DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . The instant First Office Action on the merits is in response to preliminary claims filed on 7/15/2024.
Claims 1-2, 4-10, 12, 14-16, 18, 20-23, 25 and 28 are pending. Claims 1, 23 and 28 are the base independent claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted was filed before the mailing of a first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97(b). Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 / 103
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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.
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 1-2, 4-10, 12, 16, 18, 20-23, 25 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by Thangarasa et al (US 2025/0039708) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Thangarasa et al (US 2025/0039708) in view of Koskela et al (US 2022/0353722), LEE et al (US 2024/0388984), or Axmon et al (US 2016/0192339).
Regarding claim 1, Thangarasa discloses a measurement method, performed by a terminal, comprising:
obtaining a measurement value of a target measurement (fig. 3 & par 81-83, par 197; e.g. perform a measurement according to one or more relax measurement criteria (RMC)), wherein the target measurement comprises at least one of a radio link monitor (RLM) measurement or (examining note: since the claim shows a limitation in an alternative form, the prior art may teach either or both limitations, and this notice applies to subsequent occurrences of claim limitations that are in the alternative form) a radio resource management (RRM) measurement (par 8; e.g. RLM); and
determining a target event triggered by the terminal (fig. 3 & par 115, par 143; e.g. a UE configured with the RMC and determines whether the UE meets criteria associated with a first mode of operation (MO) or a second MO) based on the measurement value and reference information corresponding to the target measurement (par 152-153; in one example, low mobility criterion is met provided that the magnitude of the variation of the received signal level measured by the UE is below certain threshold), wherein the target event comprises a relaxation entering event or a relaxation exiting event (par 152; e.g. allowed to perform relaxed measurement or not; also see par 138-139).
Regarding claim 2, Thangarasa discloses:
obtaining the measurement value by measuring a downlink reference signal of a serving cell of the terminal (par 6; e.g. The UE performs measurements on one or more downlink (DL) and/or uplink (UL) reference signal (RS) of one or more cells).
Regarding claim 4, Thangarasa discloses:
wherein the reference information comprises: a target time period and a first difference threshold, the measurement value comprises at least one first reference signal receiving power (RSRP) obtained by measuring a downlink reference signal at least once within the target time period, or the measurement value comprises at least one first RSRP obtained by measuring at least one downlink reference signal within the target time period; determining the target event triggered by the terminal based on the measurement value and the reference information corresponding to the target measurement, comprises: determining a first difference between the at least one first RSRP and a first reference value corresponding to the first RSRP, wherein the first reference value corresponding to the first RSRP is obtained by the terminal before measuring the first RSRP; and determining that the target event is the relaxation entering event, in response to each first difference corresponding to the at least one first RSRP being less than the first difference threshold (par 83-90, par 153; e.g. measuring Srxlev corresponding to RSRP and the reference Srxlev, and if the difference of Srxlev and reference is less than S_searchDeltaP for the duration of T_searchDeltaP, then the condition is met).
Regarding claim 5, the reference discloses the subject matter of claim 4, without specifically disclose multiple times of measurements, however it is obvious in view of Koskela because:
wherein the measurement value further comprises a plurality of second RSRPs obtained by measuring a downlink reference signal for multiple times within a preset duration after the target time period, or comprises a plurality of second RSRPs obtained by measuring a plurality of downlink reference signals within the preset duration; determining that the target event is the relaxation entering event, in response to each first difference corresponding to the at least one first RSRP being less than the first difference threshold, comprises: determining second differences between the plurality of second RSRPs and corresponding second reference values, in response to each of first differences corresponding respectively to a plurality of first RSRPs being less than the first difference threshold; and determining that the target event is the relaxation entering event, in response to each of the second differences corresponding respectively to the plurality of second RSRPs being less than the first difference threshold (par 41, par 46, par 49; e.g. may be based upon one or more of any of the measurement within a period of time, a previous measurement within a period of time, the at least one reference value, and the at least one reference value within a period of time…; also par 53-54).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Koskela with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such to adapt its RRM measurements (Koskela, par 43).
