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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment to the claims filed on 07/13/2026 complies with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.121(c) and has been entered. Claims 16-18, 20-23, 25-28, 30-33, and 35 are amended. Claims 1-15, 19, 24, 29, and 34 are cancelled. The objection over the Specification is withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Arguments/Remarks filed 07/13/2026 (hereinafter Resp.) are fully considered hereinafter.
Applicant argues that Kim et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0260133 (hereinafter Kim) “teaches releasing the overall connection with the first network itself Kim fails to disclose or suggest the selective release of specific SCells while maintaining the PCell connection, as recited in the present application” – See Resp., p.10:¶5. Examiner respectfully disagrees because the teaching of how to release a specific SCell was readily available to one of ordinary skills in the art once the base station receives a UE’s preferences for components carriers and frequency bands in the UEAssistanceInformation message – See, e.g., § 5.3.5, 3GPP TS 38.331 v16.6.0 (2021-09), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331) specifying the RRCReconfiguration message may comprise mrdc-SecondaryCellGroupConfig set to release whereby the UE may “perform MR-DC release as specified in clause 5.3.5.10” described at page 88 whereby it is specified that the UE shall “for each sCellIndex value included in the sCellToReleaseList: 3>if the current UE configuration includes an SCell with value sCellIndex: 4>release the SCell” and whereby the base station knows the UE’s preference for how many SCells and the frequency band from the UEAssistanceInformation message. The present Office Action incorporates this foundational reference that also teaches that the UEAssistanceInformation message also includes information on a SCell to be released and information on a frequency band.
Applicant also argues that “the cited art does not teach or suggest ‘identifying whether a secondary cell group (SCG) needs to be released; and transmitting, to a base station, a
radio resource control (RRC) message including information on a secondary cell (SCell) to be
released and information on a frequency band’” – See Resp., p.11:¶5. However it is respectfully pointed that the cited reference 3GPP R2-2110145, Title: “UE capability and additional scenarios related to MUSIM switching scenarios,” Source: Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell, published October 22, 2021, specifically teaches identification, by the UE, that a SCG of a first network needs to be released because of paging collisions with a second network in the same frequency band and that 3GPP TS 38.331 teaches the remaining features as explained supra.
In sum, Applicant arguments are either unpersuasive or moot in view of the new references cited due to claim amendments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(a)
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Amended Claims 16, 21, 26 and 31 and their dependent claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Amended Claims 16, 21, 26 and 31 require “information on the on a secondary cell (SCell) to be released and information on a frequency band” when the Specification consistently discloses “information may include information on a frequency band or information on the SCell that needs to be deactivated or released” – See p. 12:30:32, clarifying the reason for using “or” at p.11:20-23 (stating “the terminal 1e-05 requests deactivation or release of a specific master cell group (MCG) SCell, a specific SCG SCell, an SCG (i.e., all cells belonging to an SN le-15, a primary secondary cell (PSCells) and SCells), or a specific frequency band (i.e., all cells belonging to a specific frequency band) of a first SIM network involved in the second RF chain”). For this reason Amended Claims 16, 21, 26 and 31 and their dependent claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(a) for lack of sufficient written description.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Amended Claims 16, 21, 26 and 31 and their dependent claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Amended Claim 16 recites the limitation "a secondary cell (SCell) to be released". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because the secondary cell could belong to a MCG or to a SCG to be (also) released. The Specification describes an embodiment wherein “the terminal 1e-05 requests deactivation or release of a specific master cell group (MCG) SCell, a specific SCG SCell, an SCG (i.e., all cells belonging to an SN le-15, a primary secondary cell (PSCells) and SCells), or a specific frequency band (i.e., all cells belonging to a specific frequency band) of a first SIM network involved in the second RF chain” – See p.11:20-23 (emphasis added); see also Kim infra stating in [¶0293] “second indication to restore secondary cells (SCells) of master cell group (MCG); a third indication to restore secondary cell group (SCG),” i.e., secondary cells may belong to the MCG as well as the SCG;
A claim is indefinite when it contains words or phrases whose meaning is unclear. In re Packard, 751 F.3d 1307, 1314, 110 USPQ2d 1785, 1789 (Fed. Cir. 2014). If the scope of a claim would be reasonably ascertainable by those skilled in the art, then the claim is not indefinite. Ex parte Porter, 25 USPQ2d 1144, 1145 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1992); see also MPEP § 2173.05(e).
