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 .
Preliminary Amendment
The present Office Action is based upon the original patent application filed on 02/05/2024 as modified by the preliminary amendment filed on 02/05/2024. Claims 1-3, 6-8, 10, 12, 15-17, 19, 21-25 and 31-32 are now pending in the present application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements submitted on 02/05/2024 and 12/05/2025 have been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
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 1-3, 6-7, 16-17, 19, 21-25 and 31-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by YUE et al. (US 2022/0141699 A1, hereinafter Yue).
Regarding claim 1, Yue discloses a terminal capability reporting method, performed by a multi-card terminal (see e.g., “a terminal 11”, Fig. 1, [0026] and/or “terminal activates a multi-card operation”, Fig. 6, [0269]), and comprising:
reporting a terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to a base station (see e.g., “sending first capability information to a network side device, where the first capability information includes a first capability and time division multiplexing information associated with the first capability”, Fig. 2, [0031] and/or “The network side device 12 may be a base station, a core network, a relay, an access point, or the like”, Fig. 1, [0027]).
Regarding claim 2, Yue discloses, receiving target signaling transmitted by the base station for enquiring about the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal, wherein the target signaling is configured to instruct the multi-card terminal to report the terminal capability (see e.g., “the terminal sends the first capability information to the network side device based on an indication of the network side device”, [0063] and/or “instructing the terminal to report the capability information”, [0078] and/or “the network side device may send the first indication information to the terminal”, [0066]);
wherein reporting the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to the base station (see e.g., “sending first capability information to a network side device, where the first capability information includes a first capability and time division multiplexing information associated with the first capability”, [0031] and/or “A terminal mounted with a plurality of communications cards may trigger reporting of the first capability information”, [0056] and/or ) comprises:
reporting, based on the target signaling, the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to the base station (see e.g., “in a case that the first indication information is used for searching capability information or instructing the terminal to report capability information, the capability information about the target object may be embodied as the highest capability currently supported by the target object.”, [0086] and/or “the terminal may…or may send the first capability information to the network side device based on an indication of the network side device”, [0045]).
Regarding claim 3, Yue discloses, wherein the target signaling is configured to enquire about at least one of: whether a terminal is a multi-card terminal (see e.g., “the first capability may include at least one of: a multi-radio access technology dual connectivity (MRDC) capability; a new radio (NR) capability”, [0044]); the terminal capability configured for at least one subscriber identity module (SIM) card (see e.g., “receiving first indication information sent by the network side device”, [0065] and/or “the terminal activates a multi-card operation is acquired”, [0068]) wherein reporting, based on the target signaling, the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to the base station comprises: reporting the terminal capability enquired by the target signaling to the base station (see e.g., “instructing the terminal to report the capability information”, [0078] and/or “in a case that the first indication information is used for instructing the terminal to update the capability information, the first indication information is further used to indicate second capability information expected by the network side device, where the second capability information includes a second capability and time division multiplexing information associated with the second capability”, [0083] and/or “In the second case, the terminal reports the first capability information based on the first indication information delivered by the network side device”, [0085]).
Regarding claim 6, Yue discloses, wherein reporting the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to the base station comprises at least one of: reporting an overall terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to the base station (see e.g., “the first capability information includes at least one of: capability information of the terminal; cell group capability information of the terminal; working frequency (also referred to as a working frequency point) capability information of the terminal; or working band capability information of the terminal.”, [0035] and/or “receiving first indication information sent by the network side device”, [0065]).
Regarding claim 7, Yue discloses, in response to determining that a status of at least one SIM card other than a first SIM card has changed (see e.g., “a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed, in a case that the terminal performs the multi-card operation, where N is a positive integer, and N is less than or equal to number of cards in the multi-card operation”, [0051]), determining that a first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card needs to be changed, wherein the first SIM card is a SIM card that establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the base station on the multi-card terminal (see e.g., “a status of M cards in the multi-card operation is switched to a disabled state, in a case that the terminal performs the multi-card operation, where M is a positive integer, and M is less than or equal to the number of cards in the multi-card operation”, [0052] and/or “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a status of M cards in the multi-card operation is switched to a disabled state, where for example, UE disables at least one card in the multi-card operation, and in this case, a capability of the terminal may be changed. Therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0059] and/or “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed, where for example, a card in the multi-card operation originally works in an LTE network in a single-leg manner, and then E-UTRA NR dual connectivity with an MCG using E-UTRA and an SCG using NR (EN-DC) is activated”, [0058]; Examiner’s note: card that originally works in an LTE and then dual connectivity by activating a multi-card, (i.e., when E-UTRA is activated as MCG with dual connectivity) corresponds to first SIM card being the SIM card on the multi-card terminal that establishes an RRC connection and the second SIM card on the multi-card terminal that established RRC connection with any base station and is different from the first SIM card);
wherein reporting the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to the base station comprises: in response to determining that the first terminal capability needs to be changed, reporting the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to the base station (see e.g., “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, for example, UE activates the second card or the third card, a capability of the terminal may be changed. Therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0057]).
