal device and mapping relationships between IDs and operating bandwidth capabilities of terminal devices; note that the first network node sends the paging message to each terminal device in the first terminal group based on the minimum operating bandwidth capability; in addition, the first network node selects a minimum operating bandwidth capability from operating bandwidth capabilities of all terminal devices; paragraph 0034-0036; page 9, paragraph 0057 ); or a number of Rx chains supported by the terminal device
Regarding claim 28, Liu et al discloses a method (figs. 2-3), wherein the paging capability information indicates a capability information identifier of the terminal device (the specific frequency resource for the paging message in the band range may be scheduled and indicated by the base station; furthermore, the first network node acquires the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least terminal device according to an Identifier (ID) of the terminal device and mapping relationships between IDs and operating bandwidth capabilities of terminal devices; send the paging message, and the specific frequency resource for the paging message in the frequency band range may be scheduled and indicated by the base station ; furthermore, the first network node acquires the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least terminal device according to an Identifier (ID) of the terminal device and mapping relationships between IDs and operating bandwidth capabilities of terminal devices; paragraph 0034-0036; paragraph 0057).
Regarding claim 29, Liu et al discloses an apparatus (figs. 2-3), comprising: one or more processors (a terminal device which includes a memory, a processor, an input interface, and an output interface; paragraph 0042); and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors and storing programming instructions for execution by the one or more processors (the processor is configured to execute stored in the memory; paragraph 0042) to cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising: receiving (the first network node receives the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device ; paragraph 0004, 0024; paragraph 0061) from a second network node (the first network node receives the at least one transparent container sent by the second network node, under a case that the second network node initiates paging to the at least one terminal device; paragraph 0024-0025 ; paragraph 0029) paging capability information from a core network device or a second access network device (a first network node acquires an operating bandwidth capability of at least one terminal device to be paged; furthermore, a Core Network (CN) node may trigger a RAN node to initiate paging, or a primary RAN node may trigger a secondary RAN node to initiate paging; paragraph 0004-0005); determining (the first network node determines a center frequency point of the paging message corresponding to the first terminal group ; paragraph 0032-0033); determining a paging area based on the paging capability information (the second network node determines the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device); and sending (the first network node sends a paging message to the at least one terminal device according to the operating bandwidth capability of the at least one terminal device ; paragraph 0007-0008) a paging message to a terminal device in the paging area (the first network node sends the paging message to the at least one terminal device based on the operating bandwidth capability of the at least one terminal device; paragraph 0015-0016), wherein the paging capability information indicates one or more capabilities of: a maximum transmit power supported by the terminal device on a first frequency band (bandwidth configuration; maximum number of paging cells to be monitored ; paragraph 0069-0070); a bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device (the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device refers to a maximum operating bandwidth supported by the terminal device, where paging is based on the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device; paragraph 0064-0065); whether the terminal device supports a frequency offset of 7.5 kHz; a type of the terminal device (determining, by the second network node, the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device according to an identifier (ID) of the terminal device and mapping relationships between IDs and operating bandwidth capabilities of terminal devices; note that the first network node sends the paging message to each terminal device in the first terminal group based on the minimum operating bandwidth capability; in addition, the first network node selects a minimum operating bandwidth capability from operating bandwidth capabilities of all terminal devices; paragraph 0034-0036; paragraph 0057); or a number of Rx chains supported by the terminal device.
Regarding claim 30, Liu et al discloses an apparatus (figs. 2-3), wherein the paging capability information indicates a capability information identifier of the terminal device (the specific frequency resource for the paging message in the band range may be scheduled and indicated by the base station; furthermore, the first network node acquires the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least terminal device according to an Identifier (ID) of the terminal device and mapping relationships between IDs and operating bandwidth capabilities of terminal devices; send the paging message, and the specific frequency resource for the paging message in the frequency band range may be scheduled and indicated by the base station ; furthermore, the first network node acquires the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least terminal device according to an Identifier (ID) of the terminal device and mapping relationships between IDs and operating bandwidth capabilities of terminal devices; paragraph 0034-0036; paragraph 0057). Note that the first network node obtains bandwidth capability information of a terminal, stores bandwidth capability level information of the terminal, for example, the MME records a mapping relationship between a UE ID and bandwidth capability level information of a terminal to form a terminal bandwidth capability information record table.
