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 Objections
1. Claim 6 is objected to because of this informality:
The limitation(s) of “offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring positions” as recited in lines 4-5 is repeated again in lines 6-7. Examiner suggests deleting the limitation(s) recited in lines 6-7 because it is a duplicate of lines 4-5.
Appropriate correction is therefore required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. Claim(s) 27 and 44 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Damnjanovic (US Patent No. 12,520,235).
As per claim 27:
Damnjanovic teaches a discontinuous reception (DRX) communications method (see Col 1, lines 51-58, teaches a method that supports configuration for secondary cell (SCell) dormancy indications. A UE may be configured with a duration of time for which an SCell is to be in an indicated dormancy state, please see Col 1, lines 59-62. Said time duration may be synchronized with a DRX cycle, please see Col 12, lines 46-52), comprising:
transmitting, by a network device, configuration information to a terminal (see Col 10, lines 49-54, when the UE 115 is outside the DRX active time, the base station 105 may transmit the dormancy indication to the UE 115 in a wake-up signal (WUS) in a PDCCH), wherein the configuration information is used for the terminal to determine, based on the configuration information, one or more target DRX-ON durations within a DRX cycle that are determined based on a plurality of wake-up signals (WUSs) (see Col 10, lines 49-54, the WUS may indicate that the UE 115 is to transition to a wake state for the next on-duration in a DRX cycle. Therefore, the UE 115 will be able to determine the next on-duration (construed as said target DRX-ON duration(s)).
As per claim 44:
Damnjanovic teaches a network device (see Figure 12, Col 21, lines 32-35, device 905 may be base station 105), comprising a memory (see Figure 12, memory 1230), a transceiver (see Figure 12, transceiver 1220) and a processor (see Figure 12, processor 1240),
wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program (see Figure 12, memory 1230 comprise of code 1235);
the transceiver is configured to transmit and receive data under control of the processor (see Col 21, lines 34-42, device 1205 may include components like transceiver 1220 and processor 1240 for transmitting and receiving communications. These components may be in electronic communication via one or more buses 1250, please see Col 21, lines 41-42);
and the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory to perform the DRX communications method according to claim 27 (see Col 22, lines 15-28, processor 1240 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in memory 1230 to cause the device 1205 to perform various functions).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. Claim(s) 1 and 43 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damnjanovic (US Patent No. 12,520,235) in view of Shi (US PG Pub. No. 2025/0008438).
As per claim 1:
Damnjanovic teaches a discontinuous reception (DRX) communications method (see Col 1, lines 51-58, teaches a method that supports configuration for secondary cell (SCell) dormancy indications. A UE may be configured with a duration of time for which an SCell is to be in an indicated dormancy state, please see Col 1, lines 59-62. Said time duration may be synchronized with a DRX cycle, please see Col 12, lines 46-52), comprising:
receiving, by a terminal, configuration information from a network device (see Col 10, lines 49-54, when the UE 115 is outside the DRX active time, the base station 105 may transmit the dormancy indication to the UE 115 in a wake-up signal (WUS) in a PDCCH);
determining, by the terminal based on the configuration information, one or more target DRX-ON durations within a DRX cycle that are determined based on a plurality of wake-up signals (WUSs) (see Col 10, lines 49-54, the WUS may indicate that the UE 115 is to transition to a wake state for the next on-duration in a DRX cycle. Therefore, the UE 115 will be able to determine the next on-duration (construed as said target DRX-ON duration(s)).
Damnjanovic does not clearly teach and performing, by the terminal, WUS monitoring, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the one or more target DRX-ON durations based on a monitoring result.
