DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to the Applicant's arguments and amendments filed on 28 June 2024 in which claims 1-4, 6-20, 25 are currently pending and claims 5, 21-24, 26-27 have been cancelled.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references listed in the Information Disclosure Statement, filed on 28 June 2024, 16 July 2025, 16 January 2026, 02 June 2026, have been considered by the examiner (see attached PTO-1449 form or PTO/SB/08A and 08B forms).
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claims 1-3, 6-7, 16-20, 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yavuz et al. (PG Pub US 2025/0097811 A1) in view of Li (PG Pub US 2026/0143557 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 25, Yavuz discloses an operation determination method and a terminal device (UE 200, fig. 6).
a processor, and a memory having a program stored thereon, the processor is configured to (processing circuitry 202, memory 210, fig. 6):
receive network assistance information and a first state parameter sent by a network device (“receiving, from a first cell of a non-terrestrial network, a set of one or more system information parameters that the wireless device requires for camping, cell selection, or cell reselection in the first cell .. receiving, from a second cell of the non-terrestrial network, an indication that the second cell configures the same set of one or more system information parameters as the first cell for camping, cell selection, or cell reselection in the second cell” [0190]); and
determine an operation of the terminal device based on the network assistance information and the first state parameter (“using the set of one or more system information parameters received from the first cell for camping, cell selection, or cell reselection in the second cell” [0190], “based on the indication, the UE 112, 200 uses at least one parameter within the set of one or more system information parameters received from the first cell for performing an operation associated with at least one of camping, cell selection, and cell reselection in the second cell” [0252]).
However, Yavuz does not explicitly disclose a first state parameter.
Nevertheless, Li discloses “the instruction information may include, but is not limited to any one of following items 1)-3): [0060] 1) instructing the terminal to ignore an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) configuration parameter and/or a power save mode (PSM) configuration parameter; [0061] 2) instructing the terminal to stop using an eDRX mode and/or a PSM mode when entering non-IoT-NTN network coverage, and to continue to perform according to an eDRX configuration and/or a PSM configuration when entering an IoT-NTN network coverage scenario; [0062] 3) instructing the terminal to use a new eDRX configuration parameter and/or a new PSM configuration parameter” [0059], “the terminal may also perform corresponding operations based on the instruction information sent by the core network device” [0064].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a first state parameter because it will allow “power saving of the terminals while ensuring their normal behavior” [0004].
Regarding claim 17, Yavuz discloses an information sending method, performed by a network device (fig. 7).
determining a first state parameter based on a service characteristic of a terminal device (“the telecommunications network 102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)/Massive IoT services to yet further UEs” [0196], “When at least one of the TACs transmitted in the MIB/MIB extension/SIB is the same as the UE's current TAC, then the idle mode UE need not acquire SIB for cell reselection” [0186]);
sending network assistance information and the first state parameter to the terminal device (“receiving, from a first cell of a non-terrestrial network, a set of one or more system information parameters that the wireless device requires for camping, cell selection, or cell reselection in the first cell .. receiving, from a second cell of the non-terrestrial network, an indication that the second cell configures the same set of one or more system information parameters as the first cell for camping, cell selection, or cell reselection in the second cell” [0190]).
However, Yavuz does not explicitly disclose a first state parameter.
Nevertheless, Li discloses “the instruction information may include, but is not limited to any one of following items 1)-3): [0060] 1) instructing the terminal to ignore an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) configuration parameter and/or a power save mode (PSM) configuration parameter; [0061] 2) instructing the terminal to stop using an eDRX mode and/or a PSM mode when entering non-IoT-NTN network coverage, and to continue to perform according to an eDRX configuration and/or a PSM configuration when entering an IoT-NTN network coverage scenario; [0062] 3) instructing the terminal to use a new eDRX configuration parameter and/or a new PSM configuration parameter” [0059], “the terminal may also perform corresponding operations based on the instruction information sent by the core network device” [0064].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a first state parameter because it will allow “power saving of the terminals while ensuring their normal behavior” [0004].
