Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/774,596

ADAPTIVE DEVICE MEASUREMENT EXECUTION

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jul 16, 2024
Examiner
AYAD, SALMA ABDELMONEM
Art Unit
2462
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Dell Products L.P.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
75%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allowance Rate
45 granted / 57 resolved
+20.9% vs TC avg
Minimal -4% lift
Without
With
+-3.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
14 currently pending
Career history
78
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
§103
67.9%
+27.9% vs TC avg
§102
23.6%
-16.4% vs TC avg
§112
5.5%
-34.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 57 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 § 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. (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. Claims 1-4 and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by HE et al. (US 20240056862 A1). Regarding claim 1, HE discloses “A method, comprising: receiving, by at least one user equipment comprising at least one processor from a serving radio network node, at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication indicative of at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation to be implemented by the at least one user equipment” (See [0085] a UE may receive, from a network node, configuration information that indicates at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap. See Fig. 6A, [0087] As shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 605, the network node 110 may transmit configuration information to the UE 120. The UE 120 may receive the configuration information from the network node 110. The configuration information may indicate a measurement gap configuration and at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap); “and based on the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication, implementing, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation” (See [0085] The UE may communicate data with the network node during the measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement gap occasion for the measurement gap based at least in part on the at least one criterion. For example, the UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied). Regarding claim 2, HE discloses “The method of claim 1, further comprising, receiving, by the at least one user equipment, at least one resource management measurement gap measurement criterion information message comprising at least one resource management measurement gap measurement criterion” (See Fig. 6A, [0087] As shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 605, the network node 110 may transmit configuration information to the UE 120. The UE 120 may receive the configuration information from the network node 110. The configuration information may indicate a measurement gap configuration and at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap). Regarding claim 3, HE discloses “The method of claim 2, further comprising: analyzing, by the at least one user equipment, at least one device characteristic with respect to the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement criterion to result in at least one analyzed device characteristic” (See [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied. For example, the second deactivation criterion may be satisfied when the RSRP and/or RSRQ measurements performed on the current serving cell by the UE 120 satisfy (e.g., is greater than or equal to) respective thresholds, and the low mobility criterion is satisfied for the UE 120. [0094] As further shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 610, the UE 120 may evaluate the at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in the measurement gap to determine whether the at least one criterion is satisfied); “based on the at least one analyzed device characteristic being determined to satisfy the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement criterion, determining, by the at least one user equipment, to implement the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation, which comprises avoiding measuring at least one radio parameter, corresponding to at least one radio network node other than the serving radio network node, during at least one resource management measurement gap” (See [0085] The UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied. [0090] The configuration information may indicate at least one criterion for refraining from performing measurements (e.g., the neighbor cell measurements) in the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration. [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied); “and communicating traffic, corresponding to at least one communication session during the at least one resource management measurement gap, with respect to the serving radio network node” (See [0094] As shown by reference number 615, the UE 120 may communicate data with the network node 110 (e.g., transmit uplink data to the network node 110 and/receive data from the network node 110) during a measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement gap occasion based at least in part on the at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in the measurement gap). Regarding claim 4, HE discloses “The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement criterion comprises at least one of: at least one mobility criterion to be applied to an estimated speed of movement of the at least one user equipment, at the at least one user equipment, associated with the serving radio network node” (See [0093] The second deactivation criterion may be based at least in part on at least one of an RSRP measurement or an RSRQ measurement on a current serving cell and based at least in part on a low-mobility criterion for the UE 120. For example, the second deactivation criterion may be satisfied when the RSRP and/or RSRQ measurements performed on the current serving cell by the UE 120 satisfy (e.g., is greater than or equal to) respective thresholds, and the low mobility criterion is satisfied for the UE 120). Note: The determination of whether the UE satisfies a low mobility criterion requires evaluating the UE’s estimated speed of movement. Regarding claim 12, HE discloses “The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation comprises at least one of: avoiding, by the at least one user equipment during at least one resource management measurement gap, measuring at least one radio parameter, corresponding to at least one radio network node other than the serving radio network node” (See [0085] The UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied. [0090] The configuration information may indicate at least one criterion for refraining from performing measurements (e.g., the neighbor cell measurements) in the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration. [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied). Regarding claim 13, HE discloses “A user equipment, comprising at least one processor configured to process executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising” (See Fig. 9): “receiving, from radio network equipment, at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication indicative of at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation to be implemented by the user equipment” (See [0085] a UE may receive, from a network node, configuration