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 .
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 11, and 20, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei (US 2021/0307108 A1), in view of Ma et al. (US 2022/0338120 A1), in view of Kuang et al. (US 2023/0269742 A1), and further in view of Lin et al. (US 2020/0396684 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 20, Babaei discloses:
a method for a user equipment (UE) (fig.1 depicts a user equipment element 112a), the method comprising:
receiving a search space configuration (par.[0232] describes reception of a Search Space Set configuration for a Downlink (DL) Bandwidth Part (BWP), via higher layer signaling) comprising a default search space set (par.[0309] which teaches a common/default search space set) in a bandwidth part (par.[0232] describes the UE receiving higher layer signaling for a one or more (i.e. S<=M) search space sets) and a second search space set for the same bandwidth part as the default search space set (par.[0232] as discussed above, the UE can be configured with plural search spaces sets up to M=10 search spaces sets for a DL BWP);
monitoring physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) according to the default search space set (par.[0309 - 0310] which recites, in part, “A wireless device may monitor PDCCH candidates in one or more of the following example types of search spaces sets……….. a Type0-PDCCH CSS set configured by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in MIB or by searchSpaceSIB1 in PDCCH-ConfigCommon or by searchSpaceZero in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG”. That is, the Type0- PDCCH CSS set is a default/common search space configured for PDCCH monitoring);
receiving a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) (par.[0232] describes the PDCCH monitoring wherein the UE can receive scheduling DCI such as DCI 0_0 or 1_0 etc.) for a search space switch indication indicating to change search spaces to the second search space set (par.[0663] which describes the reception of the DCI, which indicates a switch, “The first control information (e.g., the first DCI) may indicate switching from monitoring the one or more first search space sets (e.g., the first search space set group) to monitoring one or more second search space sets (e.g., the second search space set group).”);
changing PDCCH monitoring according to the second search space set (par.[0663] describes the switching of the PDCCH monitoring based on the switching of the search space set).
While the disclosure of Babaei discloses the reception of configuration for multiple Search Space Sets in a BWP, it may not disclose:
receiving a DCI comprising one bit for a search space switch indication for switching within the same bandwidth part as the default search space set in response to receiving the search space switch indication.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Ma teaches:
receiving a DCI comprising one bit for a search space switch indication (par.[0100] which recites, in part, “In some embodiments, the PDCCH search space set group switch indicator only has one bit.”) for switching within the same bandwidth part as the default search space set in response to receiving the search space switch indication (par.[0055 and 0096] which recites, in part, “indicate PDCCH search space set group switch in the BWP or serving cell which received the indication. The benefits of this technique may include: minimum scheduling offset restriction field can be present at least in DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 1_1.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Babaei for search space switching, with the disclosure of Ma, which also teaches search space switching and explicitly discloses search space switching within the active DL BWP. The motivation/suggestion would have been to change the PDCCH monitoring periodicity in the active BWP by changing the SSS which is utilized on the BWP, which improves power savings at the UE.
While the disclosure of Babaei and Ma substantially disclose the claimed invention, they may not disclose:
receiving a second scheduling DCI downlink control information (DCI) message, the second scheduling DCI message including a skipping indication;
determining a time to apply skipping for the PDDCH monitoring as a result of the skipping indication; and
applying the skipping for the PDCCH for a preconfigured number of slots at the determined time, wherein the skipping is applied right after the second scheduling DCI is received as soon as the UE determines the skipping indication is included in the second scheduling DCI.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Kuang teaches:
receiving a second scheduling downlink control information (DCI) message (par.[0171] which teaches the scheduling DCI, par.[0196 – 0197]), the DCI message including a skipping indication (fig(s).17 when the UE receives the scheduling DCI which indicates to switch SSSG0, the scheduling DCI providing a skipping indication by switching the SSSG. Par.[0229] when the UE is initially on SSSG1, which is monitors for PDCCH every slot, the UE receives the another S-DCI, and will switch allowing the UE skip monitoring PDCCH for two slots (e.g. slot n+18 and slot n+19);
determining a time to apply skipping for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring as a result of the skipping indication (par.[0229] wherein the S-DCI indicates to the UE to switch SSSG from SSSG-1 to SSG-0, which also provides an indication and allows for the UE to stop PDCCH monitoring according to the duration of the first SSSG-1 to SSSG-0 effectively indicating to the UE that the UE should skip PDCCH monitoring according to the parameters of SSSG-0 for at least two slots).
