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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 2/5/2024 has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Preliminary Amendment
The present Office Action is based upon the original patent application filed on 2/5/2024, as modified by the preliminary amendment filed on 2/12/2024. Claims 1-16 and 33-36 are now pending in the present application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-5, 8, 13-15, and 33-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rune et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0150384 A1) (hereinafter Rune).
Regarding claim 1, Rune discloses a method for controlling triggering of a relaxed measurement criterion, performed by a terminal device (Figure 8 and paragraphs 0110-0112 disclose the wireless device 10 is selecting S2 one of the first and further measurement report settings. The selecting S2 is based on at least one further criterion. The further criterion comprises at least one of the following parameters: a distance to cell border, speed, timing advance, transmission power, geographical location, and Radio Access Technology), comprising:
receiving configuration information configured by a network device when the terminal device enters a connected state (Paragraph 0136 discloses the base station maintaining the RRC context (e.g. an eNode) may configure the UE with relaxed measurement reporting configuration when the user plane is connected via 5G RAN); and
restricting a reporting behavior when the terminal device in the connected state meets the relaxed measurement criterion, according to the configuration information (Paragraph 0137 discloses the information defines one or more scaling factors that may be applied to the first measurement report setting in order to obtain the at least one further measurement report setting. This implies that, the base station maintaining the RRC context (e.g. an eNode) may configure the UE with two different measurement reporting configurations simultaneously—one to be used when the user plane is connected via LTE and another to be used when the user plane is connected via 5G RAN. The two configurations may be similar or different, e.g. a relaxed configuration to be used when connected via 5G RAN and a non-relaxed configuration to be used when connected via LTE. Paragraphs 0107 and 0108 disclose the at least one further measurement report setting corresponds to a more relaxed measurement reporting than a first measurement report setting, which is available to the wireless device. The settings may be varied in different ways. For instance a signal strength/quality threshold that triggers a measurement report may be different or the time to trigger (TTT) that stipulates how long the threshold trigger condition must remain until the UE actually sends a measurement report (i.e. if the threshold trigger condition is no longer valid when the TTT expires the UE does not send any measurement report). If a UE is configured to send periodic measurement reports, the measurement report period can be different. Furthermore, in an inter-frequency and/or inter-RAT case discussed above, the base station can configure less frequent measurement gaps. More relaxed implies requiring “less effort” e.g. in terms of less time, less power consumption, less radio resources or less hardware resources. In other words, by varying parameters such as “thresholds for report triggering” and “time to trigger a measurement report” and “what to measure on”, the measurements and reporting thereof may require less resources e.g. in terms of power or hardware. Figure 8 and paragraphs 0110-0112 disclose the wireless device 10 is selecting S2 one of the first and further measurement report settings. The selecting S2 is based on at least one further criterion. The further criterion comprises at least one of the following parameters: a distance to cell border, speed, timing advance, transmission power, geographical location, and Radio Access Technology).
Regarding claim 2, as applied to claim 1 above, Rune further discloses wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of: a reporting prohibition timer; or a decision period configured for the relaxed measurement criterion (Paragraph 0107 discloses the at least one further measurement report setting corresponds to a more relaxed measurement reporting than a first measurement report setting, which is available to the wireless device. The settings may be varied in different ways. For instance a signal strength/quality threshold that triggers a measurement report may be different or the time to trigger (TTT) that stipulates how long the threshold trigger condition must remain until the UE actually sends a measurement report (i.e. if the threshold trigger condition is no longer valid when the TTT expires the UE does not send any measurement report)).
Regarding claim 3, as applied to claim 2 above, Rune further discloses wherein the reporting prohibition timer is a timer configured by the network device one for each relaxed measurement criterion; or the reporting prohibition timer is a timer configured by the network device one for multiple relaxed measurement criteria (Since the claim upon which this claim depends recites options for steps written in the alterative and the option to which this claim is directed is not the one for which prior art is cited, no art need be cited in the rejection of this claim).
Regarding claim 4, as applied to claim 2 above, Rune further discloses wherein the configuration information comprises the reporting prohibition timer; and restricting the reporting behavior when the terminal device in the connected state meets the relaxed measurement criterion, according to the configuration information, comprises: determining that the terminal device meets the relaxed measurement criterion and the reporting prohibition timer is not running, and sending indication information that the relaxed measurement criterion is met to the network device, wherein the terminal device is not in a relaxed measurement state for a target relaxed measurement criterion (Since the claim upon which this claim depends recites options for steps written in the alterative and the option to which this claim is directed is not the one for which prior art is cited, no art need be cited in the rejection of this claim).
