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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 10/09/2024 and 05/06/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
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 § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3, 11, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 3, 11, and 14, the dependent claims recites “… wherein a value range of the first threshold is [2, 5] dB” and therefore creating a deficiency of language. It is unclear what “[2,5]” is referring to. More specifically, a “threshold” of certain dB values is a known and well defined term in the art. However, not correctly specifying the boundaries of such threshold makes this known and well defined term in the art indefinite. In other words, the dependent claim should recite “…wherein a value range of the first threshold is a minimum value of 2 dB and a maximum value of 5 dB” or alike. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipate by Brunel et al. (US 2019/0158137 A1, hereinafter Brunel).
Regarding claim 8, Brunel teaches a communication method applied to a network device ([0084] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one example of a communication network 10. The communication network 10 includes a macro cell base station 1, a small cell base station 3, and various examples of user equipment (UE)), wherein the method comprises: generating first configuration information that indicates a terminal device is allowed to reduce a transmit power based on a cause of maximum sensitivity degradation (MSD); and sending the first configuration information to the terminal device ([0112] "FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of an RF communication system 80. The RF communication system 80 includes a transceiver 50, a first transmit chain 51," i.e. a first transmit chain 51 read as first configuration information, wherein said transmit chain 51 may contain a transmit power level with a power threshold which may instruct the network device to reduce a transmit power, as described in [0011], wherein said threshold may be "a sensitivity threshold, such as maximum sensitivity degradation (MSD)," see [0222]).
Regarding claim 9, Brunel teaches configuring a first threshold for the terminal device (as described in claim 8, and [0011] and [0112]), wherein the first threshold is used by the terminal device to determine whether to reduce a transmit power class ([0007] describes "the transmit parameter is power reduction and the threshold is a power reduction threshold. In accordance with a number of embodiments, the power reduction threshold is additional maximum power reduction (A-MPR)," and [0189-0190] describes A-MPR requirements for NS_04 for a plurality of power classes, i.e. if power is reduced by a certain degree, it will reduce a transmit power class, i.e. the ability to determine to reduce a transmit power class).
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 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Brunel et al. (US 2019/0158137 A1, hereinafter Brunel) in view of LIU et al. (US 2022/0174613 A1, hereinafter Liu).
Regarding claim 10, Brunel is not relied on for the claim language configuring the first threshold for the terminal device comprises: sending second configuration information to the terminal device, wherein the second configuration information is used to configure a threshold set, and wherein the threshold set comprises the first threshold; and sending indication information to the terminal device, wherein the indication information is used to activate the first threshold. However, Liu teaches [abstract] obtaining insertion losses corresponding to signals, wherein transmit powers will be calculated, and wireless signals will be transmitted based on said transmit powers. Liu also teaches configuring the first threshold for the terminal device comprises: sending second configuration information to the terminal device, wherein the second configuration information is used to configure a threshold set ([Figure 3, step 305] and [0127] "Step 305: The network device sends signaling, where the signaling is used to indicate to send first power adjustment information of the first signal on the first SRS resource and/or second power adjustment information of the second signal on the second SRS resource. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the signaling," i.e. a calculation of a threshold), and wherein the threshold set comprises the first threshold; and sending indication information to the terminal device, wherein the indication information is used to activate the first threshold ([0074] each SRS power adjustment configuration signals include a relative insertion loss is recorded as □T.sub.RxSRS, wherein □T.sub.RxSRS is used in calculating the power thresholds for the terminal, wherein the terminal will implement/activate said threshold).Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brunel to include configuration information in association with thresholds, as taught by Liu, in order to [0025] reduce signaling overheads during reporting.
Regarding claim 11, Brunel is not relied on for the claim language a value range of the first threshold is [2, 5] dB. However, Liu teaches as such ([0076] "□T.sub.RxSRS is one parameter used by the terminal device to calculate a configured maximum output power of the terminal device (the configured maximum UE output power, PCMAX)," □T.sub.RxSRS read as first threshold, which may be between 2 and 5 dB, described in the example thresholds given in [0076], furthermore examples regarding Table 1 in [0090 - 0091] support these specific threshold values). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Brunel to include a specified threshold decibel value, as taught by Liu, in order to [0025] reduce signaling overheads during reporting.