applying the skipping for the PDCCH for a preconfigured number of slots at the determined time (fig.17 as discussed above, the UE receives the scheduling DCI with switch/skipping indication which allows for the UE to skip PDCCH monitoring for at least two slots as discussed above, par.[0229]), wherein the skipping is applied right after the second scheduling is received as soon as the UE determines the skipping indication is included in the second scheduling DCI (fig.17 the UE receives the S-DCI with SSSG switch/PDDCH skip indicator at time slot n+17 and performs the PDCCH skipping according to the SSSG switching/PDCCH skip indication in the S-DCI received at slot n+17 for two slots N+18 and n+19, par.[0232]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the search space switching techniques discussed in Babaei and Ma, with the PDCCH skipping indication as discussed in Kuang. The motivation/suggestion would have been that after the switching of search space to a different monitoring periodicity, improving power savings by further skipping PDCCH monitoring occasions.
While the disclosure of Babaei, Ma, and Kuang, discuss methods for improving power savings in a wireless communications system, they do not disclose:
wherein for downlink communication, the skipping is canceled based on a negative- acknowledgement (NACK) message, wherein when the NACK message is transmitted, by the UE, the skipping is canceled.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Lin teaches:
wherein for downlink communication, the skipping is canceled based on a negative-acknowledgement (NACK) message, wherein the NACK message is transmitted, by the UE, the skipping is canceled (par.[0223] which recites, in part, “At least when the UE transmits a negative acknowledgement (NACK), the UE is expected to monitor PDCCH for DCI formats scheduling a SPS PDSCH retransmission even though the UE was previously indicated to skip PDCCH monitoring within the DRX ON duration.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Babaei, Ma, and Kuang, for providing a SSSG switching and PDCCH skipping indication with the disclosure of Lin, which teaches that even though the UE is indicated to skip PDCCH monitoring, the UE would instead monitor for a retransmission. The motivations/suggestion would have been that because data reception is priority in a wireless communications system such that when NACK is transmitted the UE would prioritize retransmission of data that was not properly received during a first transmission attempt.
Claim(s) 1-2, 7, 11-12, 17, and 20, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei (US 2021/0307108 A1), in view of Ma et al. (US 2022/0338120 A1), in view of Kuang et al. (US 2023/0269742 A1), and further in view of Xu et al. (US 2022/0060985 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 20, Babaei discloses:
a method for a user equipment (UE) (fig.1 depicts a user equipment element 112a), the method comprising:
receiving a search space configuration (par.[0232] describes reception of a Search Space Set configuration for a Downlink (DL) Bandwidth Part (BWP), via higher layer signaling) comprising a default search space set (par.[0309] which teaches a common/default search space set) in a bandwidth part (par.[0232] describes the UE receiving higher layer signaling for a one or more (i.e. S<=M) search space sets) and a second search space set for the same bandwidth part as the default search space set (par.[0232] as discussed above, the UE can be configured with plural search spaces sets up to M=10 search spaces sets for a DL BWP);
monitoring physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) according to the default search space set (par.[0309 - 0310] which recites, in part, “A wireless device may monitor PDCCH candidates in one or more of the following example types of search spaces sets……….. a Type0-PDCCH CSS set configured by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in MIB or by searchSpaceSIB1 in PDCCH-ConfigCommon or by searchSpaceZero in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG”. That is, the Type0- PDCCH CSS set is a default/common search space configured for PDCCH monitoring);
receiving a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) (par.[0232] describes the PDCCH monitoring wherein the UE can receive scheduling DCI such as DCI 0_0 or 1_0 etc.) for a search space switch indication indicating to change search spaces to the second search space set (par.[0663] which describes the reception of the DCI, which indicates a switch, “The first control information (e.g., the first DCI) may indicate switching from monitoring the one or more first search space sets (e.g., the first search space set group) to monitoring one or more second search space sets (e.g., the second search space set group).”);
changing PDCCH monitoring according to the second search space set (par.[0663] describes the switching of the PDCCH monitoring based on the switching of the search space set).