Regarding claim 5, as applied to claim 4 above, Rune further discloses wherein restricting the reporting behavior when the terminal device in the connected state meets the relaxed measurement criterion, according to the configuration information, further comprises: determining the terminal device being in the relaxed measurement state for the target relaxed measurement criterion, and prohibiting to send indication information that the terminal device meets the target relaxed measurement criterion to the network device (Paragraph 0107 discloses The at least one further measurement report setting corresponds to a more relaxed measurement reporting than a first measurement report setting, which is available to the wireless device. The settings may be varied in different ways. For instance a signal strength/quality threshold that triggers a measurement report may be different or the time to trigger (TTT) that stipulates how long the threshold trigger condition must remain until the UE actually sends a measurement report (i.e. if the threshold trigger condition is no longer valid when the TTT expires the UE does not send any measurement report)).
Regarding claim 8, as applied to claim 4 above, Rune further discloses wherein restricting the reporting behavior when the terminal device in the connected state meets the relaxed measurement criterion, according to the configuration information, further comprises: starting or restarting the reporting prohibition timer (Since the claim upon which this claim depends recites options for steps written in the alterative and the option to which this claim is directed is not the one for which prior art is cited, no art need be cited in the rejection of this claim).
Regarding claim 13, Rune discloses a method for controlling triggering of a relaxed measurement criterion, performed by a network device (Paragraph 0136 discloses the base station maintaining the RRC context (e.g. an eNode) may configure the UE with relaxed measurement reporting configuration when the user plane is connected via 5G RAN), comprising:
configuring configuration information for a terminal device when the terminal device enters a connected state (Paragraph 0136 discloses the base station maintaining the RRC context (e.g. an eNode) may configure the UE with relaxed measurement reporting configuration when the user plane is connected via 5G RAN); and
sending the configuration information to the terminal device (Paragraph 0136 discloses the base station maintaining the RRC context (e.g. an eNode) may configure the UE with relaxed measurement reporting configuration when the user plane is connected via 5G RAN);
wherein the configuration information is configured to restrict a reporting behavior when the terminal device in the connected state meets the relaxed measurement criterion (Paragraph 0137 discloses the information defines one or more scaling factors that may be applied to the first measurement report setting in order to obtain the at least one further measurement report setting. This implies that, the base station maintaining the RRC context (e.g. an eNode) may configure the UE with two different measurement reporting configurations simultaneously—one to be used when the user plane is connected via LTE and another to be used when the user plane is connected via 5G RAN. The two configurations may be similar or different, e.g. a relaxed configuration to be used when connected via 5G RAN and a non-relaxed configuration to be used when connected via LTE. Paragraphs 0107 and 0108 disclose The at least one further measurement report setting corresponds to a more relaxed measurement reporting than a first measurement report setting, which is available to the wireless device. The settings may be varied in different ways. For instance a signal strength/quality threshold that triggers a measurement report may be different or the time to trigger (TTT) that stipulates how long the threshold trigger condition must remain until the UE actually sends a measurement report (i.e. if the threshold trigger condition is no longer valid when the TTT expires the UE does not send any measurement report). If a UE is configured to send periodic measurement reports, the measurement report period can be different. Furthermore, in an inter-frequency and/or inter-RAT case discussed above, the base station can configure less frequent measurement gaps. More relaxed implies requiring “less effort” e.g. in terms of less time, less power consumption, less radio resources or less hardware resources. In other words, by varying parameters such as “thresholds for report triggering” and “time to trigger a measurement report” and “what to measure on”, the measurements and reporting thereof may require less resources e.g. in terms of power or hardware. Figure 8 and paragraphs 0110-0112 disclose the wireless device 10 is selecting S2 one of the first and further measurement report settings. The selecting S2 is based on at least one further criterion. The further criterion comprises at least one of the following parameters: a distance to cell border, speed, timing advance, transmission power, geographical location, and Radio Access Technology).
Regarding claim 14, as applied to claim 13 above, Rune further discloses wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of: a reporting prohibition timer; or a decision period configured for the relaxed measurement criterion (Paragraph 0107 discloses the at least one further measurement report setting corresponds to a more relaxed measurement reporting than a first measurement report setting, which is available to the wireless device. The settings may be varied in different ways. For instance a signal strength/quality threshold that triggers a measurement report may be different or the time to trigger (TTT) that stipulates how long the threshold trigger condition must remain until the UE actually sends a measurement report (i.e. if the threshold trigger condition is no longer valid when the TTT expires the UE does not send any measurement report)).