Regarding claim 6, Thangarasa discloses:
wherein the reference information comprises a target time period and a second difference threshold, the measurement value comprises one or more first RSRPs obtained by measuring a downlink reference signal at least once within the target time period, or the measurement value comprises at least one or more first RSRPs obtained by measuring at least one downlink reference signal within the target time period; determining the target event triggered by the terminal based on the measurement value and the reference information corresponding to the target measurement, comprises: determining one or more first differences between the at least one or more first RSRPs and one or more first reference values corresponding to the one or more first RSRPs, wherein the one or more first reference values corresponding to the one or more first RSRPs are obtained by the terminal before measuring the first RSRP; and determining that the target event is the relaxation exiting event, in response to a first difference corresponding to at least one first RSRP of the one or more first RSRPs being greater than or equal to the second difference threshold (par 83-90, par 164; e.g. measuring Srxlev corresponding to RSRP and the reference Srxlev, and if the difference of Srxlev and reference is greater than S_searchDeltaP for the duration of T_searchDeltaP, then the condition is NOT met, hence exit relaxed measurement).
Regarding claim 7, the reference discloses the subject matter of claim 6, without specifically disclose a plurality of second RSRPs measurements, however it is obvious in view of Koskela because:
wherein the measurement value further comprises a plurality of second RSRPs obtained by measuring a downlink reference signal for multiple times within a preset duration after the target time period, or comprises a plurality of second RSRPs obtained by measuring a plurality of downlink reference signals within the preset duration; determining that the target event is the relaxation exiting event, in response to the first difference corresponding to the at least one first RSRP of the one or more first RSRPs being greater than or equal to the second difference threshold, comprises: determining second differences between the plurality of second RSRPs and corresponding second reference values, in response to the first difference corresponding to the at least one first RSRP being greater than or equal to the second difference threshold; and determining that the target event is the relaxation exiting event, in response to a second difference corresponding to at least one second RSRP being greater than or equal to the second difference threshold (par 41, par 47, par 49; e.g. may be based upon one or more of any of the measurement within a period of time, a previous measurement within a period of time, the at least one reference value, and the at least one reference value within a period of time…; also par 53-54).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Koskela with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such to adapt its RRM measurements (Koskela, par 43).
Regarding claim 8, the reference discloses the subject matter of claim 4, without specifically disclose a reference value update, however it is obvious in view of Koskela because:
wherein the first reference value is updated in a manner of: updating the first reference value based on the first RSRP, in response to the terminal performing cell switching; updating the first reference value based on the first RSRP, in response to a difference obtained by subtracting the first reference value from the first RSRP being greater than a third difference threshold; or, updating the first reference value based on the first RSRP, in response to the first difference of the first RSRP not being less than the first difference threshold within the target time period, or, updating the first reference value based on the first RSRP, in response to the first difference of the first RSRP being less than the second difference threshold within the target time period (par 47-48; e.g. if UE 120 determines that at least one beam change has occurred, UE 120 may continue obtaining additional or new reference values).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Koskela with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such to adapt its RRM measurements (Koskela, par 43).
Regarding claim 9, the reference discloses the subject matter of claim 5, without specifically disclose a reference value update, however it is obvious in view of Koskela because:
wherein the second reference value is updated in a manner of: updating the second reference value based on the second RSRP, in response to the terminal performing cell switching; updating the second reference value based on the second RSRP, in response to a difference obtained by subtracting the second reference value from the second RSRP being greater than a third difference threshold; or updating the second reference value based on the second RSRP, in response to the second difference of the second RSRP not being less than the first difference threshold within the preset duration, or, updating the second reference value based on the second RSRP, in response to the second difference of the second RSRP being less than the second difference threshold within the preset duration (par 47-48; e.g. if UE 120 determines that at least one beam change has occurred, UE 120 may continue obtaining additional or new reference values).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Koskela with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such to adapt its RRM measurements (Koskela, par 43).
Regarding claim 10, Thangarasa discloses:
wherein the measurement value comprises a plurality of first signal to interference plus noise ratios (SINRs) obtained by measuring a plurality of downlink reference signals, the reference information comprises threshold indication information; determining the target event triggered by the terminal based on the measurement value and the reference information corresponding to the target measurement, comprises one of: determining a first quality threshold based on the threshold indication information; and determining that the target event is the relaxation entering event, in response to the plurality of first SINRs being greater than the first quality threshold, or in response to at least one of the plurality of first SINRs being greater than the first quality threshold; or determining a second quality threshold based on the threshold indication information; and determining that the target event is the relaxation exiting event, in response to at least one of the plurality of first SINRs being less than or equal to the second quality threshold or in response to the plurality of first SINRs being less than or equal to the second quality threshold (par 153; e.g. examples of received signal level include SINR, thus MO condition is met when SINR is less than a quality threshold).
