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 .
This action is in response to the application filed on March 21, 2024
Claims 1-16 are under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/21/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1 – 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Comsa et al (US 2012/0207040 A1) in view of Zheng et al. (US 2022/0279402 A1).
As per Claim 1Comsa teaches a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) associated with a first cell, comprising:
a processor configured to:
send channel quality information (CQI) reports associated with the first cell (Paragraph 0055, 0061 Pcell--Primary Cell, including CQI feedback. Primary Cell, (where the main control signaling takes place including cell (such as Scell) activation/de-activation procedures, DL assignments and UL grants, UL HARQ and CQI feedback);
receive an indication of triggering conditions associated with a start of a carrier aggregation (CA) operation with the first cell and a second cell, wherein the triggering conditions comprise (Paragraph 0055, 0069, 0070, 0076 The reactive trigger may also be based on one or more events (e.g. based on the in-device knowledge that a interfering technology is active) or one or more conditions. For example, the wireless device may include or recognize a set of proactive triggers that when identified (e.g. at 302) may indicate an interference situation may occur with Carrier Aggregation (CA) may use an entire band up to 100 MHz, or alternatively may receive a 2380-2400 MHz band to transmit and/or receive signals associated therewith.):
at least one of a time condition, a timing advance condition, a time/frequency pre-compensation condition, or a location condition, and a signal level threshold (Paragraph 0076, 0077 trigger may also be based on one or more events CQI being below a threshold for a period of time (e.g. during interfered subframes or an average of interfered and non-interfered subframes). Triggers may also be used by the wireless device to detect or report an interference situation (e.g. at 302), including, for example, a handover being initiated and/or an interference situation persisting after the handover, a mode of operation being changed, a usage scenario change, a service scenario change, an interference scenario change, a timer expiring);
determine that the triggering conditions have been met (Paragraph 0237, More specifically, the wireless device may trigger an indication to the network when one or more of the following conditions may be met); and
based on the determination that the triggering conditions have been met (Paragraph 0237, 0148, 0274 the expiration of the timer, if the conditions for the trigger still hold, the wireless device may send the pending request. Alternatively, if a request may be triggered while the prohibit timer may be running, the wireless device may cancel the request. Some triggers are met and the SR needs to be transmitted as described above, the WTRU may still transmit the PUCCH):
send, via the first cell, CQI reports associated with the second cell, wherein the CQI reports associated with the second cell are sent more frequently than the CQI reports associated with the first cell, and start the CA operation, wherein during the CA operation (Paragraph 0061 Pcell--Primary Cell, (where the main control signaling takes place including cell (such as Scell) activation/de-activation procedures, DL assignments and UL grants, UL HARQ and CQI feedback, and may be the mobility anchor); Scell--Secondary Cell, (carrying traffic, it may be measured regularly and may be configured and active or de-activated); ISM device or other RAT device--the aggressor transmitter, (possibly in a nonlicensed ISM band); and WTRU or wireless device receiver--the operator licensed spectrum related technology. ):
a connection with the first cell is maintained and a connection with the second cell is initiated, and a first action via the first cell is performed and a second action via the second cell is performed, wherein the first action is associated with the second action (Paragraph 0047, 0061,0092 the notification or report may include information associated with a source cell. Pcell--Primary Cell, (where the main control signaling takes place including cell (such as Scell) activation/de-activation procedures, DL assignments and UL grants, UL HARQ and CQI feedback, and may be the mobility anchor); Scell--Secondary Cell, (carrying traffic, it may be measured regularly and may be configured Each of the eNode-Bs 140a, 140b, 140c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the uplink and/or downlink, and the like. According to another embodiment, the notification or report may be triggered once by the source cell (e.g. in a response to the interference situation or a request). The wireless device may then rely on the network nodes to relay the information from the source cell to the target cell in the handover information exchange. The wireless device may then rely on the network nodes to relay the information from the source cell to the target cell in the handover information exchange. ).