Regarding claim 16, Yue discloses a terminal capability reporting method, performed by a base station (see e.g., “a network side device 12”, Fig. 1, [0026] and/or “The network side device 12 may be a base station…”, Fig. 1, [0027]), and comprising:
receiving a terminal capability of a multi-card terminal reported to the base station by the multi-card terminal (see e.g., “receiving first capability information sent by a terminal, where the first capability information includes a first capability and time division multiplexing information associated with the first capability.”, Fig. 3, [0104] and/or “terminal activates a multi-card operation”, Fig. 6, [0269]).
Regarding claim 17, Yue discloses, before receiving the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal reported to the base station by the multi-card terminal (see e.g., “the terminal may…or may send the first capability information to the network side device based on an indication of the network side device”, [0045] and/or “the terminal sends the first capability information to the network side device based on an indication of the network side device”, [0063] and/or “instructing the terminal to report the capability information”, [0078] and/or “the network side device may send the first indication information to the terminal”, [0066]);
transmitting target signaling for enquiring about the terminal capability of the multi- card terminal to the multi-card terminal, wherein the target signaling is configured to instruct the multi-card terminal to report the terminal capability (see e.g., “sending first capability information to a network side device, where the first capability information includes a first capability and time division multiplexing information associated with the first capability”, [0031] and/or “A terminal mounted with a plurality of communications cards may trigger reporting of the first capability information”, [0056] and/or “in a case that the first indication information is used for searching capability information or instructing the terminal to report capability information, the capability information about the target object may be embodied as the highest capability currently supported by the target object.”, [0086]).
Regarding claim 19, Yue discloses, receiving the terminal capability enquired by the target signaling and reported to the base station by the multi-card terminal (see e.g., “the terminal may…or may send the first capability information to the network side device based on an indication of the network side device”, [0045] and/or “receiving first capability information sent by a terminal, where the first capability information includes a first capability and time division multiplexing information associated with the first capability.”, [0104] and/or “instructing the terminal to report the capability information”, [0078] and/or “the network side device may send the first indication information to the terminal”, [0066]).
Regarding claim 21, Yue discloses, wherein receiving the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal reported to the base station by the multi-card terminal comprises at least one of: receiving an overall terminal capability of the multi-card terminal reported to the base station by the multi-card terminal (see e.g., “receiving first capability information sent by a terminal, where the first capability information includes a first capability and time division multiplexing information associated with the first capability.”, [0104] and/or “the first capability information includes at least one of: capability information of the terminal; cell group capability information of the terminal; working frequency (also referred to as a working frequency point) capability information of the terminal; or working band capability information of the terminal.”, [0035] and/or “receiving first indication information sent by the network side device”, [0065]);
receiving a first terminal capability configured for a first SIM card reported to the base station by the multi-card terminal, wherein the first SIM card is a SIM card that establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the base station on the multi-card terminal (see e.g., “a status of M cards in the multi-card operation is switched to a disabled state, in a case that the terminal performs the multi-card operation, where M is a positive integer, and M is less than or equal to the number of cards in the multi-card operation”, [0052] and/or “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a status of M cards in the multi-card operation is switched to a disabled state, where for example, UE disables at least one card in the multi-card operation, and in this case, a capability of the terminal may be changed. Therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0059] and/or “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed, where for example, a card in the multi-card operation originally works in an LTE network in a single-leg manner, and then E-UTRA NR dual connectivity with an MCG using E-UTRA and an SCG using NR (EN-DC) is activated”, [0058]; Examiner’s note: card that originally works in an LTE and then dual connectivity by activating a multi-card, (i.e., when E-UTRA is activated as MCG with dual connectivity) corresponds to first SIM card being the SIM card on the multi-card terminal that establishes an RRC connection and the second SIM card on the multi-card terminal that established RRC connection with any base station and is different from the first SIM card).