Shi teaches and performing, by the terminal, WUS monitoring, and waking up or not waking up (see Figure 4, step 430, paragraph [0076], the terminal detects the wakeup signal in the first time period. Paragraph [0082], explicitly states: “Whether the wakeup signal is sent or not can be used to indicate whether the terminal device needs to be waked up in the time period T1”), by the terminal, the one or more target DRX-ON durations based on a monitoring result (Paragraph [0077], disclose the if the terminal detects the wakeup signal, step 440 is executed. In step 440 the terminal device starts the drx-onDuration Timer in the DRX cycle after the first time period. Note: Examiner is reading the detected wakeup signal as said monitoring result).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the transmission and detection of wakeup signal (as disclosed in Shi) into Damnjanovic as a way of enabling the terminal device to start the drx-onDuration timer in a next DRX cycle, so as to wake up and receive data (please see paragraph [0086] of Shi). Therefore, implementing such detection technique helps to reduce power consumption of the terminal device during a DRX process (please see paragraph [0005] of Shi).
As per claim 43:
Damnjanovic teaches a terminal (see Figure 8, Col 17, lines 63-67, device 805 could be UE 115), comprising a memory (see Figure 8, memory 830), a transceiver (see Figure 8, transceiver 820) and a processor (see Figure 8, processor 840),
wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program (see Figure 8, memory 830 comprise of code 835);
the transceiver is configured to transmit and receive data under control of the processor (see Col 18, lines 1-7 disclose components such as memory 830, transceiver 820 and processor 840 capable of bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications. These components may be in electronic communication via one or more buses 845, please see Col 18, lines 5-7);
and the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory to perform (see Col 18, lines 61-65, processor 840 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in memory 830 to cause the device 805 to perform various functions) the following steps:
receiving configuration information from a network device (see Col 10, lines 49-54, when the UE 115 is outside the DRX active time, the base station 105 may transmit the dormancy indication to the UE 115 in a wake-up signal (WUS) in a PDCCH);
determining, based on the configuration information, one or more target DRX-ON durations within a DRX cycle that are determined based on a plurality of wake-up signals (WUSs) (see Col 10, lines 49-54, the WUS may indicate that the UE 115 is to transition to a wake state for the next on-duration in a DRX cycle. Therefore, the UE 115 will be able to determine the next on-duration (construed as said target DRX-ON duration(s)).
Damnjanovic does not clearly teach and performing WUS monitoring, and waking up or not waking up the one or more target DRX-ON durations based on a monitoring result.
Shi teaches and performing WUS monitoring, and waking up or not waking up (see Figure 4, step 430, paragraph [0076], the terminal detects the wakeup signal in the first time period. Paragraph [0082], explicitly states: “Whether the wakeup signal is sent or not can be used to indicate whether the terminal device needs to be waked up in the time period T1”) the one or more target DRX-ON durations based on a monitoring result (Paragraph [0077], disclose the if the terminal detects the wakeup signal, step 440 is executed. In step 440 the terminal device starts the drx-onDuration Timer in the DRX cycle after the first time period. Note: Examiner is reading the detected wakeup signal as said monitoring result).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the transmission and detection of wakeup signal (as disclosed in Shi) into Damnjanovic as a way of enabling the terminal device to start the drx-onDuration timer in a next DRX cycle, so as to wake up and receive data (please see paragraph [0086] of Shi). Therefore, implementing such detection technique helps to reduce power consumption of the terminal device during a DRX process (please see paragraph [0005] of Shi).
6. Claim(s) 2, 3, 5, 6, 46-49 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Lin (US PG Patent No. 12,028,868).
As per claim 2:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 1 with the exception of:
wherein the determining, by the terminal based on the configuration information, the one or more target DRX-ON durations within the DRX cycle that are determined based on the plurality of WUSs comprises:
determining, by the terminal based on the configuration information, a plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or a plurality of WUS monitoring durations, and/or a plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations within one DRX cycle, wherein starting positions of the plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations are determined based on the plurality of WUS monitoring positions or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations.