Claims 1-5, 7, 12-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LIU et al. (US 2022/0174613 A1, hereinafter Liu) in view of Brunel et al. (US 2019/0158137 A1, hereinafter Brunel).
Regarding claim 1, Liu teaches a communication method, wherein the method is applied to a terminal device ([0081] FIG. 3 is a signal sending method, to improve channel measurement precision, and improve demodulation performance, and communications are sent between a terminal device and a network device), a power class of the terminal device is a first power class ([0112] "PPowerClass is a power level of the terminal device, and represents a maximum power that can be transmitted by the terminal device," i.e. the terminal device will contain a first power class), and the method comprises: receiving first configuration information from a network device ([0092] "the RRC message may be a dedicated RRC message, or an RRC message shared by a group of terminal devices or all terminal devices, for example, a broadcast message. This is not limited in this embodiment of this application. The terminal device obtains the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource by receiving configuration information," i.e. steps 301 and 302 depicted in FIG. 3 may be received from a plurality of other network devices, for example a broadcast message from the network device itself); and when the first configuration information indicates that the terminal device is allowed to reduce a transmit power ([0111] "□TC represents a value generated by allowed additional output power reduction when uplink transmission is performed on an RB resource located at an edge of a frequency band," i.e. the terminal device ensures it is allowed to reduce transmit power, wherein said information may be based on the information received from the network device as explained above), -based on a power adjustment factor- ([0175] the processing module 720 is configured to perform the action of determining the power adjustment information performed by the network device to generate signaling in step 305).
Liu is not relied on for the claim language reducing a transmit power class- and -if a difference between reference sensitivity of the first power class and reference sensitivity of a second power class is greater than or equal to a first threshold in configured channel bandwidth. However, Brunel teaches [abstract] a method of single switched uplink versus multi uplink in association with transmit parameters and thresholds. Brunel also teaches reducing a transmit power class- ([0007] describes "the transmit parameter is power reduction and the threshold is a power reduction threshold. In accordance with a number of embodiments, the power reduction threshold is additional maximum power reduction (A-MPR)," and [0189-0190] describes A-MPR requirements for NS_04 for a plurality of power classes, i.e. if power is reduced by a certain degree, it will reduce a transmit power class) -if a difference between reference sensitivity of the first power class and reference sensitivity ([0282] describes "MIMO communications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple data streams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communications benefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/or reduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences of the radio environment," i.e. a calculation/difference of power adjustment per wireless signal is possible) of a second power class is greater than or equal to a first threshold in configured channel bandwidth ([0040] describes "the transceiver is further configured to transmit the radio frequency signal by way of the first transmit chain when the transmit power level is less than or equal to the power threshold, and to transmit the radio frequency signal by way of both the first transmit chain and the second transmit chain when the transmit power level is greater than the power threshold," i.e. a calculation of power (which is based on the power class), which may be adjusted if the transmit power is "greater than the power threshold," i.e. the determination on the ability to reduce the power (which is based on the power class) of a wireless signal in association with a threshold, in association with channel bandwidths as described in [0129] and shown in FIG. 3B). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Liu to include the use of power classes and associated channel bandwidths and thresholds, as taught by Brunel, in order to support advantages such as [0089] high data rates, low latency, and the efficient use of spectrum and variable allocation of throughput between transmit and receive directions.
Regarding claim 2, Liu teaches the power adjustment factor is a first value that is a difference between a power class power corresponding to the first power class and a power class power corresponding to the second power class ([0107] the transmit power corresponding to the SRS resource may be determined by using the formula shown, wherein "(P.sub.PowerClass−□P.sub.PowerClass)" is part of said formula, referring to calculating the difference between two power values within separate power classes (which may be the first and second power classes' transmission power)).