Here, because the claim further requires “transmitting, to a base station” an RRC message, it is unclear to one of ordinary skills in the art to which base station the request is sent: the MN of the MCG, the SN of the SCG or the network of the other SIM card – See, e.g., FIGs. 1D and 1E. Specifically, it is unclear whether the SCell to be released belongs to the SCG that is to be released and the release of the SCell is the same procedure as the release of the SCG (e.g., releasing all SCells of the SCG), or the SCell to be released belongs to the MCG or to the other SIM card’s network and a different release procedure must be employed.
For these reasons Amended Claims 16, 21, 26 and 31 and their dependent claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(b) as being indefinite.
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 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 16-18, 20-23, 25-28, 30-33, and 35, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0260133 (hereinafter Kim), and further in view of 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #116 electronic, Title: "Skeleton Notes," Source:RAN2 Chairman (MediaTek) (hereinafter 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes), published November 13, 2021, and references included therein.
Regarding Amended Claim 16, Kim teaches a method performed by a multi-universal subscriber identity module (MUSIM) terminal in a wireless communication system (“A wireless device (multi-USIM device) may operate at least two universal subscriber identity modules. For example, a first USIM of the wireless device may be associated with a first network. A second USIM of the wireless device may be associated with a second network” – See [¶0480] and Fig. 26 whereby on one of the networks “Cell group configuration parameters may be used to configure a master cell group (MCG) or secondary cell group (SCG)” – See [¶0294] and “Cell group configuration parameters may comprise at least one of RLC bearer configuration parameters, MAC cell group configuration parameters, physical cell group configuration parameters, SpCell configuration parameters for the first cell group or SCell configuration parameters for other cells of the second base station” – See [¶0296] and whereby a “PCell may be the serving cell that the UE initially connects to at RRC connection establishment” and “The other aggregated cells for the UE may be referred to as secondary cells (SCells)” – See [¶0155] and Figs. 10A and 10B showing the frequency bands for each PCell/SCells on a MCG (PUCCH Group 1010) and PScell/SCells on an SCG (PUCCH Group 1050) wherein “A cell, comprising a downlink carrier and optionally an uplink carrier, may be assigned with a physical cell ID and a cell index” that “may be determined using RRC messages” – See [¶0159] and “A UE may search the frequency (NR) bands and for each carrier frequency may identify the strongest cell as per the CD-SSB . . . to identify a suitable cell” for “the UE may camp on that cell and commence the cell reselection procedure” – See [¶0275], i.e., the UE knows the frequency band and the cell index for each serving cell) the method comprising:
identifying whether a secondary cell group (SCG) needs to be released (e.g., “FIG. 27A and FIG. 27B illustrates an example of a procedure to release a connection of a first network” wherein “[a] UE may receive an RRC release message from the base station of serving cell (or PCell),” e.g., the MN of the MCG, and “Based on the RRC release message, the UE may perform UE actions for the RRC release message from the base station,” e.g., release the SCG/SN or a SCell of the SCG – See [¶0359] and “Based on the RRC message . . ., the UE may perform the releasing an RRC connection” – See [¶0367] and Fig. 18; alternatively, “A multi-USIM device may signal the network a preference to leave an RRC connected state by using an RRC or an NAS signaling/message” and “if the multi-USIM device does not receive an RRC release message from the network A within a certain time period (if configured by the Network), the multi-USIM device can enter an RRC idle state in the network” – See [¶0476] and Figs. 27A and 27B, wherein 1st network may comprise MCG/MN and SCG/SN of one USIM network; furthermore, a person of ordinary skills in the art would know that the procedure to release a SCG is specified in §10.4, 3GPP TS 37.340 V16.7.0 (2021-09), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and NR; Multi-connectivity; Stage 2 (Release 16)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 37.340) e.g., as shown in Figure 10.4.2-1 at page 44 reproduced hereinafter, wherein the RRCReconfiguration comprises the release message:
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and stating, at page 16, that there exists “MR-DC for a cell group that includes cells in different Frequency Ranges as specified in TS 38.331”; see also § 5.3.5, 3GPP TS 38.331 v16.6.0 (2021-09), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16)” specifying the RRCReconfiguration message may comprise mrdc-SecondaryCellGroupConfig set to release whereby the UE may “perform MR-DC release as specified in clause 5.3.5.10” described at page 88); and