Regarding claims 2, 18, Yavuz, Li discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Yavuz discloses the network assistance information comprises at least one of: position information of at least one Non-Terrestrial Network; orbit information of at least one Non-Terrestrial Network; or beam information of at least one Non-Terrestrial Network, wherein the beam information of the at least one Non-Terrestrial Network comprises at least one of: antenna gain information of the at least one Non-Terrestrial Network at a designated time point; antenna gain information of the at least one Non-Terrestrial Network at a designated position; or antenna gain information of the at least one Non-Terrestrial Network at designated lowest point (“set of parameters is the position and velocity vector (x, y, z, v.sub.x, v.sub.y, v.sub.z) of a satellite. These are sometimes called orbital state vectors” [0039], “Orbital Elements” [0060]).
Regarding claims 3, 19, Yavuz, Li discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Yavuz receiving the network assistance information sent by the network device comprises at least one of: receiving at least one of a system message or a dedicated signaling sent by at least one of a Non-Terrestrial Network node or another network node, and reading the network assistance information from the system message or the dedicated signaling; or receiving at least one group of: system messages and/or dedicated signalings sent by at least one of a Non-Terrestrial Network node or another network node multiple times, and reading the network assistance information from at least one group of: the system messages or the dedicated signalings (“receiving, from a first cell of a non-terrestrial network, a set of one or more system information parameters that the wireless device requires for camping, cell selection, or cell reselection in the first cell .. receiving, from a second cell of the non-terrestrial network, an indication that the second cell configures the same set of one or more system information parameters as the first cell for camping, cell selection, or cell reselection in the second cell” [0190], “MIB/MIB extension/SIB” [0186]).
Regarding claims 6, 20, Yavuz, Li discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Yavuz discloses receiving the network assistance information sent by the network device further comprising at least one of: receiving a short message sent by the network device, wherein the short message comprises a first identifier configured to indicate whether information related to the Non-Terrestrial Network exists, and the terminal device obtains the network assistance information based on the first identifier; receiving a first association relationship, broadcasted by the network device in the system message, of a plurality of system messages containing segments of the network assistance information, wherein the terminal device obtains the network assistance information based on the first association relationship, and the first association relationship comprises at least one of: labels or an order of the system messages indicating at least one segment of the network assistance information; receiving a second association relationship, broadcasted by a plurality of network devices in system messages, of the system messages containing at least one segment of the network assistance information; or receiving a system information block (SIB) broadcasted by the network device, wherein the SIB comprises a first field, and the terminal device determines at least one of the following based on information indicated by the first field: the SIB containing the network assistance information or not; the network assistance information contained in the SIB being complete or partial; a position of a segment of the network assistance information contained in the SIB in the network assistance information; whether a segment of the network assistance information contained in the SIB is followed by a related segment of the network assistance information; or the SIB being a last SIB containing ephemeris information or not; wherein the second association relationship comprises at least one of: another network device information where a segment carrying the network assistance information is located; a number of the segments of the network assistance information; at least one of: a number of satellites or information of the satellites; or a label of a SIB where a segment of the network assistance information is located; wherein, the terminal device obtains the network assistance information based on the second association relationship (“the indication comprises a system information area identifier of the cell of the network node that is the same as a system information area identifier of the other cell” [0274], “a second set of one or more system information parameters for camping, cell selection, or cell reselection in the cell of the network node by the UE. The second set includes only a subset of essential system information that is configured differently in the cell of the network node than in the other cell” [0276]).
Regarding claim 7, Yavuz, Li discloses everything claimed as applied above. Further, Li discloses the first state parameter is determined by the network device based on a service characteristic of the terminal device; the first state parameter comprises at least one of: a discontinuous reception (DRX) parameter; or a paging parameter (“1) instructing the terminal to ignore an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) configuration parameter and/or a power save mode (PSM) configuration parameter; [0108] 2) instructing the terminal to stop using an eDRX mode and/or a PSM mode when entering non-IoT-NTN network coverage, and to continue to perform according to an eDRX configuration and/or a PSM configuration when entering an IoT-NTN network coverage scenario; [0109] 3) instructing the terminal to use a new eDRX configuration parameter and/or a new PSM configuration parameter” [0106]).