information that indicates at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap. See Fig. 6A, [0087] As shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 605, the network node 110 may transmit configuration information to the UE 120. The UE 120 may receive the configuration information from the network node 110. The configuration information may indicate a measurement gap configuration and at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap); “and based on the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication, implementing the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation” (See [0085] The UE may communicate data with the network node during the measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement gap occasion for the measurement gap based at least in part on the at least one criterion. For example, the UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claims 5-11, 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HE et al. (US 20240056862 A1) in view of MAAMARI et al. (US 20260019848 A1). Regarding claim 5, HE discloses “The method of claim 3, wherein the determining to implement the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation during the at least one resource management measurement gap is further based on” (See [0094] the UE 120 may evaluate the at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in the measurement gap to determine whether the at least one criterion is satisfied. The UE 120 and the network node 110 may communicate data during a measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement occasion based at least in part on a determination that the at least one criterion is satisfied). HE does not explicitly disclose analyzing a session characteristic, and determining the session characteristic does not satisfy a session criterion. However, MAAMARI discloses “analyzing, by the at least one user equipment, at least one session characteristic, corresponding to the at least one communication session” (See [0029] To illustrate, the UE may determine the UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration based at least in part on information at the UE, such as a UE buffer size, a delay status, and/or a mobility status, such that the UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration mitigates packet delay), “with respect to at least one session criterion to result in at least one analyzed session characteristic” (See [0120] the network node 110 may indicate one or more operating conditions that trigger the UE 120 to initiate the activation and/or deactivation of a UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration, such as a packet delay at the UE 120 satisfying a delay threshold, a buffer status at the UE 120 satisfying a buffer status threshold, and/or a measurement metric (e.g., RSRP, RSSI, and/or RSRQ) satisfying a measurement metric threshold); “and determining, by the at least one user equipment, that the at least one analyzed session characteristic does not satisfy at least one session criterion” (See [0101] In some aspects, the measurement gaps may cause frequent packet delays and/or an increase in a packet delay duration that may lead to the wireless network (e.g., via a network node 110 and/or a UE 120) failing to satisfy a low-latency operating condition and/or a high-reliability operating condition). Note: Accordingly, the UE analyzes session characteristics including buffer size and delay status, with respect to corresponding delay thresholds to determine whether the session criterion is satisfied before implementing the measurement gap operation. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of HE with the teachings of MAAMARI by incorporating the session characteristics into determining whether to implement the measurement gap operation, in order to reduce packet delay and improve satisfaction of latency and QoS requirements. Regarding claim 6, HE in view of MAAMARI discloses “The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one session characteristic comprises at least one latency associated with at least one uplink traffic protocol data unit being buffered by the at least one user equipment” (See [0120] the network node 110 may indicate one or more operating conditions that trigger the UE 120 to initiate the activation and/or deactivation of a UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration, such as a packet delay at the UE 120 satisfying a delay threshold, a buffer status at the UE 120 satisfying a buffer status threshold. Note: The session characteristic comprises UE buffer size and packet delay associated with buffered uplink traffic), “wherein the determining that the at least one analyzed session characteristic does not satisfy the at least one session criterion comprises the at least one user equipment determining that failure to transmit at least one protocol data unit, corresponding to the at least one communication session buffered by the at least one user equipment, during the at least one resource management measurement gap is threshold likely to result in the at least one session criterion not being satisfied” (See [0101] a measurement gap has a higher priority relative to data traffic, resulting in the interruption of the transmission and/or reception of the data traffic. In some aspects, the measurement gaps may cause frequent packet delays and/or an increase in a packet delay duration that may lead to the wireless network (e.g., via a network node 110 and/or a UE 120) failing to satisfy a low-latency operating condition and/or a high-reliability operating condition, such as an operating condition that 99% of data traffic is delivered within a PDB. Note: Interrupting transmission during the measurement gap increases packet delay, which may result in failure to satisfy the latency criterion), “and wherein the at least one session criterion is based on at least one quality of service associated with the at least one communication session” (See [0101] the measurement gaps may cause frequent packet delays and/or an increase in a packet delay duration that may lead to the wireless network (e.g., via a network node 110 and/or a UE 120) failing to satisfy a low-latency operating condition and/or a high-reliability operating condition. Note: The low-latency and high-reliability operating conditions correspond to QoS based session criteria). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of HE with the teachings of MAAMARI by incorporating the session characteristics into determining whether to implement the measurement gap operation, in order to reduce packet delay and improve satisfaction of latency and QoS requirements. Regarding claim 7, HE discloses “The method of claim 1”, but does not explicitly disclose that the management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received via DCI. However, MAAMARI discloses “wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received via at least one downlink control information message” (See [0113] the network node 110 may indicate one or more measurement gap scheduling parameters (e.g., associated with a measurement gap configuration and/or a measurement gap occasion configuration) that the UE 120 is allowed to modify via a UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration. The allowed measurement gap scheduling parameter(s) may indicate an operating condition for activating and/or deactivating UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configurations. The network node 110 may transmit the indication of the allowed measurement gap scheduling parameter(s) in Layer 1 signaling (e.g., DCI)). Note: The indication transmitted in DCI reasonably corresponds to the claimed measurement gap modification indication received via DCI. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of HE with the teachings of MAAMAR by transmitting measurement gap modification indication via DCI, and the motivation to do so would have been to enable timely, low-latency modification of the measurement gap operation. Regarding claim 8, HE in view of MAAMARI discloses “The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is indicative of at least one resource management measurement gap to result in at least one indicated resource management measurement gap” (See HE Fig. 6A, [0087] As shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 605, the network node 110 may transmit configuration information to the UE 120. The UE 120 may receive the configuration information from the network node 110. The configuration information may indicate a measurement gap configuration and at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap. Note: The configuration information indicates the measurement gap configuration, thereby identifying the indicated measurement gap), “and wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation comprises avoiding, during the at least one indicated resource management measurement gap, measuring at least one reference signal corresponding to at least one radio network node other than the serving radio network node” (See HE [0085] The UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied. [0090] The configuration information may indicate at least one criterion for refraining from performing measurements (e.g., the neighbor cell measurements) in the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration. [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied). Regarding claim 9, HE in view of MAAMARI discloses “The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one indicated resource management measurement gap has been scheduled, by the serving radio network node, to occur subsequent to the receiving, by the at least one user equipment, of the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication” (See HE Fig. 6A, [0087] As shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 605, the network node 110 may transmit configuration information to the UE 120. The UE 120 may receive the configuration information from the network node 110. The configuration information may indicate a measurement gap configuration and at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap. [0085] The UE may communicate data with the network node during the measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement gap occasion for the measurement gap based at least in part on the at least one criterion. Note: Since the scheduled measurement gap occasions are configured by the received configuration information, the scheduled measurement gap occurs subsequent to the UE receiving the configuration information). Regarding claim 10, HE discloses “The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is indicative of at least one resource management measurement gap to result in at least one indicated resource management measurement gap” (See Fig. 6A, [0087] As shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 605, the network node 110 may transmit configuration information to the UE 120. The UE 120 may receive the configuration information from the network node 110. The configuration information may indicate a measurement gap configuration and at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap), “and wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received during at least one of the at least one indicated resource management measurement gap” (See [0085] The UE may communicate data with the network node during the measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement gap occasion for the measurement gap based at least in part on the at least one criterion. Note: The scheduled measurement gap occasions are configured by the received configuration information and may reasonably include the occasion in which it is received). HE does not explicitly disclose that the management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received via MAC-CE. However, MAAMARI discloses “wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received via at least one medium access control control element” (See [0113] the network node 110 may indicate one or more measurement gap scheduling parameters (e.g., associated with a measurement gap configuration and/or a measurement gap occasion configuration) that the UE 120 is allowed to modify via a UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration. The allowed measurement gap scheduling parameter(s) may indicate an operating condition for activating and/or deactivating UE selected measurement gap scheduling configurations. The network node 110 may transmit the indication of the allowed measurement gap scheduling parameter(s)Layer 2 signaling (e.g., a MAC CE)). Note: The indication transmitted in MAC-CE reasonably corresponds to the claimed measurement gap modification indication received via DCI. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of HE with the teachings of MAAMAR by transmitting measurement gap modification indication via MAC-CE, and the motivation to do so would have been to efficiently communicate measurement gap modification with reduced latency and signaling overhead. Regarding claim 11, HE in view of MAAMARI discloses “The method of claim 10, further comprising: analyzing, by the at least one user equipment, at least one device characteristic with respect to at least one resource management measurement gap measurement criterion to result in at least one analyzed device characteristic” (See HE [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied. For example, the second deactivation criterion may be satisfied when the RSRP and/or RSRQ measurements performed on the current serving cell by the UE 120 satisfy (e.g., is greater than or equal to) respective thresholds, and the low mobility criterion is satisfied for the UE 120. [0094] As further shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 610, the UE 120 may evaluate the at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in the measurement gap to determine whether the at least one criterion is satisfied); “based on the at least one analyzed device characteristic being determined to satisfy the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement criterion, determining, by the at least one user equipment, to implement the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation during the at least one resource management measurement gap” (See HE [0085] The UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied. [0090] The configuration information may indicate at least one criterion for refraining from performing measurements (e.g., the neighbor cell measurements) in the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration. [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied); “and communicating traffic, corresponding to at least one communication session during the at least one resource management measurement gap, with respect to the serving radio network node” (See HE [0094] As shown by reference number 615, the UE 120 may communicate data with the network node 110 (e.g., transmit uplink data to the network