While the disclosure of Babaei discloses the reception of configuration for multiple Search Space Sets in a BWP, it may not disclose:
receiving a DCI comprising one bit for a search space switch indication for switching within the same bandwidth part as the default search space set in response to receiving the search space switch indication.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Ma teaches:
receiving a DCI comprising one bit for a search space switch indication (par.[0100] which recites, in part, “In some embodiments, the PDCCH search space set group switch indicator only has one bit.”) for switching within the same bandwidth part as the default search space set in response to receiving the search space switch indication (par.[0055 and 0096] which recites, in part, “indicate PDCCH search space set group switch in the BWP or serving cell which received the indication. The benefits of this technique may include: minimum scheduling offset restriction field can be present at least in DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 1_1.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Babaei for search space switching, with the disclosure of Ma, which also teaches search space switching and explicitly discloses search space switching within the active DL BWP. The motivation/suggestion would have been to change the PDCCH monitoring periodicity in the active BWP by changing the SSS which is utilized on the BWP, which improves power savings at the UE.
While the disclosure of Babaei and Ma substantially disclose the claimed invention, they may not disclose:
receiving a second scheduling DCI downlink control information (DCI) message, the second scheduling DCI message including a skipping indication;
determining a time to apply skipping for the PDDCH monitoring as a result of the skipping indication; and
applying the skipping for the PDCCH for a preconfigured number of slots at the determined time, wherein the skipping is applied right after the second scheduling DCI is received as soon as the UE determines the skipping indication is included in the second scheduling DCI.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Kuang teaches:
receiving a second scheduling downlink control information (DCI) message (par.[0171] which teaches the scheduling DCI, par.[0196 – 0197]), the DCI message including a skipping indication (fig(s).17 when the UE receives the scheduling DCI which indicates to switch SSSG0, the scheduling DCI providing a skipping indication by switching the SSSG. Par.[0229] when the UE is initially on SSSG1, which is monitors for PDCCH every slot, the UE receives the another S-DCI, and will switch allowing the UE skip monitoring PDCCH for two slots (e.g. slot n+18 and slot n+19);
determining a time to apply skipping for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring as a result of the skipping indication (par.[0229] wherein the S-DCI indicates to the UE to switch SSSG from SSSG-1 to SSG-0, which also provides an indication and allows for the UE to stop PDCCH monitoring according to the duration of the first SSSG-1 to SSSG-0 effectively indicating to the UE that the UE should skip PDCCH monitoring according to the parameters of SSSG-0 for at least two slots).
applying the skipping for the PDCCH for a preconfigured number of slots at the determined time (fig.17 as discussed above, the UE receives the scheduling DCI with switch/skipping indication which allows for the UE to skip PDCCH monitoring for at least two slots as discussed above, par.[0229]), wherein the skipping is applied right after the second scheduling is received as soon as the UE determines the skipping indication is included in the second scheduling DCI (fig.17 the UE receives the S-DCI with SSSG switch/PDDCH skip indicator at time slot n+17 and performs the PDCCH skipping according to the SSSG switching/PDCCH skip indication in the S-DCI received at slot n+17 for two slots N+18 and n+19, par.[0232]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the search space switching techniques discussed in Babaei and Ma, with the PDCCH skipping indication as discussed in Kuang. The motivation/suggestion would have been that after the switching of search space to a different monitoring periodicity, improving power savings by further skipping PDCCH monitoring occasions.
While the disclosure of Babaei, Ma, and Kuang, discuss methods for improving power savings in a wireless communications system, they do not disclose:
wherein for downlink communication, the skipping is canceled based on a negative- acknowledgement (NACK) message, wherein when the NACK message is transmitted, by the UE, the skipping is canceled.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Xu teaches:
wherein for downlink communication, the skipping is canceled based on a negative-acknowledgement (NACK) message, wherein the NACK message is transmitted, by the UE, the skipping is canceled (par.[0006] describes reception of DCI, par.[0048] recites, in part, “In an embodiment, the terminal device may start to perform PDCCH skipping immediately upon reception of the PDCCH. In a further alternative embodiment, the terminal device may first determine whether transmission of the data channel is successful,………. In case of unsuccessful transmission of the data channel, the terminal device may not perform PDCCH skipping, or the terminal device may delay performing PDCCH skipping and perform PDCCH skipping till retransmission of the data channel is successful.” That is, when a NACK is transmitted based upon the unsuccessful transmission of the data channel, the terminal may not perform the PDCCH skipping).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Kuang for providing a SSSG switching and PDCCH skipping indication with the disclosure of Xu, which teaches that even though the UE is indicated to skip PDCCH monitoring, the UE would instead monitor for a retransmission. The motivations/suggestion would have been that because data reception is priority in a wireless communications system such that when NACK is transmitted the UE would prioritize retransmission of data that was not properly received during a first transmission attempt.