Regarding claim 3, Liu teaches a value range of the first threshold is [2, 5] dB ([0076] "□T.sub.RxSRS is one parameter used by the terminal device to calculate a configured maximum output power of the terminal device (the configured maximum UE output power, PCMAX)," □T.sub.RxSRS read as first threshold, which may be between 2 and 5 dB, described in the example thresholds given in [0076], furthermore examples regarding Table 1 in [0090 - 0091] support these specific threshold values).
Regarding claim 4, Liu teaches the first threshold is configured by the network device ([0076] □T.sub.RxSRS is one parameter used by the terminal device to calculate a configured maximum output power of the terminal device (the configured maximum UE output power, PCMAX), wherein □T.sub.RxSRS is "a relative insertion loss is recorded as □T.sub.RxSRS" described in [0074], i.e. the □T.sub.RxSRS, □T.sub.RxSRS read as first threshold, may be received originally from the network device as described in claim 1 and [0092]).
Regarding claim 5, Liu teaches receiving second configuration information from the network device, wherein the second configuration information is used to configure a threshold set ([Figure 3, step 305] and [0127] "Step 305: The network device sends signaling, where the signaling is used to indicate to send first power adjustment information of the first signal on the first SRS resource and/or second power adjustment information of the second signal on the second SRS resource. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the signaling"), and the threshold set comprises the first threshold; and receiving indication information from the network device, wherein the indication information is used to activate the first threshold ([0074] each SRS power adjustment configuration signals include a relative insertion loss is recorded as □T.sub.RxSRS, wherein □T.sub.RxSRS is used in calculating the power thresholds for the terminal described in claim 4, wherein the terminal will implement/activate said threshold).
Regarding claim 7, Liu is not relied on for the claim language the first configuration information indicates the terminal device is allowed to reduce the transmit power based on a cause of maximum sensitivity degradation (MSD). However, Brunel teaches as such ([0222] "the transmit control circuit can control the selected mode of operation of the transceiver based on a variety of thresholds. In a first example, the transmit parameter is signal sensitivity and the threshold is a sensitivity threshold, such as maximum sensitivity degradation (MSD). In a second example, the transmit parameter is power reduction and the threshold is a power reduction threshold, such as additional maximum power reduction (A-MPR)," i.e. a threshold for power manipulation may be a MSD, as described above and in [0034]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Liu to include the use of a maximum sensitivity degradation (MSD), as taught by Brunel, in order to support advantages such as [0089] high data rates, low latency, and the efficient use of spectrum and variable allocation of throughput between transmit and receive directions.
Regarding claim 12, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 1, further in view of Liu teaches a communication apparatus, wherein a power class of the communication apparatus is a first power class, the communication apparatus comprises: at least one processor; and a memory storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor, the programming instructions instructing the communication apparatus to perform operations- ([0081] FIG. 3 is a signal sending method, to improve channel measurement precision, and improve demodulation performance, and communications are sent between a terminal device and a network device, wherein [0182] describes FIG. 8 depicts the network device which may be applied to the system shown in FIG. 1, wherein said network device may be a communication apparatus is provided, including a processor and a memory, where the memory is configured to store instructions, and the processor is configured to read and execute the instructions, to implement the method described in claim 1, according to [0026]).
Regarding claim 13, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 14, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 3.
Regarding claim 15, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 4.
Regarding claim 16, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 5.
Regarding claim 18, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 7.
Regarding claim 19, Liu teaches the apparatus is a terminal device (FIG. 3 depicts communications between a terminal device and a network device).
Regarding claim 20, Liu teaches the apparatus is a chip in a terminal device ([0048] describes "the foregoing terminal device and a chip that may be disposed in the foregoing terminal device are collectively referred to as the terminal device," additionally [0030] describes "the communication apparatus is a chip or a chip system").
Claims 6 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LIU et al. (US 2022/0174613 A1, hereinafter Liu) and Brunel et al. (US 2019/0158137 A1, hereinafter Brunel) as applied in the claims above, and further in view of KIM et al. (US 2019/0306739 A1, hereinafter Kim).
Regarding claim 6, Liu teaches -based on the power adjustment factor- (as recited in claim 1, described in [0175]).