However Comsa does not explicitly disclose a start of a carrier aggregation (CA) operation with the first cell and a second cell,
Zheng disclose a start of a carrier aggregation (CA) operation with the first cell and a second cell (Paragraph 0006, 0010, 0025 the terminal device camps on a first cell and a second cell by using a carrier aggregation CA technology, where the first cell and the second cell are LTE cells, and the first cell is a primary cell; when the terminal device meets a preset first condition or a network side meets a preset second condition, the network side allocates measurement gap information to the terminal device based on the first information, where the first information is further used to indicate the multiple-input multiple-output capability of the terminal device. When a trigger condition is met, where the first message includes measurement detection, and the first message is used to measure a network parameter of a neighboring cell. The terminal device sends first information to a network device, where the first information is used to indicate whether a measurement gap is required when the terminal device performs inter-frequency measurement; the terminal device camps on a first cell and a second cell by using a carrier aggregation CA technology, where the first cell and the second cell are LTE cells, and the first cell is a primary cell; when the terminal device meets a preset first condition or the network device meets a preset second condition, the network device sends a second message to the terminal device based on the first information).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Comsa with the teachings of Zheng in order to the make the system more efficient. Because the terminal device camps on a first cell and a second cell by using a carrier aggregation CA technology, where the first cell and the second cell are LTE cells (see Zheng Paragraph 0020).
As per Claim 2 Comsa-Zheng teaches the WTRU of claim 1, wherein the CQI reports associated with the first cell are sent at a first periodicity and the CQI reports associated with the second cell are sent at a second periodicity, and wherein the second periodicity is shorter than the first periodicity (Paragraph 0230, 0258 The choice on how to modify the transmission may be based on CQI reporting. For example, to have an accurate view of the channel condition in the wireless device, the wireless device may report CQI during LTE scheduled periods, to indicate channel conditions in non-interfered periods and during LTE unscheduled periods. The wireless device may trigger a CQI every n subframes after the initiation of the scheduled/or unscheduled periods, or alternatively, a periodic CQI may be triggered. The periodic CQI may carry CQI during the wireless device's scheduled period and an aperiodic CQI may carry the CQI measured during unscheduled period. The CQI reported during the unscheduled period may also be provided periodically or only upon specific request by the eNB. PUCCH transmissions such as periodic CQI reporting, ACK/NACK reporting meeting normal latency requirements with respect to DL traffic, and normal scheduling requests; and PUSCH transmissions according to need of transmissions and scheduled resources by the network).
As per Claim 3 Comsa-Zheng teaches the WTRU of claim 1, wherein the CQI reports associated with the first cell are sent at a first periodicity and the CQI reports associated with the second cell are sent at a second periodicity, and wherein the second periodicity is shorter than the first periodicity (Paragraph 0230, 0273 To further reduce the need to send the PUCCH, the number of CQI reports may be limited. More specifically, the CQI reporting periodicity may change to the periodicity of the UL DTX pattern or to that of the semi-persistent grant. If as part of the DTX pattern, the burst transmission lasts a few TTI, the wireless device may send CQI reports more often. The wireless device may trigger a CQI every n subframes after the initiation of the scheduled/or unscheduled periods, or alternatively, a periodic CQI may be triggered. The periodic CQI may carry CQI during the wireless device's scheduled period and an aperiodic CQI may carry the CQI measured during unscheduled period. The CQI reported during the unscheduled period may also be provided periodically or only upon specific request by the eNB.).
As per Claim 4 Comsa-Zheng teaches the WTRU of claim 1, wherein the first action is a reception of a PDCCH transmission via the first cell, wherein the PDCCH transmission indicates a resource associated with the second cell, wherein the resource is for a DL transmission from the second cell or for an UL transmission to the second cell, and wherein the second action comprises a communication with the second cell via the resource (Paragraph 0167, 0251 periodicity (or cycle) and timing offset. During LTE scheduled subframes, the wireless device may operate according to legacy LTE procedures. During LTE unscheduled subframes, the wireless device may perform one or a combination of the following. The WTRU may not monitor the PDCCH. Alternatively, the PDCCH is still monitored according to the DRX procedures. If a PDCCH schedules DL data, the wireless device may not decode the PDSCH. Alternatively the PDSCH is still decoded. The wireless device may further stop monitoring the PDCCH during those subframes. In another solution, the wireless device may monitor the PDCCH according to the normal DRX procedures but may rely on the network to not be scheduled during those times. In a third solution, the wireless device may monitor the PDCCH and if scheduled for UL transmission in the unscheduled subframes, the wireless device may not perform the UL transmission.).