Regarding claim 22, Yue discloses, receiving the terminal capability reported by the multi-card terminal when the multi- card terminal determines that a first terminal capability configured for a first SIM card needs to be changed, wherein the first SIM card is a SIM card that establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the base station on the multi-card terminal (see e.g., “a status of M cards in the multi-card operation is switched to a disabled state, in a case that the terminal performs the multi-card operation, where M is a positive integer, and M is less than or equal to the number of cards in the multi-card operation”, [0052] and/or “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a status of M cards in the multi-card operation is switched to a disabled state, where for example, UE disables at least one card in the multi-card operation, and in this case, a capability of the terminal may be changed. Therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0059] and/or “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed, where for example, a card in the multi-card operation originally works in an LTE network in a single-leg manner, and then E-UTRA NR dual connectivity with an MCG using E-UTRA and an SCG using NR (EN-DC) is activated”, [0058]; Examiner’s note: card that originally works in an LTE and then dual connectivity by activating a multi-card, (i.e., when E-UTRA is activated as MCG with dual connectivity) corresponds to first SIM card being the SIM card on the multi-card terminal that establishes an RRC connection and the second SIM card on the multi-card terminal that established RRC connection with any base station and is different from the first SIM card).
Regarding claim 23, Yue discloses, receiving a third terminal capability reported to the base station by the multi-card terminal, wherein the third terminal capability is configured for the first SIM card after a status of the first SIM card is changed (see e.g., “UE activates the second card or the third card, a capability of the terminal may be changed.,”, [0057] and/or “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed, where for example, a card in the multi-card operation originally works in an LTE network in a single-leg manner, and then E-UTRA NR dual connectivity with an MCG using E-UTRA and an SCG using NR (EN-DC) is activated; or conversely, a capability of the terminal may be changed, and therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0058]).
Regarding claim 24, Yue discloses, receiving terminal capability change signaling reported to the base station by the multi-card terminal, wherein the terminal capability change signaling comprises a third terminal capability configured for the first SIM card (see e.g., “UE activates the second card or the third card, a capability of the terminal may be changed.,”, [0057] and/or see e.g., “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed…a capability of the terminal may be changed, and therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0058] and/or “the time division multiplexing (TDM) information associated with the first capability may be used to indicate information related to the first capability on different time domain resources, for example, a level of the first capability, a strength of the first capability, or a magnitude of the first capability…”, [0032]).
Regarding claim 25, Yue discloses, transmitting, based on the terminal capability change signaling, confirmation change signaling to the multi-card terminal (see e.g., “after the first capability information is sent to the network side device, the method further includes: receiving second indication information sent by the network side device, wherein the second indication information is used for instructing the network side device to accept or reject some or all information in the first capability information. Optionally, the second indication information is further used for instructing the terminal to perform a capability update operation”, [0090-0093] and/or “that the UE receives a network side acknowledgment message, used for acknowledging that a network side receives or rejects updating of some/all UE capabilities…”, [0142] and/or “the second indication information includes acknowledgment information and update indication information. In this case, the second indication information explicitly indicates the network side device to accept or reject some or all information in the first capability information, and explicitly indicates the terminal to perform the capability update operation. For example, the acknowledgment information explicitly indicates the network side device to accept or reject some or all information in the first capability information, and the update indication information explicitly indicates the terminal to perform the capability update operation”, [0097].
Regarding claim 31, Yue discloses a terminal capability reporting device (see e.g., “a terminal 11”, Fig. 1, [0026] and/or “terminal activates a multi-card operation”, Fig. 6, [0269]), comprising:
a processor (see e.g., Fig. 6, Processor 610); and
a memory storing instructions executable by the processor (see e.g., Fig. 6, Memory 609, Processor 610), wherein the processor is configured to, when executing the instructions, perform operations comprising:
reporting a terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to a base station (see e.g., “sending first capability information to a network side device, where the first capability information includes a first capability and time division multiplexing information associated with the first capability”, Fig. 2, [0031] and/or “The network side device 12 may be a base station, a core network, a relay, an access point, or the like”, Fig. 1, [0027]).
Regarding claim 32, Yue discloses a terminal capability reporting device (see e.g., “a network side device 12”, Fig. 1, [0026] and/or “The network side device 12 may be a base station…”, Fig. 1, [0027]), comprising:
a processor (see e.g., Fig. 7, Processor 701); and
a memory storing instructions executable by the processor (see e.g., Fig. 7, memory 702 and Processor 701), wherein the processor is configured to, when executing the instructions, perform the method claim 16 (receiving a terminal capability of a multi-card terminal reported to the base station by the multi-card terminal (see e.g., “receiving first capability information sent by a terminal, where the first capability information includes a first capability and time division multiplexing information associated with the first capability.”, Fig. 3, [0104] and/or “terminal activates a multi-card operation”, Fig. 6, [0269]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Yue, in view of, Jin (US 2023/0055487 Al, hereinafter Jin).