Lin teaches wherein the determining, by the terminal based on the configuration information, the one or more target DRX-ON durations within the DRX cycle that are determined based on the plurality of WUSs comprises:
determining, by the terminal based on the configuration information, a plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or a plurality of WUS monitoring durations, and/or a plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations within one DRX cycle (see Col 35, lines 29-53, when the UE detects a DCI format with fields for power saving before DRX ON duration period, a first field of 1 bit can indicate whether or not the UE should wake up for next X>=1 DRX ON duration(s) or next X>=1 DRX cycles), wherein starting positions of the plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations are determined based on the plurality of WUS monitoring positions or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations (see Col 36, lines 11-19, when the UE wakes up or does not skip PDCCH monitoring for next X DRX ON duration, yet another field or a third field N2’ bits after the first or second field can indicate minimum K0/K2 for cross slot scheduling, wherein K0/K2 indicate the slot offset between DCI and its scheduled PDSCH/PUSCH).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the DCI format (as disclosed in Lin) into both Damnjanovic and Shi as a way of providing an adaptation for at least a power saving purpose especially since the UE can decide whether or not to wake up on specific DRX ON duration(s) or cycles based on the indicted field (in the DCI format) (please see Col 35, lines 19-56 of Lin).
As per claim 3:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Lin teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 2.
Damnjanovic and Shi do not teach wherein the configuration information comprises:
relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations;
and the determining, by the terminal based on the configuration information, the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations comprises:
determining, by the terminal, the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations based on the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations;
wherein the configuration information comprises:
relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, and relevant information of candidate DRX-ON donations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations;
and the determining, by the terminal based on the configuration information, the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations, and the plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations within one DRX cycle comprises:
determining, by the terminal, the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations based on the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations;
and/or determining, by the terminal, the starting positions of the candidate DRX-ON durations based on the relevant information of the candidate DRX-ON durations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations.
Lin teaches wherein the configuration information (See Col 35, lines 29-30, DCI format) comprises:
relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations (see Col 35, lines 34-36, the first field of 1 bit can indicate whether or not the UE wake up for next X>=1 DRX ON duration(s) or next X>=1 DRX cycles. The DCI format comprise said first field, please see Col 35, lines 33-36);
and the determining, by the terminal based on the configuration information, the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations (as explained earlier in Col 35, lines 33-36, the DCI format comprise of first field of 1 bit for indicating whether or not the UE should wake up for next X>=1 DRX ON duration(s) or next X>=1 DRX cycles) comprises:
determining, by the terminal, the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations based on the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations (see Col 35, lines 55-67, rule1:, when the UE does not wake up or skips PDCCH monitoring for next X DRX ON duration, another field or a second field of one or more bit(s) after the first field can indicate whether the UE wakes up for a number of next N1*Y DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycler(s));
wherein the configuration information (see Col 35, lines 53-56, DCI format) comprises:
relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, and relevant information of candidate DRX-ON donations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations (see Col 35, lines 55-67, the UE is provided with another field or a second field of one or more bit(s) after the first field. The second field indicating whether the UE wakes up for a number of next N1*Y DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s));
and the determining, by the terminal based on the configuration information, the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations (see Col 36, lines 55-64, when the DCI format is detected, the UE determines whether a first field indicates to wake up for the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s)), and the plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations within one DRX cycle comprises:
determining, by the terminal, the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations based on the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations (see Col 36, lines 65-67, if the determination made in operation 2106 indicates that a UE should wake up for the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s), then flowchart 2100 proceeds to operation 2108. See Col 37, lines 9-15, when the first field indicates the UE not to wake up for the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycles(s), the UE determines whether or not to wake up for the next N1*Y DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s));
and/or determining, by the terminal, the starting positions of the candidate DRX-ON durations based on the relevant information of the candidate DRX-ON durations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations (see Col 37, lines 10-16, the UE determines whether or not to wake up for the next N1*Y DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the DCI format (as disclosed in Lin) into both Damnjanovic and Shi as a way of providing an adaptation for at least a power saving purpose especially since the UE can decide whether or not to wake up on specific DRX ON duration(s) or cycles based on the indicted field (in the DCI format) (please see Col 35, lines 19-56 of Lin).
