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 .
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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 23 June 2026 has been entered.
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.
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 13, 17 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei et al. (US 2015/0117283) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2021/0185567), Siomina et al. (US 2014/0092771), Han et al. (US 2020/0396722) and Frost et al. (US 2011/0199927). For dependent claims herein, the motivation to combine is the same as the parent claim unless otherwise noted.
Regarding claim 13, Wei discloses a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (figs. 2 and 4-5; para. 65), comprising: receiving a control message comprising a request to perform a measurement of a cell (step S502),
Wei discloses obtaining target cell information on different carriers in DRX cycles (para. 60, last two sentences; fig. 4) but fails to disclose the control message comprising an indication of a target frequency associated with the measurement; applying a first radio frequency (RF) configuration; acquiring a synchronization signal during the first portion based at least in part on applying the first RF configuration; applying a second RF configuration during a second portion of a second discontinuous reception cycle of the plurality of discontinuous reception cycles; and acquiring a system information block based at least in part on applying the second RF configuration. Zhang discloses a measurement request indicating the frequency of a target base station (paras. 98, lines 20-24; para. 107, lines 9-17) and Siomina discloses applying an RF configuration for a measurement and report (fig. 4; paras. 102-105, 115, 132, 134 and 138).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the control message comprising an indication of a target frequency associated with the measurement; applying a first radio frequency (RF) configuration; acquiring a synchronization signal during the first portion based at least in part on applying the first RF configuration; applying a second RF configuration during a second portion of a second discontinuous reception cycle of the plurality of discontinuous reception cycles; and acquiring a system information block based at least in part on applying the second RF configuration in the invention of Wei. The motivation to have the modification and/or well-known benefits of the modification include, but are not limited to, directing a device to perform measurement on a particular frequency and adjust an RF receiver to receive information on a desired frequency, respectively, as is known in the art (Zhang, paras. 98 and 107; Siomina, fig. 4 and paras. 102-105, 115, 132, 134 and 138; MPEP 2143(I)(A)(B)(C)(D) - note: e.g., applying known techniques having predictable results).
Further, Wei in view of Zhang and Siomina fails to teach and make obvious the synchronization signal indicating a second frequency associated with the measurement and applying a second RF configuration during a second portion of a second discontinuous reception cycle of the plurality of discontinuous reception cycles based at least in part on the second frequency indicated by the synchronization signal. However, Han discloses system information indicates other carriers for system information (para. 194). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the synchronization signal indicating a second frequency associated with the measurement and applying a second RF configuration during a second portion of a second discontinuous reception cycle of the plurality of discontinuous reception cycles based at least in part on the second frequency indicated by the synchronization signal in the invention of Wei in view of Zhang and Siomina. The motivation to have the modification and/or well-known benefits of the modification include, but are not limited to, providing an indicator of a frequency location of additional signaling as is known in the art (Han, para. 194; MPEP 2143(I)(A)(B)(C)(D) - note: e.g., applying known techniques having predictable results).
Still further, Wei in view of Zhang, Siomina and Han fails to teach and make obvious wherein the system information block comprises a cell global identity of the cell associated with the measurement. However, Frost discloses a cell global identity in system information (para. 84). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the system information block comprise a cell global identity of the cell associated with the measurement in the invention of Wei in view of Zhang, Siomina and Han. The motivation to have the modification and/or well-known benefits of the modification include, but are not limited to, transmit cell information from a cell as is known in the art (Frost, para. 84; MPEP 2143(I)(A)(B)(C)(D) - note: e.g., applying known techniques having predictable results).
Regarding claim 17, Wei in view of Zhang, Siomina, Han and Frost teaches and makes obvious the method of claim 13, wherein: the first portion comprises an off duration of the first discontinuous reception cycle; and the second portion comprises an off duration of the second discontinuous reception cycle (Wei, figs. 4-5 and para. 32; note: periodic cycles of a DRX cycle having idle and non-idle times; note: the on duration and off duration are periods where communication takes place for measurements and communication is idle for data transmissions, respectively - para. 32, first sentence; note: idle for downlink data but active for measurements).
Regarding claim 28, these limitations are rejected on the same ground as claim 13. In addition, Wei discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (fig. 2), comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform (paras. 90-91) the method of claim 13.
Claims 15 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei in view of Zhang, Siomina, Han and Frost as applied to claim 13 or 28 above, and further in view of Axmon et al. (US 2016/0088534.
Regarding claim 15, Wei in view of Zhang, Siomina, Han and Frost fails to teach and make obvious the method of claim 13, further comprising: transmitting, during a third discontinuous reception cycle, a measurement report comprising an indication of the cell global identity of the cell based at least in part on acquiring the system information block. However, Axmon discloses this feature (paras. 10-11 and 148). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have transmitting, during a third discontinuous reception cycle, a measurement report comprising an indication of the cell global identity of the cell based at least in part on acquiring the system information block in the invention of Wei in view of Zhang, Siomina, Han and Frost. The motivation to have the modification and/or well-known benefits of the modification include, but are not limited to, transmitting control data at an appropriate time as is known in the art (Axmon, paras. 10-11 and 148; MPEP 2143(I)(A)(B)(C)(D) - note: e.g., applying known techniques having predictable results).
Regarding claim 30, these limitations are rejected on the same ground as claim 15.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei in view of Zhang, Siomina, Han and Frost as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2019/0306739).
Wei in view of Zhang, Siomina, Han and Frost teaches and makes obvious a control message indicating a target frequency (Wei, fig. 4 and fig. 5, step S502; Zhang, paras. 98 and 107) but fails to teach and make obvious the method of claim 13, wherein receiving the control message comprises: receiving a radio resource control reconfiguration message that comprises the indication of the target frequency and a second indication of a physical cell identity associated with the measurement. Kim discloses an RRC reconfiguration message an indication of a frequency and a PCI (paras. 54, 138-139 and 161; note: reconfiguration in its broadest reasonable interpretation is a message of a frequency measurement - fig. 5; specification of the instant application, para. 109).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 and 18-27 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Su (US 2015/0257201) discloses implementing a frequency change using a script (paras. 87 and 89 (second sentence)).
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/Kevin C. Harper/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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