Regarding claim 15, as applied to claim 14 above, Rune further discloses wherein the reporting prohibition timer is a timer configured by the network device one for each relaxed measurement criterion; or the reporting prohibition timer is a timer configured by the network device one for multiple relaxed measurement criteria (Since the claim upon which this claim depends recites options for steps written in the alterative and the option to which this claim is directed is not the one for which prior art is cited, no art need be cited in the rejection of this claim).
Regarding claim 33, Rune discloses a communication device (Figure 8 and paragraph 0110 disclose a wireless device 10), comprising:
a processor; and a memory having stored therein computer programs; wherein the processor is configured (Figure 10a and Paragraphs 0143, 1044, and 0147 disclose the wireless device 10 may further comprise at least one memory unit or circuitry 13 that may be in communication with the radio communication interface 11. The memory 13 may be configured to store received or transmitted data and/or executable program instructions. The wireless device 10 may further comprise processing circuitry 12. The processing circuitry 12 comprises modules configured to perform the methods described above. The modules are implemented in hardware or in software or in a combination thereof. The modules are according to one aspect implemented as a computer program stored in a memory 13 which run on the processing circuitry 12) to:
receive configuration information configured by a network device when a terminal device enters a connected state (Paragraph 0136 discloses the base station maintaining the RRC context (e.g. an eNode) may configure the UE with relaxed measurement reporting configuration when the user plane is connected via 5G RAN); and
restrict a reporting behavior when the terminal device in the connected state meets a relaxed measurement criterion, according to the configuration information (Paragraph 0137 discloses the information defines one or more scaling factors that may be applied to the first measurement report setting in order to obtain the at least one further measurement report setting. This implies that, the base station maintaining the RRC context (e.g. an eNode) may configure the UE with two different measurement reporting configurations simultaneously—one to be used when the user plane is connected via LTE and another to be used when the user plane is connected via 5G RAN. The two configurations may be similar or different, e.g. a relaxed configuration to be used when connected via 5G RAN and a non-relaxed configuration to be used when connected via LTE. Paragraphs 0107 and 0108 disclose The at least one further measurement report setting corresponds to a more relaxed measurement reporting than a first measurement report setting, which is available to the wireless device. The settings may be varied in different ways. For instance a signal strength/quality threshold that triggers a measurement report may be different or the time to trigger (TTT) that stipulates how long the threshold trigger condition must remain until the UE actually sends a measurement report (i.e. if the threshold trigger condition is no longer valid when the TTT expires the UE does not send any measurement report). If a UE is configured to send periodic measurement reports, the measurement report period can be different. Furthermore, in an inter-frequency and/or inter-RAT case discussed above, the base station can configure less frequent measurement gaps. More relaxed implies requiring “less effort” e.g. in terms of less time, less power consumption, less radio resources or less hardware resources. In other words, by varying parameters such as “thresholds for report triggering” and “time to trigger a measurement report” and “what to measure on”, the measurements and reporting thereof may require less resources e.g. in terms of power or hardware. Figure 8 and paragraphs 0110-0112 disclose the wireless device 10 is selecting S2 one of the first and further measurement report settings. The selecting S2 is based on at least one further criterion. The further criterion comprises at least one of the following parameters: a distance to cell border, speed, timing advance, transmission power, geographical location, and Radio Access Technology).
Regarding claim 34, as applied to claim 13 above, Rune further discloses a communication device, comprising: a processor; and a memory having stored therein computer programs; wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer programs stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 13 (Figure 10b and paragraphs 0150 disclose the radio network node 20 further comprises a memory 23 and processing circuitry 22. The processing circuitry 22 may be constituted by any suitable Central Processing Unit, CPU, microcontroller, Digital Signal Processor, DSP, etc. capable of executing computer program code. The computer program may be stored in a memory, MEM 23).
Regarding claim 35, as applied to claim 1 above, Rune further discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instruction that, when executed, cause the method of claims 1 to be implemented (Figure 10a and Paragraphs 0143, 1044, and 0147 disclose the wireless device 10 may further comprise at least one memory unit or circuitry 13 that may be in communication with the radio communication interface 11. The memory 13 may be configured to store received or transmitted data and/or executable program instructions. The wireless device 10 may further comprise processing circuitry 12. The processing circuitry 12 comprises modules configured to perform the methods described above. The modules are implemented in hardware or in software or in a combination thereof. The modules are according to one aspect implemented as a computer program stored in a memory 13 which run on the processing circuitry 12).