As per claim 5:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Li teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 3.
Damnjanovic and Shi do not teach wherein the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations at least comprises one or more of the following:
starting positions of one or more WUS monitoring positions;
a duration of continuous monitoring.
Lin teaches wherein the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations at least (see Col 35, lines 53-56, DCI format) comprises one or more of the following:
starting positions of one or more WUS monitoring positions (see Col 35, lines 55-67, the second field indicates whether the UE may wake up for a number of next N1*Y DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s));
a duration of continuous monitoring (see Col 35, lines 55-67, the UE may wake up for the ith set of Y consecutive DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the DCI format (as disclosed in Lin) into both Damnjanovic and Shi as a way of providing an adaptation for at least a power saving purpose especially since the UE can decide whether or not to wake up on specific DRX ON duration(s) or cycles based on the indicted field (in the DCI format) (please see Col 35, lines 19-56 of Lin).
As per claim 6:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Lin teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 3.
Damnjanovic and Shi do not teach wherein the relevant information of the candidate DRX-ON durations comprises at least one of the following:
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring positions;
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring durations;
higher-layer signaling configuration.
Lin teaches wherein the relevant information of the candidate DRX-ON durations comprises at least one of the following:
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring positions (see Col 36, lines 11-20, another field or third field of N2 bits can indicate minimum K0/K2 for cross slot scheduling, wherein K0/K2 indicate the slot offset between DCI and its scheduled PDSCH/PUSCH);
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring durations (see Col 36, lines 11-20, another field or third field of N2 bits can indicate minimum K0/K2 for cross slot scheduling, wherein K0/K2 indicate the slot offset between DCI and its scheduled PDSCH/PUSCH);
higher-layer signaling configuration (see Col 35, lines 17-18, DCI content for UE adaptation signaling).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the DCI format (as disclosed in Lin) into both Damnjanovic and Shi as a way of providing an adaptation for at least a power saving purpose especially since the UE can decide whether or not to wake up on specific DRX ON duration(s) or cycles based on the indicted field (in the DCI format) (please see Col 35, lines 19-56 of Lin).
Claim 46 is rejected in the same scope as claim 2.
Claim 47 is rejected in the same scope as claim 3.
Claim 48 is rejected in the same scope as claim 5.
As pe claim 49:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Lin teaches the terminal according to claim 47.
Damnjanovic and Shi do not teach wherein the relevant information of the candidate DRX-ON durations comprises at least one of the following:
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring positions;
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring durations;
higher-layer signaling configuration.
Lin teaches wherein the relevant information of the candidate DRX-ON durations comprises at least one of the following:
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring positions (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art(s) of record);
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring durations (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art(s) of record);
higher-layer signaling configuration (see Col 22, lines 61-67, PDCCH monitoring offset and PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot configured by RRC signaling).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the DCI format (as disclosed in Lin) into both Damnjanovic and Shi as a way of providing an adaptation for at least a power saving purpose especially since the UE can decide whether or not to wake up on specific DRX ON duration(s) or cycles based on the indicted field (in the DCI format) (please see Col 35, lines 19-56 of Lin).
7. Claims 28, 29 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damnjanovic in view of Lin.
As per claim 28:
Damnjanovic teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 27 with the exception of:
wherein the configuration information comprises:
relevant information of WUS monitoring positions and/or WUS monitoring durations, and/or a plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations within one DRX cycle.