transmitting, to a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including information on a secondary cell (SCell) to be released and information on a frequency band (“the UE may send a RLC message (e.g., a status report) to the base station for acknowledgments of the RRC release message” – See [¶0359] whereby a person of ordinary skills in the art would appreciate that the RRCReconfiguration acknowledgment may contain UEAssistanceInformation IE that comprises the required information as specified in § 5.7.4, 3GPP TS 38.331 and its updates before the filing date of the present Application; or, in the alternative, “The wireless device may transmit the [release] request via an RRC message (e.g., an UE assistance information message). Based on the request, the base station may determine to release the connection of the first network” and “Based on the determining, the base station may transmit an RRC release message as a response to the request” – See [¶0520]; see also § 5.7.4, 3GPP TS 38.331 at page 182, showing in Figure 5.7.4.1-1 the UEAssistanceInformation RRC message in response to RRCReconfiguration RRC message from the network and further specifying, at page 186 that “A UE capable of providing its preference on the maximum number of secondary component carriers of a cell group . . . upon change of its maximum number of secondary component carriers preference” and that “A UE capable of providing assistance information to transition out of RRC_CONNECTED state may initiate the procedure if it was configured to do so, upon determining that it prefers to transition out of RRC_CONNECTED state, or upon change of its preferred RRC state,” and at page 191, that “The UE can implicitly indicate a preference for NR SCG release by reporting the maximum aggregated bandwidth preference for power saving of the cell group, if configured, as zero for both FR1 and FR2, and by reporting the maximum number of secondary component carriers for power saving of the cell group, if configured, as zero for both uplink and downlink,” i.e., the UE includes preference information on a secondary cell (SCell) to be released, here for example, all SCells or some SCells of the SCG, and information on a frequency band, FR1 or FR2 or both).
Although Kim teaches the UE identifying the release of a network connection, Kim does not specifically teach the UE identifying a SCG for release.
Section 8.3 of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes discloses updates to 3GPP technical specifications regarding System architecture caused by introduction of multi-SIM enhancements in 3GPP Rel-17. Subsection 8.3.5, 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes references R2-2110145, Title: “UE capability and additional scenarios related to MUSIM switching scenarios,” Source: Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell, published October 22, 2021, wherein § 2.2, R2-2110145, discloses, at page 2, that “[w]hen the UE attempts to establish RRC connection in the idle mode network which may be NR or LTE network, the dual connectivity at the NTWK-A may need to be downgraded to single connectivity . . . without leaving the network completely,” i.e., the UE identifies that the SCG must be released (because, as well known in the art, a UE may not release the MCG/MN and not the SCG/SN) and proposes “switching notification to NTWK-A in dual connectivity, depending on the frequency/band of operation in other network, UE may indicate preference to leave SCG” stating that “the UE may indicate its preference to release SCG within Leave Indication structure of UE Assistance information. This assistance information can be used by network to release SCG to enable the switching without releasing the complete RRC connection.” Therefore, 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes teaches the UE identifying a SCG for release.
Thus, Kim and 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes each teaches a MUSIM terminal configured in dual connectivity (DC) on a first USIM network and sending UE Assistance Information to that network together with preference for releasing the SCG/SN connection. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have understood that the UE capability identify and notify the first network about preference to release an SCell and/or the SCG of that network depending on the frequency/band of operation in the other USIM network, as disclosed in R2-2110145 referenced by 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes could have improved upon the MUSIN UE capabilities in Kim because both use UE Assistance Information to report UE’s preferences related to MUSIM operations. Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to carry out the improvement through techniques known in the art. Finally, the improvement achieves the predictable result of allowing the UE to remain connected to some carriers/MCG on the first network while avoiding collision on a frequency band with the second network as taught by both Kim and 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Therefore, Amended Claim 16 is obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Regarding Amended Claim 17, dependent from Claim 16, Kim further teaches the method of claim 16, wherein the information on the SCG includes information on at least one SCell index (“A cell index may be determined using RRC messages” – See [¶0159] whereby the RRC message may be a RRCReconfiguration message for releasing the SCG or some Scells of the SCG as explained supra, whereby § 5.3.5, 3GPP TS 38.331 further provides, at page 69-70, that “The network provides the configuration parameters for a cell group in the CellGroupConfig IE” comprised in the RRCReconfiguration message, and “if the CellGroupConfig contains the sCellToReleaseList: 2>perform SCell release as specified in 5.3.5.5.8” and § 5.3.5.5.8 specifies, at page 74, that “2>for each sCellIndex value included in the sCellToReleaseList: 3>if the current UE configuration includes an SCell with value sCellIndex: 4>release the SCell”).