Regarding claim 16, Yavuz, Li discloses everything claimed as applied above. Further, Li discloses determining, by the terminal device, a paging occasion corresponding to the terminal device based on the paging parameter; wherein the terminal device maintains an active state and performs paging message reception in a case of determining, according to the network assistance information, that a duration in which no beam is available at the paging occasion corresponding to the terminal device is less than a duration of one paging occasion; or the terminal device enters an inactive state and stops the paging message reception in a case of determining that the duration in which no beam is available at the paging occasion corresponding to the terminal device is greater than or equal to the duration of one paging occasion (“instruction information includes instructing the terminal to ignore eDRX configuration parameters and/or PSM configuration parameters” [0082], “the terminal can ignore eDRX and/or PSM configuration when receiving instruction information. For example, when the T3412 timer expires, the terminal does not perform TAU; when it is within PTW, the terminal does not monitor paging messages” [0083]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yavuz, Li in view of Orsino et al. (PG Pub US 2024/0155470 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Yavuz, Li discloses everything claimed as applied above.
However, Yavuz, Li does not explicitly disclose receiving at least one of the system message or the dedicated signaling sent by at least one of the Non-Terrestrial Network node or another network node and reading the network assistance information from at least one of the system message or the dedicated signaling comprises at least one of: merging, by the terminal device, at least one of: the system message or the dedicated signaling sent by at least one of the Non-Terrestrial Network node or another network node to obtain first merged information, and reading the network assistance information from the first merged information; or merging, by the terminal device, at least one group of: system messages or dedicated signalings sent by a plurality of Non-Terrestrial Network nodes to obtain second merged information, and reading the network assistance information from the second merged information; or receiving at least one group of the system messages or the dedicated signalings sent by at least one of the Non-Terrestrial Network node or another network node multiple times and reading the network assistance information from at least one group of the system messages or the dedicated signalings comprising at least one of: receiving, by the terminal device, at least one group of the system messages or the dedicated signalings sent by the Non-Terrestrial Network node multiple times, obtaining third merged information by merging at least one group of the system messages or the dedicated signalings, and reading the network assistance information from the third merged information; receiving, by the terminal device, at least one group of the system messages or the dedicated signalings sent by another network node multiple times, obtaining fourth merged information by merging at least one group of the system messages or the dedicated signalings, and reading the network assistance information from the fourth merged information; or receiving, by the terminal device, at least one group of the system messages or the dedicated signalings sent by the Non-Terrestrial Network node and another network node multiple times, obtaining fifth merged information by merging at least one group of the system messages or the dedicated signalings, and reading the network assistance information from the fifth merged information.
Nevertheless, Orsino discloses “the RM UE 401 may apply one of the following options: [0126] Option 1. The SIB received from the network is applied by the RM UE and the one received from the RL UE is discarded. [0127] Option 2. The SIB received from the RL UE is applied by the RM UE and the one received from the network is discarded. [0128] Option 3. The SIB received first/earliest is applied by the RM UE and the rest one/ones is/are discarded. [0129] Option 4. The SIB received last is applied by the RM UE and the rest one/ones is/are discarded. [0130] Option 5. Both SIBs are discarded by the RM UE” [0125].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to merge at least one of: the system message or the dedicated signaling sent by at least one of the Non-Terrestrial Network node or another network node to obtain first merged information, and reading the network assistance information from the first merged information because it will “avoid applying the same configuration twice” [0071].
Claims 8-9, 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yavuz, Li in view of Hong (PG Pub US 2022/0007455 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Yavuz, Li discloses everything claimed as applied above. Further, Li discloses determining the operation of the terminal device based on the network assistance information and the first state parameter comprises any of: during operation of the DRX inactive timer, entering an inactive state in a case of determining, according to the network assistance information, that no beam is available during the operation of the DRX inactive timer; during operation of the DRX inactive timer, enter, by the terminal device, an inactive state in a case of determining, according to the network assistance information, that a duration in which no beam is available is less than a duration of the DRX inactive timer and greater than a first duration during the operation of the DRX inactive timer, and entering an active state in a case that the duration in which no beam is available is ended during the operation of the DRX inactive timer; or during operation of the DRX inactive timer, maintaining a current active state in a case of determining, according to the network assistance information, that a duration in which no beam is available is less than or equal to the first duration during the operation of the DRX inactive timer (“instruction information includes instructing the terminal to ignore eDRX configuration parameters and/or PSM configuration parameters” [0082], “the terminal can ignore eDRX and/or PSM configuration when receiving instruction information. For example, when the T3412 timer expires, the terminal does not perform TAU; when it is within PTW, the terminal does not monitor paging messages” [0083], “In PSM mode, downlink data is unreachable and the terminal is in the sleep state” [0026]).