Lin teaches wherein the configuration information comprises:
relevant information of WUS monitoring positions and/or WUS monitoring durations, and/or a plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations within one DRX cycle (see Col 35, lines 34-36, the first field of 1 bit can indicate whether or not the UE wake up for next X>=1 DRX ON duration(s) or next X>=1 DRX cycles. The DCI format comprise said first field, please see Col 35, lines 33-36).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the DCI format (as disclosed in Lin) into Damnjanovic as a way of providing an adaptation for at least a power saving purpose especially since the UE can decide whether or not to wake up on specific DRX ON duration(s) or cycles based on the indicted field (in the DCI format) (please see Col 35, lines 19-56 of Lin).
As per claim 29:
Damnjanovic in view of Li teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 28.
Damnjanovic does not teach wherein the configuration information comprises: the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations;
or, wherein the configuration information comprises: the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, and relevant information of candidate DRX-ON durations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations.
Lin teaches wherein the configuration information comprises: the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations (see Col 35, lines 34-36, the first field of 1 bit can indicate whether or not the UE wake up for next X>=1 DRX ON duration(s) or next X>=1 DRX cycles. The DCI format comprise said first field, please see Col 35, lines 33-36);
or, wherein the configuration information comprises: the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations (see Col 35, lines 55-67, rule1:, when the UE does not wake up or skips PDCCH monitoring for next X DRX ON duration, another field or a second field of one or more bit(s) after the first field can indicate whether the UE wakes up for a number of next N1*Y DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s)), and relevant information of candidate DRX-ON durations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations (see Col 35, lines 55-67, the UE is provided with another field or a second field of one or more bit(s) after the first field. The second field indicating whether the UE wakes up for a number of next N1*Y DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the DCI format (as disclosed in Lin) into Damnjanovic as a way of providing an adaptation for at least a power saving purpose especially since the UE can decide whether or not to wake up on specific DRX ON duration(s) or cycles based on the indicted field (in the DCI format) (please see Col 35, lines 19-56 of Lin).
As per claim 31:
Damnjanovic in view of Lin teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 29.
Damnjanovic does not teach wherein the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations at least comprises one or more of the following:
starting positions of one or more WUS monitoring positions;
a duration of continuous monitoring;
or, wherein the relevant information of the candidate DRX-ON durations comprises at least one of the following:
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring positions;
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring durations;
higher-layer signaling configuration;
or, wherein, in case that the configuration information comprises:
the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, and relevant information of candidate DRX-ON durations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, the configuration information further comprises a preset quantity;
or, wherein the WUS is a physical layer signal based on a DCI, or the WUS is a physical layer signal based on a sequence.
Lin teaches wherein the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations at least comprises one or more of the following:
starting positions of one or more WUS monitoring positions (see Col 35, lines 55-67, the second field indicates whether the UE may wake up for a number of next N1*Y DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s));
a duration of continuous monitoring (see Col 35, lines 55-67, the UE may wake up for the ith set of Y consecutive DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s) after the next X DRX ON duration(s)/cycle(s));
or, wherein the relevant information of the candidate DRX-ON durations comprises at least one of the following:
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring positions (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
offset values of starting positions of one or more candidate DRX-ON durations relative to the WUS monitoring durations (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
higher-layer signaling configuration (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
or, wherein, in case that the configuration information comprises:
the relevant information of the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, and relevant information of candidate DRX-ON durations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, the configuration information further comprises a preset quantity (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
or, wherein the WUS is a physical layer signal based on a DCI, or the WUS is a physical layer signal based on a sequence (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the DCI format (as disclosed in Lin) into Damnjanovic as a way of providing an adaptation for at least a power saving purpose especially since the UE can decide whether or not to wake up on specific DRX ON duration(s) or cycles based on the indicted field (in the DCI format) (please see Col 35, lines 19-56 of Lin).
8. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Beale (US PG Pub. No. 2023/0023422).
