DETAILED ACTION
1. The following Office Action is based on the preliminary amendment filed on 1 July 2024, having claims 20-38 (claims 1-19 were canceled and claims 20-38 were added) and drawing figures 1-15.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 20-22, 27-29, and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pezeshki et al. (US 2021/0212091 A1) (reference disclosed by applicant).
For claims 20 and 32, Pezeshki discloses a method for performing a mobility control operation by a user equipment (UE) ([0107] L1/L2 inter-cell mobility method performed by UE), the method comprising:
receiving a higher layer message including one or more pieces of candidate target cell configuration information for performing an L1/L2-triggered mobility (LTM) operation ([0107-0108] the gNB transmits to the UE configuration information for multiple candidate cells for L1/L2 inter-cell mobility, wherein the configuration information comprises several parameters comprising PCI, TAG ID, SCS, etc.); and
controlling the performing of the LTM operation based on timing advance (TA) information about one or more target cells and a medium access control control element (MAC CE) indicating to perform the LTM operation to the target cell ([0107] and [0109] the UE is configured to perform timing advance measurement for the candidate cell list and receive a MAC CE from the gNB indicating the selected target cell for performing the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation).
For claims 21, 28, and 33, Pezeshki discloses obtaining the TA information about the one or more target cells before receiving the MAC CE indicating to perform the LTM operation to the target cell ([0109] the UE may be configured to measure the timing advance for the candidate cell list prior to receiving the MAC-CE for the selected target cell [0107] last 6 lines).
For claims 22, 29, and 34, Pezeshki discloses the MAC CE includes timing advance (TA) information about the one or more candidate target cells ([0108] timing advance information is included in a MAC CE).
For claim 27, Pezeshki discloses a method for performing a mobility control operation of a user equipment (UE) by a base station ([0107] L1/L2 inter-cell mobility method performed by gNB), the method comprising:
transmitting, to the UE, a higher layer message including one or more pieces of candidate target cell configuration information for performing an L1/L2-triggered mobility (LTM) operation ([0107-0108] the gNB transmits to the UE configuration information for multiple candidate cells for L1/L2 inter-cell mobility, wherein the configuration information comprises several parameters comprising PCI, TAG ID, SCS, etc.);
receiving an L1 measurement result for a candidate target cell from the UE ([0109] the UE reports its L1-RSRP and timing advance measurements to the gNB); and
transmitting, to a medium access control control element (MAC CE) indicating to perform the LTM operation to the target cell based on the L1 measurement result, wherein the UE performs a cell change operation to the target cell based on timing advance (TA) information about one or more target cells and the MAC CE ([0107] and [0109] the UE is configured to perform timing advance measurement for the candidate cell list and receive a MAC CE from the gNB indicating the selected target cell for performing the L1/L2 inter-cell mobility operation).
Allowable Subject Matter
4. Claims 23-26, 30-31, and 35-38 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
5. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form.
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Elisabeth B Magloire whose telephone number is (571)272-5601. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 AM-5 PM ET.
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, Sujoy K Kundu can be reached at 571-272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ELISABETH BENOIT MAGLOIRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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