Regarding claim 12, reference discloses the subject matter of claim 1, without specifically disclose a plurality of second SINRs measurement, however it is obvious in view of Koskela because:
wherein the measurement value comprises a plurality of second SINRs obtained by measuring each of a plurality of downlink reference signals for multiple times within a preset duration, the reference information comprises: threshold indication information; determining the target event triggered by the terminal based on the measurement value and the reference information corresponding to the target measurement, comprises one of: determining a first quality threshold based on the threshold indication information; and determining that the target event is the relaxation entering event, in response to the plurality of second SINRs corresponding to each of the plurality of downlink reference signals being greater than the first quality threshold, or in response to the plurality of second SINRs corresponding to at least one of the plurality of downlink reference signals being greater than the first quality threshold; or determining a second quality threshold based on the threshold indication information; and determining that the target event is the relaxation exiting event, in response to the plurality of second SINRs corresponding to at least one of the plurality of downlink reference signals being less than or equal to the second quality threshold or in response to the plurality of the second SINRs corresponding to each of the plurality of downlink reference signals being less than or equal to the second quality threshold (par 49-50, par 64-67; e.g. may be based on at least one cell quantity value above at least one threshold).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Koskela with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such to adapt its RRM measurements (Koskela, par 43).
Regarding claim 16, reference discloses the subject matter of claim 1, without specifically disclose a second timer not operating, however it is obvious in view of Koskela because:
further comprising one of: sending at least one of the relaxation exiting event and/or or the measurement value to a network device, in response to the target event being the relaxation exiting event and a second timer not operating, wherein the second timer is used for timing based on a time when the terminal most recently sent the relaxation exiting event; or sending at least one of the relaxation entering event or the measurement value to a network device, in response to the target event being the relaxation entering event and a fourth timer not operating, wherein the fourth timer is used for timing based on a time when the terminal most recently sent the relaxation entering event (fig. 2 & par 74-75; UE may continue obtaining at least one additional reference value and may stop/suspend the at least one timer T…if there has been at least K beam changes and/or K beam changes within a period of time T after the UE has derived the cell measurement quantity, the UE may consider the beam based condition not to be fulfilled, may consider that it cannot adapt/relax measurements).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Koskela with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such to adapt its RRM measurements (Koskela, par 43).
Regarding claim 18, reference discloses the subject matter of claim 1, without specifically disclose sending measurement value, however it is obvious in view of LEE because:
further comprising one of: sending at least one of the relaxation exiting event and/or or the measurement value to a network device, in response to the target event being the relaxation exiting event; sending at least one of the relaxation entering event and/or or the measurement value to a network device, in response to the target event being the relaxation entering event; sending at least one of the measurement value or the target event of a primary serving cell corresponding to the terminal to a network device, in response to a reporting type of the target event being per user equipment; or sending at least one of the measurement value or the target event of a primary serving cell in a cell group corresponding to the terminal to a network device, or sending at least one of the measurement value or the target event of a primary secondary serving cell in a cell group corresponding to the terminal to a network device, in response to a reporting type of the target event being per cell group (par 126, par 131, par 185; e.g. If the stationarity criterion is satisfied for a UE, stationarity indication/information informing that the stationary criterion is satisfied for the UE may be reported to the network).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of LEE with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such that the UE may be enabled by the network to perform a relaxed measurement after informing to the network that the UE is in a stationary state (LEE, par 15).
Regarding claim 20, reference discloses the subject matter of claim 1, without specifically disclose a ratio of the measurement gap, however it is obvious in view of Axmon because:
determining a first measurement gap at which the terminal performs the target measurement periodically in a relaxed state, in response to the target event being the relaxation entering event; and sending gap indication information corresponding to the first measurement gap to a network device, wherein the gap indication information comprises a ratio of the first measurement gap to a second measurement gap configured by the network device (fig. 3 & par 94-95, par 106; e.g. a new kind of gap pattern is defined where measurement gaps are provided in sparse bursts. The repetition period for the gap pattern is chosen so that the ratio between the repetition period and the long-DRX cycle length corresponds to an integer power of N; par 135-136, the UE is adapted to indicate, to the network node, values for one or more of the parameters related to the ‘burst gap pattern’ required for doing the measurement in this burst gap measurement pattern).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Axmon with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such that the UE may be enabled by the network to perform a relaxed measurement after informing to the network that the UE is in a stationary state (Axmon, par 15).