As per claim 7:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 1 with the exception of:
wherein the performing, by the terminal, WUS monitoring, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the target DRX-ON durations based on the monitoring result comprises:
performing, by the terminal, a plurality of WUS monitoring, determining, by the terminal, a detected target WUS according to a first rule, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, a candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the detected target WUS, wherein the first rule is used for the terminal to determine the target WUS during the plurality of WUS monitoring durations;
or wherein the performing, by the terminal, WUS monitoring, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the target DRX-ON durations based on the monitoring result comprises:
performing, by the terminal, a plurality of WUS monitoring, determining, by the terminal, a detected target WUS within one DRX cycle according to a second rule, determining, by the terminal, a starting position of a candidate DRX-ON duration associated with the detected target WUS, and determining, by the terminal, to wake up or not wake up the associated DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the detected target WUS,
wherein the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations within one DRX cycle correspond to the starting positions of the plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations, and the second rule is used for the terminal to determine the target WUS during the DRX cycle.
Beale teaches wherein the performing, by the terminal, WUS monitoring, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the target DRX-ON durations based on the monitoring result comprises:
performing, by the terminal, a plurality of WUS monitoring, determining, by the terminal, a detected target WUS according to a first rule, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, a candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the detected target WUS, wherein the first rule is used for the terminal to determine the target WUS during the plurality of WUS monitoring durations (see paragraph [0077], if the UE determines that the number of valid search spaces is less than Nmon, the UE determines to validate one or more invalid search spaces according to a set of pre-defined rules, then the UE wakes up during a subsequent DRX_ON period. The UE monitors valid search spaces which overlap in time with the PS-PDCCH monitoring period for DCI format 2_6 containing WUS);
or wherein the performing, by the terminal, WUS monitoring, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal (Note: The limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art(s) of record), the target DRX-ON durations based on the monitoring result comprises:
performing, by the terminal, a plurality of WUS monitoring, determining, by the terminal, a detected target WUS within one DRX cycle according to a second rule, determining, by the terminal, a starting position of a candidate DRX-ON duration associated with the detected target WUS, and determining, by the terminal, to wake up or not wake up the associated DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the detected target WUS (Note: The limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art(s) of record),
wherein the plurality of WUS monitoring positions and/or the plurality of WUS monitoring durations within one DRX cycle correspond to the starting positions of the plurality of candidate DRX-ON durations, and the second rule is used for the terminal to determine the target WUS during the DRX cycle (Note: The limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art(s) of record).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the searching in one or more determined search spaces which overlap with the PS-PDCCH (as disclosed in Beale) into both Damnjanovic and Shi as a way of reducing power consumption (please see paragraph [0073] of Beale).
9. Claims 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Beale and Bala (US PG Pub. No. 2022/0303795).
As per claim 8:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Beale teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 7 with the exception of:
wherein the performing, by the terminal, the plurality of WUS monitoring, determining, by the terminal, the detected target WUS according to the first rule, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the candidate DRX-ON duration based on the indication information of the detected target WUS comprises one or more of the following:
for each WUS monitoring duration among the plurality of WUS monitoring durations, in a case where the terminal has detected a WUS, stopping, by the terminal, WUS monitoring on other monitoring occasions in the WUS monitoring duration, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the most recently detected WUS;
in a case where the terminal performs WUS monitoring on each WUS monitoring occasion within each WUS monitoring duration among the plurality of WUS monitoring durations, and has detected a plurality of WUSs, waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of a WUS that is most recently detected;
in a case where the terminal has detected a WUS within the plurality of WUS monitoring durations, stopping, by the terminal, WUS monitoring in other WUS monitoring durations of the plurality of WUS monitoring durations, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the WUS that has been detected.