Therefore, Amended Claim 17 is anticipated by Kim.
Regarding Amendment Claim 18, dependent from Amended Claim 16, Kim further teaches the method of claim 16, wherein the information on the frequency band includes information on at least one band index (as explained in Regarding Amended Claim 16 supra “The UE can implicitly indicate a preference for NR SCG release by reporting the maximum aggregated bandwidth preference for power saving of the cell group, if configured, as zero for both FR1 and FR2” where FR1 and FR2 are the indices of NR known frequency bands1 corresponding to Freq. Band A and Freq. Band B in Fig. 10A of Kim).
Therefore, Amended Claim 18 is obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Regarding Amended Claim 20, dependent from Amended Claim 16, Kim further teaches the method of claim 16, further comprising:
transmitting, to the base station gap information2 for a band in a MUSIM operation (the “multi-USIM device may signal the network a preference to be kept in an RRC connected state in Network A,” e.g., with the MSG/MN, “while temporarily switching to network B, this is indicated by scheduling gaps preference. This preference may include information for setup or release of gaps” – See [¶0477] whereby “[d]uring the switching gap time, the wireless device may switch to the second network,” i.e., network B, and “may monitor, during the switching gap time, downlink signal or acquire system information block (SIB)/SSB, or receive a paging, or transmit a signal. A signal may be a request for on-demand system information (SI)” – See [¶0480] i.e., perform operation in the frequency band of network B; see also § 5.2.2.4.2, 3GPP TS 38.331 specifying at page 42 that upon receiving the SIB1 the UE shall “select the first frequency band in the frequencyBandList, for FDD from frequencyBandList for uplink, or for TDD from frequencyBandList for downlink, which the UE supports,” i.e., the scheduling gap is for a frequency band in the MUSIM operation).
Therefore, Amended Claim 20 is obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Regarding Amended Claim 21, Kim teaches a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system (“A network and a wireless device may support one or more of the following enhancements for multi-USIM device operation: connection release” – See [¶0453] whereby the “base station (e.g., NG-RAN) may support one or more of the following enhancements for multi-USIM device operation: paging collision avoidance; UE notification on network switching; busy indication” – See [¶0472]), the method comprising:
the steps of the method recited in Amended Claim 16 using the same language only here from the perspective of the base station; and
transmitting, to the MUSIM terminal, a message including configuration information based on the information on the SCell to be released and the information on the frequency band (e.g., as shown in Figure 10.4.2-1 from 3GPP TS 37.340 reproduced above, an RRCReconfiguration message is sent to the UE to release the SCG, i.e., all SCells in the frequency band FR1 or FR2 as explained in Regarding Amended Claim 16 supra)
Therefore, Amended Claim 21 is obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Regarding Amended Claims 22-23, and 25, dependent from Amended Claim 21, each claim merely recites the same limitations as recited in Amended Claims 17-18, and 20, using the same language. Because each of the Amended Claims 17-18 and 20-21 are obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein, Amended Claims 22-23, and 25 are also obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Regarding Amended Claim 26, Kim teaches in Fig. 15 a terminal in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising: a transceiver; and a controller – See Wireless Device 1502 in Fig. 15, configured to: execute the steps of the method recited in Amended Claim 16 using the same language. Because Amended Claim 16 is obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein, Amended Claim 26 is obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Regarding Amended Claims 27-28, and 30, dependent from Amended Claim 26, each claim recites the same limitations as Amended Claims 17-18, and 20, respectively, using the same language, only applied to the terminal of Amended Claim 26. Because each of the Amended Claims 17-18, 20 and 26 are obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein, Amended Claims 27-28, and 30 are also obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Regarding Amended Claim 31, Kim teaches in Fig. 15 a base station in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising: a transceiver; and a controller – See Base Station 1504 in Fig. 15, configured to: execute the steps of the method recited in Amended Claim 21 using the same language. Because Amended Claim 21 is obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein, Amended Claim 31 is obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Regarding Amended Claims 32-33, and 35, dependent from Amended Claim 31, each claim recites the same limitations as in Amended Claims 22-23, and 25, using the same language, only applied to the base station of Amended Claim 31. Because each of the Amended Claims 22-23, 25 and 31 are obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein, Amended Claims 32-33, and 35 are obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