Regarding claim 21, Thangarasa discloses:
receiving a relaxation instruction sent by a network device; and controlling the terminal to enter a relaxed state, in response to the relaxation instruction (par 41; a configuration related to the first criteria and/or the second criteria may be received from a network node; also par 104).
Regarding claim 22, reference discloses the subject matter of claim 20, without specifically disclose a target ratio, however it is obvious in view of Axmon because:
wherein the relaxation instruction comprises a target ratio, the method further comprises: determining a target measurement gap based on the target ratio and the second measurement gap configured by the network device; and performing the target measurement periodically in the relaxed state based on the target measurement gap (fig. 5 & par 158-159; e.g. the signaled measurement gap pattern has a repetition period that is an integer multiple of a long-DRX cycle length for the mobile terminal. In some of these embodiments, a ratio of the repetition period to a long-DRX cycle length for the mobile terminal is an integer power of 2; also see par 94-95).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Axmon with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such that the UE may be enabled by the network to perform a relaxed measurement after informing to the network that the UE is in a stationary state (Axmon, par 15).
Regarding claim 23, Thangarasa discloses a measurement method, performed by a network device, comprising: wherein the measurement value is a measurement value of a target measurement (fig. 3 & par 81-83, par 197; e.g. perform a measurement according to one or more relax measurement criteria (RMC)), the target measurement comprises at least one of a radio link monitor (RLM) measurement or a radio resource management (RRM) measurement (par 8; e.g. RLM), the target event (fig. 3 & par 115, par 143; e.g. a UE configured with the RMC and determines whether the UE meets criteria associated with a first mode of operation (MO) or a second MO) is determined based on the measurement value and reference information corresponding to the target measurement (par 152-153; in one example, low mobility criterion is met provided that the magnitude of the variation of the received signal level measured by the UE is below certain threshold), and the target event comprises a relaxation entering event or a relaxation exiting event (par 152; e.g. allowed to perform relaxed measurement or not; also see par 138-139).
The reference does not explicitly disclose:
receiving at least one of a target event or a measurement value sent by a terminal.
However, LEE discloses:
receiving at least one of a target event or a measurement value sent by a terminal (par 185-187; e.g. if the UE in a stationary state reports a measurement result for neighbour cell(s), the network can take the measurement results into account for providing the new measurement configuration).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of LEE with the electronic system of Thangarasa. One is motivated as such that the UE may be enabled by the network to perform a relaxed measurement after informing to the network that the UE is in a stationary state (LEE, par 15).
Regarding claim 25, Thangarasa discloses:
sending a relaxation instruction to the terminal, in response to the target event being the relaxation entering event, wherein the relaxation instruction is used to control the terminal to enter a relaxed state (par 41; a configuration related to the first criteria and/or the second criteria may be received from a network node; also par 104).
Regarding claim 28, Thangarasa discloses a measurement device, comprising: a processors and a memory having computer programs stored thereon (par 204; processor and memory),
wherein the processor is configured to: obtain a measurement value of a target measurement (fig. 3 & par 81-83, par 197; e.g. perform a measurement according to one or more relax measurement criteria (RMC)), wherein the target measurement comprises at least one of a radio link monitor (RLM) measurement or (examining note: since the claim shows a limitation in an alternative form, the prior art may teach either or both limitations, and this notice applies to subsequent occurrences of claim limitations that are in the alternative form) a radio resource management (RRM) measurement (par 8; e.g. RLM); and
determine a target event triggered by the terminal (fig. 3 & par 115, par 143; e.g. a UE configured with the RMC and determines whether the UE meets criteria associated with a first mode of operation (MO) or a second MO) based on the measurement value and reference information corresponding to the target measurement (par 152-153; in one example, low mobility criterion is met provided that the magnitude of the variation of the received signal level measured by the UE is below certain threshold), wherein the target event comprises a relaxation entering event or a relaxation exiting event (par 152; e.g. allowed to perform relaxed measurement or not; also see par 138-139).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14 and 15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if all of its limitations are 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 YAOTANG WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4023. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00-18:00 ET (M, W, TH & alternate F).
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/YAOTANG WANG/SCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409
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