Regarding claim 33, Liu et al discloses an apparatus (figs. 2-3), wherein the one or more capabilities comprise whether the terminal device supports the frequency offset of 7.5 kHz, and the determining the paging area based on the paging capability information (the first network node may send the paging message to the terminal device to be paged based on the bandwidth, determined in step 250, for sending of the paging message; fig. 3, paragraph 0102-0103) comprises: when the terminal device does not support the frequency offset of 7.5 kHz (bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device; for instance, one cell of the base station is set to use a bandwidth such as 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20MHz to provide a downlink or uplink transmission service to UEs; different cells may be set to use different bandwidths; it means that the first network node may determine that the paging area does not include the first cell, that is, the first network node does not page the terminal device in the first cell; it determines cells in which the terminal device is paged; obtains a frequency band supported by the terminal device, and pages the terminal device in all cells corresponding to the frequency band supported by the terminal device ; paragraph 0069-0070), and the frequency offset of 7.5 kHz is set for a first cell (bandwidth configuration: frequency can be set for the first cell; determine whether or not a certain condition is satisfied; paragraph 0071), determining that the paging area does not comprise the first cell (determine cells in which the terminal device is paged; the terminal device does not camp on the first cell; forwarding information of a UE capability stored in the MME to the base station or sending a request from the MME to the base station to obtain a current UE capability from the UE in accordance with whether or not the certain condition is satisfied; paragraph 0034-0036; paragraph 0057). Note that a base station may send paging messages to the one or more target terminals based on operating bandwidth capability information of one or more target terminals to be paged.
Regarding claim 35, Liu et al discloses an apparatus (figs. 2-3), wherein the apparatus (fig. 2) comprises a central unit and a distributed unit (the first network node may include a central unit and a distributed unit), wherein the apparatus receives the paging capability information via the CU (the first network node receives the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device; paragraph 0004), and wherein the apparatus determines the paging area via the CU (the first network node may determine a bandwidth for sending of the paging message in the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device; paragraph 0082-0083).
Regarding claim 36, Liu et al discloses an apparatus (figs. 2-3), wherein the apparatus (fig. 2) comprises a central unit and a distributed unit (the first network node may include a central unit and a distributed unit), wherein the apparatus (fig. 2)receives the paging capability information via the CU (the first network node receives the operating bandwidth capability of each of the at least one terminal device; paragraph 0004), and wherein the apparatus sends the paging capability information to the DU via the CU (the first network node may send the paging message to the terminal device to be paged based on the bandwidth, determined in step 250 (fig. 3), for sending of the paging message; paragraph 0102-0103) for the DU to determine the paging area (the first network node may determine a bandwidth for sending of the paging message in the operating bandwidth capability of the terminal device to be paged based on a certain rule; for instance, a minimum operating bandwidth capability sent in step 240 may be selected; fig.3, paragraph 0101-0103).
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.
Claims 21, 22, 31, 32, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al (EP-3644664 A1) in view of Schliwa-Bertling et al (WO-3015115981A1).
Regarding claims 21, 22, 31, 32, Liu et al discloses all the features in claims 19, 27, 29, except the features of : wherein the one or more capabilities comprise the type of the terminal device and the maximum transmit power supported by the terminal device on the first frequency band, and the determining, by the first access network device, the paging area based on the paging capability information comprises: when the type of the terminal device is not an integrated access and backhaul mobile termination (IAB-MT), and the maximum transmit power supported by the terminal device on the first frequency band does not meet a transmit power requirement of the first frequency band, determining, by the first access network device, that the paging area does not comprise a first cell, wherein the first frequency band corresponds to the first cell; wherein the one or more capabilities comprise the bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device, and the determining, by the first access network device, the paging area based on the paging capability information comprises: when the bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device is less than an initial bandwidth of a first cell, or the bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device is greater than a carrier bandwidth of the first cell, determining, by the first access network device, that the paging area does not comprise the first cell.