Bala teaches wherein the performing, by the terminal, the plurality of WUS monitoring, determining, by the terminal, the detected target WUS according to the first rule, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal (see paragraph [0096], the WTRU may decide whether or not to monitor the in the ON duration based on contents of the wake-up signal), the candidate DRX-ON duration based on the indication information of the detected target WUS comprises one or more of the following:
for each WUS monitoring duration among the plurality of WUS monitoring durations, in a case where the terminal has detected a WUS, stopping, by the terminal, WUS monitoring on other monitoring occasions in the WUS monitoring duration, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the most recently detected WUS (see paragraph [0096], the WTRU may decide to skip the DRX ON duration and not monitor PDCCH in the skipped ON_duration, for example, if a wake-up signal is not detected or if a wake-up signal is detected but the contents of the wake-up signal indicate skipping the DRX ON duration. The WTRU may skip decoding WUS and monitor search spaces configured in ON-duration, for example, if a WUS is not detected M consecutive times);
in a case where the terminal performs WUS monitoring on each WUS monitoring occasion within each WUS monitoring duration among the plurality of WUS monitoring durations, and has detected a plurality of WUSs, waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of a WUS that is most recently detected (see paragraph [0096], the WTRU may decide to skip the DRX ON duration and not monitor PDCCH in the skipped ON_duration, for example, if a wake-up signal is not detected or if a wake-up signal is detected but the contents of the wake-up signal indicate skipping the DRX ON duration. The WTRU may skip decoding WUS and monitor search spaces configured in ON-duration, for example, if a WUS is not detected M consecutive times);
in a case where the terminal has detected a WUS within the plurality of WUS monitoring durations, stopping, by the terminal, WUS monitoring in other WUS monitoring durations of the plurality of WUS monitoring durations, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, the candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the WUS that has been detected (Note: limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art of record).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement specific timers upon receipt of the power saving signal or wake up signal (as disclosed in Bala) into Damnjanovic, Shi and Beale as a way of performing measurements in different active times (please see paragraph [0098] of Bala).
As per claim 10:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Beale teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 7 with the exception of:
wherein the performing, by the terminal, the plurality of WUS monitoring, determining, by the terminal, the detected target WUS within one DRX cycle according to the second rule, determining, by the terminal, the starting position of the candidate DRX-ON duration associated with the detected target WUS, and determining, by the terminal, to wake up or not wake up the associated DRX-ON duration based on the indication information of the detected target WUS comprises one or more of the following:
for each WUS monitoring duration in one DRX cycle, in a case where the terminal has detected a WUS, stopping, by the terminal, monitoring for other WUSs in the WUS monitoring duration, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, an associated candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the detected WUS;
for each WUS monitoring duration in one DRX cycle, in a case where the terminal performs monitoring on all monitoring occasions within the WUS monitoring duration, and the terminal has detected a plurality of WUSs and indication information of the plurality of WUSs are different, waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, an associated candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of a WUS that is most recently detected.
Bala teaches wherein the performing, by the terminal, the plurality of WUS monitoring, determining, by the terminal, the detected target WUS within one DRX cycle according to the second rule, determining, by the terminal, the starting position of the candidate DRX-ON duration associated with the detected target WUS (see paragraph [0096], the WTRU may decide whether or not to monitor the in the ON duration based on contents of the wake-up signal), and determining, by the terminal, to wake up or not wake up the associated DRX-ON duration based on the indication information of the detected target WUS comprises one or more of the following:
for each WUS monitoring duration in one DRX cycle, in a case where the terminal has detected a WUS, stopping, by the terminal, monitoring for other WUSs in the WUS monitoring duration, and waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, an associated candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of the detected WUS (see paragraph [0096], the WTRU may decide to skip the DRX ON duration and not monitor PDCCH in the skipped ON_duration, for example, if a wake-up signal is not detected or if a wake-up signal is detected but the contents of the wake-up signal indicate skipping the DRX ON duration. The WTRU may skip decoding WUS and monitor search spaces configured in ON-duration, for example, if a WUS is not detected M consecutive times);
for each WUS monitoring duration in one DRX cycle, in a case where the terminal performs monitoring on all monitoring occasions within the WUS monitoring duration, and the terminal has detected a plurality of WUSs and indication information of the plurality of WUSs are different, waking up or not waking up, by the terminal, an associated candidate DRX-ON duration based on indication information of a WUS that is most recently detected (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art(s) of record).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement specific timers upon receipt of the power saving signal or wake up signal (as disclosed in Bala) into Damnjanovic, Shi and Beale as a way of performing measurements in different active times (please see paragraph [0098] of Bala).
10. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Lin and Laselva (US PG Pub. No. 2024/0080772).
As per claim 11:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Lin teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 3 with the exception of:
wherein, in case that the configuration information comprises: relevant information of the monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, and relevant information of candidate DRX-ON durations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, the configuration information further comprises a preset quantity, and the method further comprises:
in a case where a quantity of the target DRX-ON durations waked up by the terminal reaches the preset quantity, stopping, by the terminal, WUS monitoring, and stopping, by the terminal, the waking up or not waking up of remaining candidate DRX-ON durations.
Laselva teaches wherein, in case that the configuration information comprises: relevant information of the monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, and relevant information of candidate DRX-ON durations associated with the WUS monitoring positions and/or the WUS monitoring durations, the configuration information further comprises a preset quantity (see paragraph [0056], the network provides the UE with WUS configuration indicating whether the presence of the WUS indicates skipping of one or multiple consecutive DRX On-Durations), and the method further comprises:
in a case where a quantity of the target DRX-ON durations waked up by the terminal reaches the preset quantity, stopping, by the terminal, WUS monitoring, and stopping, by the terminal, the waking up or not waking up of remaining candidate DRX-ON durations (see paragraph [0056], the information can indicate the UE is allowed to relax RLM, BFD, RR and/or the like measurements if it is configured that N consecutive DRX On-Durations can be skipped).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the WUS configuration (as disclosed in Laselva) into Damnjanovic, Shi and Lin as a way of enabling the UE to determine whether no to perform specific measurements in the DRX On-Durations (please see paragraph [0056] of Laselva).
11. Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Lin and Wei (US PG Pub. No. 2023/0171698).
As per claim 12:
Damnjanovic in view of Shi and further in view of Lin teaches the DRX communications method according to claim 2 with the exception of:
wherein in a case where the WUS monitoring position or the WUS monitoring duration overlaps or does not overlap with a monitoring window of downlink control information (DCI) in a target format, the method comprises one or more of the following:
monitoring, by the terminal, for the WUS;
monitoring, by the terminal, for the DCI in the target format;
monitoring, by the terminal, for both the WUS and the DCI in the target format;
or wherein the WUS is physical layer signal based on a DCI, or the WUS is a physical layer signal based on a sequence.
Wei teaches wherein in a case where the WUS monitoring position or the WUS monitoring duration overlaps or does not overlap with a monitoring window of downlink control information (DCI) in a target format (see paragraph [0083], the UE may continuously monitor a set of wakeup signal monitoring occasions associated with an MBMS session until the UE receives DCI (e.g., in the set of wakeup signal monitoring occasions or another set of wakeup signal monitoring occasions overlapping in time with the set of wakeup signal monitoring occasions) that indicates that the UE is to initiate an on duration timer for the next DRX cycle for the MBMS session), the method comprises one or more of the following:
monitoring, by the terminal, for the WUS (see paragraph [0083], the UE may continuously monitor a set of wakeup signal monitoring occasions associated with an MBMS session);
monitoring, by the terminal, for the DCI in the target format (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art of record);
monitoring, by the terminal, for both the WUS and the DCI in the target format (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art of record);
or wherein the WUS is physical layer signal based on a DCI, or the WUS is a physical layer signal based on a sequence (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art of record).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement monitoring of wakeup signals in overlapping monitoring occasions (as disclosed Wei) into Damnjanovic, Shi and Lin as a way of providing the UE with the opportunity of whether or not to initiate an on-duration timer for a subsequent DRX cycle (please see paragraph [0077] of Wei).
Conclusion
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PRINCE AKWASI. MENSAH
Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/PRINCE A MENSAH/Examiner, Art Unit 2474
/Michael Thier/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2474