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Kuang discloses:
wherein the skipping is applied after the second scheduling DCI is received and processed (fig.17 as discussed above, the UE receives the S-DCI and will perform the PDCCH skipping at the next applicable slot after the S-DCI is received).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, the disclosure of Xu teaches:
wherein for uplink communication, the skipping is applied right after a PUSCH transmission finishes (par.[0059] describe the UE performing the PUSCH transmission, and then skipping monitoring the PDCCH after the successful transmission of the PUSCH).
Claim(s) 3, 4, 13, and 14, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei (US 2021/0307108 A1), in view of Ma et al. (US 2022/0338120 A1), in view of Kuang et al. (US 2023/0269742 A1), and further in view of Xu et al. (US 2022/0060985 A1), as applied to claims 1, 11, and 20, in view of Park et al. (US 2021/0120579 A1).
Regarding claims 3, 4, 13, and 14, Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu discloses:
reception of a skipping indication in DCI as discussed in the independent claims 1, however, they may not explicitly disclose:
wherein for downlink communication, the skipping is applied based on an acknowledgement (ACK) message, wherein when the ACK message is transmitted, the skipping is applied after the ACK.
However, in analogous art, the disclosure of Park teaches:
wherein for downlink communication, the skipping is applied based on an acknowledgement (ACK) message, wherein when the ACK message is transmitted, the skipping is applied after the ACK (fig.3 depicts a UE receiving a DCI indicating that the UE may skip the remainder of slots in a PDCCH monitoring period and before the skipping sending ACK/NACK based on the UE reception of DCI indicating skipping. Par.[0118]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, as applied to the independent claims in view of Park which teaches the application of the skipping after ACK/NACK. The motivation/suggestion would have been to reduce the power consumption at the UE after the UE has received a grant, which improve performance of a grant conveyed in a downlink data channel (Park: par.[0053]).
Claim(s) 5, 8, 15, and 18, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, as applied to claims 1, 11, and 20, in view of Xu et al. (US 2021/0314862 A1), hereinafter known as Xu-2.
Regarding claim 5 and 15, the disclosures of Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, teaches the reception of a Downlink Control Information (DCI) with an indication to stop detecting the PDCCH for an interval. The disclosure of Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, may not teach:
wherein for downlink communication, the skipping is applied when a DRX-retransmissionTimerDL expires.
However, the above technique was discussed in the prior art before the effective filing date of the instant application. For example, in an analogous art, the disclosure of Xu-2 teaches:
wherein for downlink communication, the skipping is applied when a DRX-retransmissionTimerDL expires (par.[0127] which discloses that if the UE has an uplink retransmission timer, e.g. DRXRetransmissionTimerUL, the UE allows the timer to finish and then stops monitoring the PDCCH. Par.[0071] describes the UE receiving a message wherein the message comprises a time period wherein the PDCCH monitoring is to be stopped).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the techniques discussed in Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, for receiving a message that indicates skipping/stopping monitoring the PDCCH, with the techniques for allowing a retransmission timer to complete before stopping the monitoring as discussed in Xu-2. The motivation/suggestion would have been that the by allowing the retransmission timer to complete the UE would be able to retransmit and/or receive a previous transport block that wasn’t initially received at the destination while still allowing for additional power savings after the retransmission is completed.
Regarding claims 8 and 18, the disclosures of Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu teaches the reception of a Downlink Control Information (DCI) with an indication to stop detecting the PDCCH for an interval. The disclosure of Kuang and Xu, may not teach:
monitoring a drx- retransmissionTimerUL, and wherein the skipping is applied after the drx- retransmissionTimerUL expires.
However, the above technique was discussed in the prior art before the effective filing date of the instant application. For example, in an analogous art, the disclosure of Xu-2 teaches:
monitoring a drx- retransmissionTimerUL, and wherein the skipping is applied after the drx- retransmissionTimerUL expires (par.[0127] which discloses that if the UE has an uplink retransmission timer, e.g. DRXRetransmissionTimerUL, the UE allows the timer to finish and then stops monitoring the PDCCH. Par.[0071] describes the UE receiving a message wherein the message comprises a time period wherein the PDCCH monitoring is to be stopped).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the techniques discussed Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, for receiving a message that indicates skipping/stopping monitoring the PDCCH, with the techniques for allowing a retransmission timer to complete before stopping the monitoring as discussed in Xu-2. The motivation/suggestion would have been that the by allowing the retransmission timer to complete the UE would be able to retransmit and/or receive a previous transport block that wasn’t initially received at the destination while still allowing for additional power savings after the retransmission is completed.