However, Schliwa-Bertling et al discloses the features of a first radio network node receives paging capability information from the core network node, where the core network node transmits to the first radio network node, information about a limitation of the capability of the communication device with regard to maximum supported transport block size (page 4, lines 12-28), wherein the one or more capabilities comprise the type of the terminal device and the maximum transmit power supported by the terminal device on the first frequency band (the core network node (10b) transmits to the first radio network node (15b), information about a limitation of the capability of the communication device (18) with regard to maximum supported TBS, where the information about the limitation is based on the received information about capability ; furthermore, the base stations may be of different classes such as e.g. macro NodeB, home NodeB or pico base station, based on transmission power and thereby also cell size; a cell is the geographical 25 area where radio coverage is provided by the base station at a base station site ; page 1, lines 24- 30, page 2, lines 1-5; page 5, lines 1-19), and the determining, by the first access network device, the paging area based on the paging capability information comprises: when the type of the terminal device is not an integrated access and backhaul mobile termination (read as: the core network node 10b, e.g. MME, needs to be aware of the capability of the communication device 18 with regard to its maximum supported TBS so it can use it at paging, e.g. by adding it to a PAGING S1 AP message at a paging procedure; it means that the paging capability information does not meet the transmit power requirement of the first frequency band, and the type of the terminal device is not the IAB-MT, the terminal device does not camp on the first cell; it is also shown that the first radio access network device determines that the paging area does not include the first cell; and the equivalent PLMN that correspond to the first cell provides the tracking area code, the first cell is not allowed for the terminal device to access ; page 3, lines 1-28; pages 9-11, line 20- line16), and the maximum transmit power supported by the terminal device on the first frequency band does not meet a transmit power requirement of the first frequency band (it is not supported maximum transport block size), determining (determine the paging area), by the first access network device (during a paging cycle, a UE is allowed to sleep and subject to only briefly wake up to monitor the L1/L2 control signaling; if the UE detects a group identity used for paging, i.e. P-RNTI, when it wakes up, it will process the corresponding downlink paging message; the message will be discarded if the UE cannot find its identity otherwise it will response by initiating random access response; note that a paging cycle for a UE can range from once per 256 up to once per 32 frames, whereas in which frame it is supposed to wake up is determined by an equation that includes the identity of the terminal ; page 2, lines 31-35; page 3, lines 1-28; page 8, lines 7-29), that the paging area does not comprise a first cell (tracking paging area), wherein the first frequency band corresponds to the first cell (one base station may serve one or several cells ; the MME checks which eNBs that have cells belonging to any of Tracking Areas whose Tracking Area Identities are included in a UE's current TAI list and sends a PAGING S1 Application Protocol message (S1AP) message across the S1 interface to each of these eNBs; for instance, the radio network nodes 15a-c serves cells 19a-c respectively; the first radio network node 15b is thus serving at least the cell 19b through and in which the communication device 18 may be moving ; page 3, lines 10-29; page 8, lines 7-29); wherein the one or more capabilities comprise the bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device (bandwidth configuration that is supported by the communication device), and the determining, by the first access network device, the paging area based on the paging capability information comprises: when the bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device is less than an initial bandwidth of a first cell, or the bandwidth configuration supported by the terminal device is greater than a carrier bandwidth of the first cell (the UE can only receive a paging message that is not larger than its maximum TBS; the communication device’s 18 supported maximum TBS may be added to a PAGING S1AP message as used in the paging procedure ; page 8, lines 11-24), determining, by the first access network device, that the paging area does not comprise the first cell (TRACKING AREA UPDATE REQUEST message, with a new information element specifying the capability of the communication device 18 with regard to its maximum supported TBS and thus making it available to the core network node 10b at registration; furthermore, the core network node 10b, e.g. MME, transmits information about a limitation of the communication device's 18 capability with regard to its maximum supported TBS over the S1 interface to the first radio network node 15b, e.g. eNB; the information about the limitation is thus based on the received information about capability in Action 203; page 9-page 10, line 24-line 31). The wireless communication method of this application facilitates the improvement of the flexibility for scheduling the paging message. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply the technique of Schliwa-Bertling to the communication system of Liu in order to provide a method for effectively managing UE capabilities over a network of a wireless communication system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 24, 34, are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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MARCEAU MILORD
Examiner
Art Unit 2641
/MARCEAU MILORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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