In sum, Amended Claims 16-18, 20-23, 25-28, 30-33, and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as obvious over Kim in view of 3GPP RAN2-116e-Chair-Notes and references therein.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Selvaganapathy et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0056792 teaches MUSIM UE switching connection between networks;
Kim et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0267814 discloses MUSIM device transmitting to the base station during a gap time;
Selvaganapathy et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0422525 discloses a terminal and a first network associated with one of the MUSIMs, determining a need to leave the first network to establish a connection to a second network associated with another one of the MUSIMs for a short duration, and storing a configuration for the first network to use for reestablishment at return of the user equipment to the first network;
Lovlekar et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2026/0075675 discloses a MUSIM user equipment (UE) is configured to stay synchronized with a network;
Gurumoorthy et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2026/0075675 discloses MUSIM user equipment (UE) is configured to operate in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state with busy indication;
Nagano et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0015835 discloses MUSIM UE transmits, to the base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including an information element indicating whether or not the second network is synchronized with the first network;
Bergstrom et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0303833 discloses method for indicating and operating multiple User Equipment (UEs) in a wireless device;
Kumar et al., WIPO Patent Application publication No. WO 2020/197695 discloses a UE may transmit, to the first network, MSIM assistance information regarding the second subscription. The MSIM assistance information may enable the network to determine periodic gaps needed by the UE to monitor a second subscription in an idle mode;
3GPP TS 38.331 V16.6.0 (2021-09), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16)”;
3GPP TS 38.133 V17.3.0 (2021-09), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Requirements for support of radio resource management (Release 17)”;
3GPP TS 37.340 V16.7.0 (2021-09), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and NR; Multi-connectivity; Stage 2 (Release 16)”;
3GPP TR 23.761 V17.0.0 (2021-06), “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Study on system enablers for devices having multiple Universal Subscriber Identity Modules (USIM) (Release 17)”;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #116 electronic, Title: "Skeleton Notes," Source: RAN2 Chairman (MediaTek), published November 13, 2021;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #116 electronic, R2-2110145, Title: “UE capability and additional scenarios related to MUSIM switching scenarios,” Source: Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell, published October 22, 2021;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #116 electronic, R2-211439, Title:” Running CR to 38300 for Multi-USIM devices support,” Source: Ericsson, published November 19, 2021
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #116 electronic, R2-2111602, Title: “Running NR RRC CR for MUSIM,” Source: vivo, published November 20, 2021;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #116 electronic, R2-2111303, Title: “Summary of agenda 8.3.5: UE capabilities (MUSIM)” published October 30, 2021.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/L.G.G./ Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
1 The Specification does not define “frequency band index” stating only that “The information on the frequency band may include at least a band index value used to indicate the frequency band” – See p.12:34-36 and that “all cells belonging to the frequency band need be deactivated or released” – See p.13:1 hence the wholesale definition of FR1 and FR2 frequency ranges for sub-6 GHz and over 24GHz frequency bands find support in the Specification. A network can request through RRC UE Capabilities the frequencyBandList supported by the UE and the UE may respond with UE-MRDC-Capability and/or UE-NR-Capability comprising FR1 and FR2 – See 3GPP TS 38.331 at page 755-759, hence the UE knows how to signal a frequency band index to the network.
2 The only meaning of the term “gap” supported by the Specification is a “scheduling gap” defined as “a time interval in which data transmission and reception scheduling of the base station is suspended periodically or aperiodically” and “no measurement is performed on serving cells of the corresponding base station” so that “the terminal 1f-05 may receive a predetermined signal from the second SIM network” – See p.14:35-36; p.15:1-4.
Prosecution Insights