As per Claim 5 Comsa-Zheng teaches the WTRU of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive an indication to stop the CA operation; based on the indication, stop the CA operation, wherein the stop of the CA operation includes a disconnection of the WTRU from the first cell; and send third CQI reports associated with the second cell at a third periodicity, wherein the third periodicity is longer than the second periodicity (Paragraph 0055, 0230 For example, the wireless device may support LTE TDD band 40 in Release 10 (LTE R10) with Carrier Aggregation. LTE TDD band 40 in LTE R10 with Carrier Aggregation may use an entire band up to 100 MHz, or alternatively may receive a 2380-2400 MHz band to transmit and/or receive signals associated therewith. For example, to have an accurate view of the channel condition in the wireless device, the wireless device may report CQI during LTE scheduled periods, to indicate channel conditions in non-interfered periods and during LTE unscheduled periods).
As per Claim 6 Comsa-Zheng teaches the WTRU of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive an indication of terminating triggering conditions associated with the CA operation; determine that the terminating triggering conditions have been met; and based on the determination that the terminating triggering conditions have been met, stop the CA operation, wherein the stop of the CA operation includes a disconnection of the WTRU from the first cell (Paragraph 0055 If this condition is met, the wireless device may start regular mode transmission and then send a notification to the network. Alternatively, wireless device may send a notification to the network that the device is no longer active, according to the procedures described above and wait for an explicit indication. More specifically, the wireless device may trigger an indication to the network when one or more of the following conditions may be met. For example, the wireless device may support LTE TDD band 40 in Release 10 (LTE R10) with Carrier Aggregation. LTE TDD band 40 in LTE R10 with Carrier Aggregation may use an entire band up to 100 MHz, or alternatively may receive a 2380-2400 MHz band to transmit and/or receive signals associated therewith. ).
As per Claim 7 Comsa-Zheng teaches the WTRU of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to, based on the CA operation starting, send CQI reports associated with the second cell at a third periodicity, and wherein the third periodicity is longer than the second periodicity (Paragraph 0129, 0248 The request (e.g. received at 310) may include, but is not limited, to one or a combination of the following information: the type of technology; the type of service that the other technology is going to receive/transmit; and/or a required pattern (e.g. length and periodicity) that may be required for the other RAT to be able to properly function, which may be in the form of an index to the allowed DRX patterns in, for example, LTE or a set of predefined patterns to be used for different co-existance usage scenarios or services, or in a more explicit form. a bitmap with a given periodicity or cycle, a cycle and/or a subframe offset, where the bitmap may include specific suggested subframes which should be reserved for one technology (e.g. LTE) or should be used by the LTE technology, or subframes in which an interference situation occurs or doesn't occur ).
As per Claim 8 Comsa-Zheng teaches the WTRU of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive configuration information, wherein the configuration information indicates a duration during which CQI reports associated with the second cell are sent at the second periodicity; and based on expiration of the duration, send third CQI reports associated with the second cell at a third periodicity, wherein the third periodicity is longer than the second periodicity (Paragraph 0249, 0251 The wireless device may start applying the configured pattern (e.g. at 312) according to the bitmap, periodicity (or cycle) and timing offset. During LTE scheduled subframes, the wireless device may operate according to legacy LTE procedures. The periodicity of these patterns may be longer and therefore to save space, the pattern may include the number of consecutive scheduled subframes within a cycle. Regular PUCCH transmissions such as periodic CQI reporting, ACK/NACK reporting meeting normal latency requirements with respect to DL traffic, and normal scheduling requests; and PUSCH transmissions according to need of transmissions and scheduled resources by the network. The remaining subframes within the cycle are considered to be unscheduled subframes. The patterns may also include at least one entry that includes number of one time unscheduled subframes that the wireless device may be requesting for one time operations).
Claims 9-16 are the methods claims corresponding to the method claims 1-8 that have been rejected above. Applicant attention is directed to the rejection of claims 1-8. Claims 9-16 are rejected under the same rational as claims 1-8.
Examiner’s Note
Examiner is open for discussion if the applicant’s representative need further clarifications.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (See form 892).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SYED ALI whose telephone number is (571)270-3681. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am to 2pm.
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, ASAD NAWAZ can be reached on (571) 272-3988. 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.
/SYED ALI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463