However, Yavuz, Li does not explicitly disclose the DRX parameter comprises durations of a plurality of timers of DRX, the plurality of timers comprise a DRX inactive timer, and the DRX inactive timer is started when the terminal device receives a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the PDCCH indicates a new data transmission.
Nevertheless, Hong discloses “the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer may be configured by selecting a value between 0 and 56 symbols. 56 symbols correspond to 4 ms in the case of 15 kHz subcarrier spacing. Therefore, the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer of the typical NR DRX procedure may not support a large round trip delay of a non-terrestrial network. In addition, the drx-RetransmissionTimer may be configured by selecting a value from 0 to 320 slots” [0125], “the HARQ retransmission operation is performed by instructing scheduling through the PDCCH when a NACK is transmitted” [0124].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have durations of a plurality of timers of DRX, the plurality of timers comprise a DRX inactive timer, and the DRX inactive timer is started when the terminal device receives a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the PDCCH indicates a new data transmission because it will allow “effectively performing an NR MAC procedure in the propagation delay environment of the non-terrestrial network” [0127].
Regarding claim 9, Yavuz, Li, Hong discloses everything claimed as applied above. Further, Hong discloses the first duration is a sum of a duration of processing received downlink data by the terminal device and a feedback duration of a hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ), or a duration of a downlink DRX retransmission timer (“the drx-RetransmissionTimer may be configured” [0125]).
Regarding claim 14, Yavuz, Li discloses everything claimed as applied above. Further, Li discloses determining the operation of the terminal device based on the network assistance information and the first state parameter further comprises any of: during operation of the first timer, entering an inactive state in a case of determining, according to the network assistance information, that no beam is available during the operation of the first timer; during operation of the first timer, controlling the terminal device to enter an inactive state in a case of determining, according to the network assistance information, that a duration in which no beam is available during the operation of the first timer is less than a duration of the first timer and greater than a fourth duration, and controlling the terminal to enter an active state in a case that the duration in which no beam is available during the operation of the first timer ends; or during operation of the first timer, maintaining a current active state in a case of determining, according to the network assistance information, that a duration in which no beam is available during the operation of the first timer is less than or equal to a fourth duration (“instruction information includes instructing the terminal to ignore eDRX configuration parameters and/or PSM configuration parameters” [0082], “the terminal can ignore eDRX and/or PSM configuration when receiving instruction information. For example, when the T3412 timer expires, the terminal does not perform TAU; when it is within PTW, the terminal does not monitor paging messages” [0083], “In PSM mode, downlink data is unreachable and the terminal is in the sleep state” [0026]).
Further, Hong discloses the DRX parameter comprises durations of a plurality of timers of DRX, the plurality of timers comprise a first timer, and the first timer is started after the terminal device sends a scheduling request (SR) (“the configuration information may include a discontinuous reception HARQ RTT (drx HARQ Round Trip Time) timer or a SR (Scheduling Request) prohibition timer” [0137]).
Regarding claim 15, Yavuz, Li, Hong discloses everything claimed as applied above. Further, Hong discloses the fourth duration is a duration from a time point when the terminal device sends a target scheduling request to a time point when the terminal device receives an uplink scheduling corresponding to the target scheduling request (“When the SR is transmitted, the MAC entity of the UE monitors the PDCCH in order to receive a scheduling grant from the base station” [0343], “when one scheduling request is pending after NTN RTD offset after being transmitted on the PUCCH, the UE may monitor the PDCCH. When one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH, the UE starts an offset timer” [0344]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTINE D FUQUA whose telephone number is (571)270-1664. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 AM - 6 PM EST with every other Friday off.
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CHRISTINE DUONG FUQUA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2462
/CHRISTINE T DUONG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462 08/03/2026
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