Regarding claim 36, as applied to claim 13 above, Rune further discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instruction that, when executed, cause the method of claims 13 to be implemented (Figure 10b and paragraphs 0150 disclose the radio network node 20 further comprises a memory 23 and processing circuitry 22. The processing circuitry 22 may be constituted by any suitable Central Processing Unit, CPU, microcontroller, Digital Signal Processor, DSP, etc. capable of executing computer program code. The computer program may be stored in a memory, MEM 23).
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 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 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rune in view of Jeong et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0314879 A1) (hereinafter Jeong).
Regarding claim 16, as applied to claim 13 above, Rune discloses the claimed invention except explicitly disclosing configuring a first configuration switch or a second configuration switch for the terminal device; and sending the first configuration switch or the second configuration switch to the terminal device.
In analogous art, Jeong discloses configuring a first configuration switch or a second configuration switch for the terminal device (Paragraph 0096 discloses the relaxation condition parameter may not be transferred through the SIB, but may be transferred in a dedicate manner. The base station may configure the parameter suitable to the UE in accordance with the information reported by the UE); and
sending the first configuration switch or the second configuration switch to the terminal device (Paragraph 0096 discloses the base station may provide the RRM relaxation parameter to the UE in a dedicate manner (e.g., through RRCReconfiguration) (1g-25)).
It 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 to incorporate a base station configuring a parameter for a UE and providing the parameter to the UE, as described in Jeong, with a base station configuring a UE, as described in Rune, because doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Combining a base station configuring a parameter for a UE and providing the parameter to the UE of Jeong with a base station configuring a UE of Rune was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Jeong.
Therefore, it 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 to combine the teachings of Rune and Jeong to obtain the invention as specified in claim 16.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 7, and 9-12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Considering claim 6, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Rune, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of wherein restricting the reporting behavior when the terminal device in the connected state meets the relaxed measurement criterion, according to the configuration information, further comprises: determining the terminal device being in the relaxed measurement state and not meeting the relaxed measurement criterion at any moment, and exiting the relaxed measurement state and sending indication information that the relaxed measurement criterion is not met to the network device according to a first configuration switch in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claim 6.
Considering claim 9, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, Rune, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of restricting the reporting behavior when the terminal device in the connected state meets the relaxed measurement criterion, according to the configuration information, comprises: determining that the terminal device meets the target relaxed measurement criterion for a time exceeding a duration of the decision period, and sending indication information that a target relaxed measurement criterion is met to the network device, wherein the terminal device is not in a relaxed measurement state for the target relaxed measurement criterion in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claim 9.
Claims 7 and 10-12 also include allowable subject matter by virtue of their dependency on claims 6 and 9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
Zhang et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0260059 A1) discloses multi-user MIMO transmissions in wireless communication systems;
Jamadagni et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0146595 A1) discloses a method and system for minimizing power consumption of user equipment during cell detection;
Vutukuri et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0073344 A1) discloses medium access control in LTE-U;
Chien et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0229155 A1) discloses a base station for mobile communication system;
Yi et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0314816 A1) discloses interaction between power saving adaptation and bandwidth part adaptation;
Lee (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0105647 A1) discloses a method and apparatus for informing relaxed measurement upon early measurement reporting in a wireless communication system;
Hwang et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0329591 A1) discloses a method for operating terminal and base station in wireless communication system supporting NB-IoT, and apparatus supporting;
He (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0352507 A1) discloses RRM relaxation for stationary user equipment;
Kim (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0116802 A1) discloses a method and device for measuring channel quality in communication system;
Thangarasa et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0217565 A1) discloses a method and apparatus for controlling transmission on preconfigured uplink resources in a wireless communication network;
Siomina et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0330339 A1) discloses systems and methods for UE operation in presence of CCA;
He et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0015653 A1) discloses low-power wake up radio operation in wireless communication;
Dalsgaard et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0267768 A1) discloses relaxation compensation for improved system performance; and
Jang et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0373421 A1) discloses a method and device for frequency hopping in wireless communication system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to MARK G. PANNELL whose telephone number is (303) 297-4245. The Examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (Mountain Time).
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, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on (571) 272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/Mark G. Pannell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642