Regarding claim 8, Yue discloses, changing the first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card to a third terminal capability (see e.g., “UE activates the second card or the third card, a capability of the terminal may be changed.,”, [0057]);
wherein reporting the terminal capability of the multi-card terminal to the base station comprises: reporting the third terminal capability to the base station, wherein reporting the third terminal capability to the base station (see e.g., “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed, where for example, a card in the multi-card operation originally works in an LTE network in a single-leg manner, and then E-UTRA NR dual connectivity with an MCG using E-UTRA and an SCG using NR (EN-DC) is activated; or conversely, a capability of the terminal may be changed, and therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0058]) comprises any one of: reporting the third terminal capability to the base station through terminal assistance information signaling; and reporting the third terminal capability to the base station through terminal capability information signaling (see e.g., “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed…a capability of the terminal may be changed, and therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0058] and/or “the time division multiplexing (TDM) information associated with the first capability may be used to indicate information related to the first capability on different time domain resources, for example, a level of the first capability, a strength of the first capability, or a magnitude of the first capability…”, [0032]).
Yue fails to explicitly disclose, reporting the third terminal capability to the base station through terminal assistance information signaling.
In the same field of endeavor, Jin discloses, reporting the third terminal capability to the base station through terminal assistance information signaling (see e.g., “the UE sends the RRC signaling RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete to the base station…The UE may send the UE auxiliary information signaling carrying the processing capability information of the UE to the base station. For example, the transmissionInGapInd information element may be carried by UE auxiliary information UEAssistancelnformation signaling.”, [0261]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Yue with Jin, in order to ensure that the terminal that supports Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) can simultaneously receive and send data on networks of the two standards (see Jin, para. [0004]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Yue, in view of, Jin, and further in view of Aiba et al. (US 2019/0215130 Al, hereinafter Aiba).
Regarding claim 10, Yue discloses, transmitting terminal capability change signaling to the base station, wherein the terminal capability change signaling comprises a third terminal capability configured for the first SIM card (see e.g., “UE activates the second card or the third card, a capability of the terminal may be changed.,”, [0057] and/or “when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed…a capability of the terminal may be changed, and therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0058], wherein the method further comprises:
in response to receiving confirmation change signaling transmitted by the base station, changing the first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card to the third terminal capability (see e.g., “after the first capability information is sent to the network side device, the method further includes: receiving second indication information sent by the network side device, wherein the second indication information is used for instructing the network side device to accept or reject some or all information in the first capability information. Optionally, the second indication information is further used for instructing the terminal to perform a capability update operation”, [0090-0093]), wherein the method further comprises:
Yue fails to explicitly disclose, the terminal capability change signaling is terminal assistance information signaling;
in response to determining that the confirmation change signaling transmitted by the base station is not received, not changing the first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card.
In the same field of endeavor, Jin discloses, the terminal capability change signaling is terminal assistance information signaling (see e.g., “the UE sends the RRC signaling RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete to the base station…The UE may send the UE auxiliary information signaling carrying the processing capability information of the UE to the base station. For example, the transmissionInGapInd information element may be carried by UE auxiliary information UEAssistancelnformation signaling.”, [0261]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Yue with Jin, in order to ensure that the terminal that supports Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) can simultaneously receive and send data on networks of the two standards (see Jin, para. [0004]).
Yue and Jin combined fails to explicitly disclose in response to determining that the confirmation change signaling transmitted by the base station is not received, not changing the first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card.
In the same field of endeavor, Aiba disclose in response to determining that the confirmation change signaling transmitted by the base station is not received, not changing the first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card (see e.g., “receiving…deactivation command for the semi-persistent CSI-RS and CSI-IM resource(s) configuration…the semi-persistent CSI-RS and CSI-IM resource(s) configuration is suspended when the associated DL BWP is being deactivated”, Fig.14, [0212] and/or “transmitting…a deactivation command for the semi-persistent CSI-RS and CSI-IM resource(s) configuration...that the semi-persistent CSI-RS and CSI-IM resource(s) configuration is suspended when the associated DL BWP is being deactivated”, Fig. 15, [0214] and/or “the gNB 160 may transmit, by using the higher layer signal (e.g., the RRC message), information used for configuring a value(s) of timer (e.g., a second timer) associated with the deactivation and/or the switching of the BWP(s). For example, the UE 102 may maintain the second timer per configured serving cell(s). Also, the UE 102 may maintain the second timer per configured BWP(s)”, [0134]; Examiner’s note: suspension of configuration in the absence of downlink for any command corresponds to not changing the terminal configuration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Yue and Jin with Aiba, in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and improvements in communication capacity, speed, flexibility and/or efficiency (see Aiba, para. [0003-0004]).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Yue, in view of, YUAN et al. (US 2024/0155332 Al, hereinafter Yuan).