Liu is not relied on for the claim language reducing the transmit power class- -if the difference between the reference sensitivity of the first power class and the reference sensitivity of the second power class is greater than or equal to the first threshold. However, Brunel teaches reducing the transmit power class (as recited in claim 1, described in [0007] and [0189-0190])- -if the difference between the reference sensitivity (as recited in claim 1, described in [0282]) of the first power class and the reference sensitivity of the second power class is greater than or equal to the first threshold (as recited in claim 1, described in [0040]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Liu to include the use of power classes and associated channel bandwidths and thresholds, as taught by Brunel, in order to support advantages such as [0089] high data rates, low latency, and the efficient use of spectrum and variable allocation of throughput between transmit and receive directions.
The combination of Liu and Brunel is not relied on for the claim language -a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of intra-frequency measurement performed by the terminal device in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state is less than or equal to a second threshold. However, Kim teaches [abstract] performing frequency measurements in a RRC idle or inactive mode, in association with [0061] wireless channel measurements, and reporting the result. Kim also teaches -a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of intra-frequency measurement performed by the terminal device in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state is less than or equal to a second threshold ([0168-0169] a UE may perform a SINR frequency measurement via an RRC connection, in association with a threshold, wherein [0204] describes an example situation where the frequency measurement is performed in the event of a connected state being less than or equal to a threshold).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Liu and Brunel to include the use of SINR measurements, as taught by Kim, in order to [0054] allow the UE to perform frequency measurements in advance in the RRC idle mode or the RRC inactive mode in a wireless communication system and [0004] mitigate a propagation path loss in the ultrahigh-frequency band and increase a propagation transmission distance in order to [0005] improve the overall system network for 5G communications.
Regarding claim 17, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 6.
References Cited
Brunel, Dominique Michel Yves et al. (2019). Dynamic control of single switched uplink versus multi uplink (US 2019/0158137 A1). Filed 2018-11-13.
Liu, Ye et al. (2022). Signal sending method and apparatus, and signal receiving method and apparatus (US 2022/0174613 A1). Filed 2022-02-15. (Priority 08/16/2019)
Kim, Donggun et al. (2019). Apparatus and method for measurement in wireless communication system (US 2019/0306739 A1). Filed 2019-03-28.
Other Pertinent References
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ryoo, Sunheui et al. (2018). Method and apparatus for transmitting power headroom information in a communication system (US 2018/0324715 A1). Filed 2018-05-04. Discloses a communication method which includes receiving an RRC connection response message including second uplink waveform information for uplink data transmission, and transmitting data based on the second uplink waveform. (abstract)
Xu, Changlong et al. (2023). Dynamic switching between power mode configurations (US 2023/0171709 A1). Filed 2020-06-09. Discloses a wireless communications method wherein two UEs may communicate and make power mode configurations based on power modes of the UE. (abstract)
Zhang, Jian et al. (2023). Power control method and apparatus (US 2023/0247560 A1). Filed 2021-05-13. Discloses a method for wireless communications which includes indication information and is used to indicate one or more first transmit powers of the terminal device, corresponding to a phase jump of an uplink signal of the terminal device. (abstract)
Han, Guanglin et al. (2014). Method and apparatus for controlling transmitting power (US 2014/0036827 A1). Filed 2013-10-02. Discloses a method for controlling transmitting power and relates to the field of communications. (abstract)
Huang, Yi et al. (2022). Power control for wireless device cooperative transmission schemes (US 2022/0182946 A1). Filed 2022-02-22. Discloses techniques which provide for efficiently transmitting uplink signals to a base station using shared antennas associated with different power classes. (abstract)
Bae, Janggun (2023). Electronic device transmitting uplink signal and operating method thereof (US 2023/0354217 A1). Filed 2023-07-07. Discloses an electronic device capable of identifying transmission powers respectively corresponding to a plurality of messages, and make changes to the RF device’s messages based on said transmission powers. (abstract)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW JAMES DWYER whose telephone number is (571)272-5121. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6 a.m. - 3 p.m. EST.
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/MATTHEW JAMES DWYER/Examiner, Art Unit 2649
/GEORGE ENG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2699
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