Claim(s) 9 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, as applied to claims 1, 11, and 20, in view of Maleki et al. (US 2022/0182936 A1).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, discloses that the base station may transmit a PDCCH (e.g. DCI) that includes an indication to skip monitoring a PDCCH for a duration of time, e.g. a Wake-Up-Signal or a Go-To-Sleep indication. While the disclosure of Bae teaches the reception of a Go-To-Sleep e.g. a skipping indication, it may not explicitly disclose:
waking after skipping a preconfigured number of slots; monitoring the PDCCH for a period of time; and
if no scheduling DCI is received, skipping another pre-configured number of slots.
However, the above technique was well-known in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application. For example, the traditional DRX works in this manner wherein the UE may receive a DRX configuration in the PDCCH or higher-layer signaling, and awake for a certain period of time to detect a PDCCH scheduling and if no scheduling is present then the UE may enter into a low-power state for a period of time until the next PDCCH monitoring period. Furthermore, in an analogous art, the disclosure of Maleki teaches:
waking after skipping a preconfigured number of slots (fig.12 depicts a UE that is configured to detect or not detect a WUS in a PDCCH on WUS MO, which is a short period that to monitor for WUS that indicates a scheduling in upcoming PDCCH MO);
monitoring the PDCCH for a period of time (fig.12 the UE monitors the PDCCH in the WUS MO); and
if no scheduling DCI is received, skipping another pre-configured number of slots (fig.12 wherein if the UE does not detect the WUS in the WUS MO then the UE is configured to skip monitoring on the remainder of the PDCCH MO).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, for skipping monitoring a number PDCCH, with the disclosure of Maleki which teaches that the UE monitors the PDCCH after a period, and if no indication of scheduling is present continue skipping monitoring the PDCCH. The motivation/suggestion would have been that the UE has a finite amount of battery power and continuously monitoring PDCCH even when there is no need to wastes the battery resource of the UE unnecessarily.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, as applied to claims 1, 11, and 20, in view of Reial et al. (US 2022/0191789 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, teaches that the UE acquires a DCI indicating to skip a predetermined number of slots or symbols monitoring the PDCCH.
They may not disclose:
receiving a non-schedule DCI comprising a skip indication field indicating whether the UE should apply PDCCH monitoring skipping for another pre-configured number of slots.
However, it is known that non-scheduled DCI is used to allow a UE to enter or maintain a low power state. For example, in an analogous art, the disclosure of Reial teaches:
receiving a non-schedule DCI comprising a skip indication field indicating whether the UE should apply PDCCH monitoring skipping for another pre-configured number of slots (par.[0005] describes a dense PDCCH monitoring configuration wherein the UE continuously monitors for PDCCH and sparse PDCCH monitoring wherein the UE skips monitoring the PDCCH for a particular period of time. The disclosure at par.[0076] teaches that the network may use DCI to trigger the UE to perform sparse PDCCH monitoring using non-scheduling DCI. Par.[0174] discloses that the non-scheduling DCI may reuse fields from existing formats to indicate the UE to perform skipping (e.g. sparse) PDCCH monitoring).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Babaei, Ma, Kuang, and Xu, for reception of a skip indication in DCI, with the disclosure of Reial that teaches the use of non-scheduling DCI for indicating the skip of PDCCH. The motivation/suggestion would have been that there is a need to reduce power consumption at the UE, by signalling to the UE to skip monitoring when monitoring is unnecessary, then the UE may accomplish enhanced power savings
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 16 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.
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 11, and 20, have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Li et al. (US 2022/0360364 A1) “Method for Detecting PDCCH and Terminal” par.[0036] describes the multiple SSS on a BWP, and further discloses the configuration of these SSS on the active BWP.
Reial et al. (US 2023/0156572 A1) “Methods and Apparatus for Search Space Switching” (par.[0013, 0142, 0143]).
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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JAMAAL HENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2411
/JAMAAL HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411