Regarding claim 12, Yue discloses, transmitting terminal capability change signaling to the base station, wherein the terminal capability change signaling comprises a third terminal capability configured for the first SIM card (see e.g., “UE activates the second card or the third card, a capability of the terminal may be changed.,”, [0057] and/or ““when the terminal activates a multi-card operation, a working manner of N cards in the multi-card operation is changed, where for example, a card in the multi-card operation originally works in an LTE network in a single-leg manner, and then E-UTRA NR dual connectivity with an MCG using E-UTRA and an SCG using NR (EN-DC) is activated; or conversely, a capability of the terminal may be changed, and therefore, the terminal may autonomously send the first capability information to the network side device”, [0058] and/or “the second indication information includes acknowledgment information and update indication information. In this case, the second indication information explicitly indicates the network side device to accept or reject some or all information in the first capability information, and explicitly indicates the terminal to perform the capability update operation. For example, the acknowledgment information explicitly indicates the network side device to accept or reject some or all information in the first capability information, and the update indication information explicitly indicates the terminal to perform the capability update operation”, [0097]);
Yue fails to explicitly disclose, starting a timer; and in response to receiving confirmation change signaling transmitted by the base station before the timer expires, changing the first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card to the third terminal capability, wherein the method further comprises:
in response to determining that the confirmation change signaling transmitted by the base station is not received until the timer expires, changing the first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card to the third terminal capability.
In the same field of endeavor, Yuan discloses, starting a timer (see e.g., “the UE may include, in transmissions to the base station, an indication of a timer that is based on the cooperation status of the UE”, [0055]); and
in response to receiving confirmation change signaling transmitted by the base station before the timer expires, changing the first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card to the third terminal capability (see e.g., “at a second time different from the first time, a second message indicating a second group cooperation capability of the UE, the second group cooperation capability being different from the first group cooperation capability based on the group cooperation status of the UE”, Fig. 14, [0209]; Examiner’s notes: reporting different capabilities at a second time different than the first time (i.e., start of timer) corresponds to change of capability configuration at different time than the starting time), wherein the method further comprises:
in response to determining that the confirmation change signaling transmitted by the base station is not received until the timer expires, changing the first terminal capability configured for the first SIM card to the third terminal capability (see e.g., “identifying an expiration timer associated with the group cooperation capability of the UE based on the group cooperation status of the UE”, [0213] and/or “at a second time different from the first time, a second message indicating a second group cooperation capability of the UE, the second group cooperation capability being different from the first group cooperation capability based on the group cooperation status of the UE”, [0209] and/or “UE 115-a may report an indication of a timer, where an expiration of the timer may indicate a time at which capabilities of UE 115-a may change”, [0110]; Examiner’s notes: reporting different capabilities at a second time based on the expiration of the timer from the first time corresponds to change of capability configuration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Yue with Yuan, in order to provide dynamic signaling of UE capability information in a wireless communications system to ensure updated information is provided to a base station based on the status of the UE (see Yuan, para. [0005]).
Claims 15 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Yue, in view of Applicant provided document, FENG et al. (EP 4192082 A1, hereinafter Feng).
Regarding claim 15, Yue fails to explicitly disclose reporting a reason for changing the first terminal capability to the base station.
In the same field of endeavor, Feng discloses, reporting a reason for changing the first terminal capability to the base station (see e.g., “the first message is further used to indicate at least one of the following: a reason why the update to the first capability set needs to be performed…”, [0014]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Yue with Feng, in order to ensure correct data processing by reporting capability information of the two communication parties (see Feng, paras. [0003-0004]).
Regarding claim 26, Yue fails to explicitly disclose receiving a reason for changing the first terminal capability reported by the multi- card terminal.
In the same field of endeavor, Feng discloses, receiving a reason for changing the first terminal capability reported by the multi- card terminal (see e.g., “the first message is further used to indicate at least one of the following: a reason why the update to the first capability set needs to be performed…”, [0014]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Yue with Feng, in order to ensure correct data processing by reporting capability information of the two communication parties (see Feng, paras. [0003-0004]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARID SEYEDVOSOGHI whose telephone number is (571)272-9679. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00-5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony S. Addy can be reached at 5712727795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/FARID SEYEDVOSOGHI/Examiner, Art Unit 2645