node 110 and/receive data from the network node 110) during a measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement gap occasion based at least in part on the at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in the measurement gap). Regarding claim 14, HE discloses “The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is indicative of at least one resource management measurement gap to result in at least one indicated resource management measurement gap” (See Fig. 6A, [0087] As shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 605, the network node 110 may transmit configuration information to the UE 120. The UE 120 may receive the configuration information from the network node 110. The configuration information may indicate a measurement gap configuration and at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap. Note: The configuration information indicates the measurement gap configuration, thereby identifying the indicated measurement gap), “and wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation comprises at least one of: avoiding, during the at least one indicated resource management measurement gap, measuring at least one reference signal corresponding to at least one radio network node other than a serving radio network node associated with the radio network equipment” (See [0085] The UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied. [0090] The configuration information may indicate at least one criterion for refraining from performing measurements (e.g., the neighbor cell measurements) in the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration. [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied). HE does not explicitly disclose that the management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received via DCI. However, MAAMARI discloses “wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received via at least one downlink control information message” (See MAAMARI [0113] the network node may indicate one or more measurement gap scheduling parameters (e.g., associated with a measurement gap configuration and/or a measurement gap occasion configuration) that the UE is allowed to modify via a UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration. The allowed measurement gap scheduling parameter(s) may indicate an operating condition for activating and/or deactivating UE selected measurement gap scheduling configurations. The network node 110 may transmit the indication of the allowed measurement gap scheduling parameter(s) in Layer 1 signaling (e.g., DCI)). Note: The indication transmitted in DCI reasonably corresponds to the claimed measurement gap modification indication received via DCI). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of HE with the teachings of MAAMAR by transmitting measurement gap modification indication via DCI, and the motivation to do so would have been to enable timely, low-latency modification of the measurement gap operation. Regarding claim 15, HE discloses “The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is indicative of at least one resource management measurement gap to result in at least one indicated resource management measurement gap” (See Fig. 6A, [0087] As shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 605, the network node 110 may transmit configuration information to the UE 120. The UE 120 may receive the configuration information from the network node 110. The configuration information may indicate a measurement gap configuration and at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap), “and wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received during at least one of the at least one indicated resource management measurement gap” (See [0085] The UE may communicate data with the network node during the measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement gap occasion for the measurement gap based at least in part on the at least one criterion. Note: The scheduled measurement gap occasions are configured by the received configuration information and may reasonably include the occasion in which it is received). HE does not explicitly disclose that the management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received via MAC-CE. However, MAAMARI discloses “wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication is received via at least one medium access control control element” (See [0113] the network node 110 may indicate one or more measurement gap scheduling parameters (e.g., associated with a measurement gap configuration and/or a measurement gap occasion configuration) that the UE 120 is allowed to modify via a UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration. The allowed measurement gap scheduling parameter(s) may indicate an operating condition for activating and/or deactivating UE selected measurement gap scheduling configurations. The network node 110 may transmit the indication of the allowed measurement gap scheduling parameter(s)Layer 2 signaling (e.g., a MAC CE)). Note: The indication transmitted in MAC-CE reasonably corresponds to the claimed measurement gap modification indication received via DCI. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of HE with the teachings of MAAMAR by transmitting measurement gap modification indication via MAC-CE, and the motivation to do so would have been to efficiently communicate measurement gap modification with reduced latency and signaling overhead. Regarding claim 16, HE in view of MAAMARI discloses “The user equipment of claim 15, wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation comprises at least one of: avoiding, during the at least one indicated resource management measurement gap, measuring at least one reference signal corresponding to at least one radio network node other than a serving radio network node associated with the radio network equipment” (See HE [0085] The UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied. [0090] The configuration information may indicate at least one criterion for refraining from performing measurements (e.g., the neighbor cell measurements) in the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration. [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied). Regarding claim 17, HE in view of MAAMARI discloses “The user equipment of claim 15, further comprising: analyzing, by the at least one user equipment, at least one device characteristic with respect to at least one resource management measurement gap measurement criterion to result in at least one analyzed device characteristic” (See HE [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied. For example, the second deactivation criterion may be satisfied when the RSRP and/or RSRQ measurements performed on the current serving cell by the UE 120 satisfy (e.g., is greater than or equal to) respective thresholds, and the low mobility criterion is satisfied for the UE 120. [0094] As further shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 610, the UE 120 may evaluate the at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in the measurement gap to determine whether the at least one criterion is satisfied); “based on the at least one analyzed device characteristic being determined to satisfy the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement criterion, determining, by the at least one user equipment, to implement the at least one resource management measurement gap measurement operation during the at least one resource management measurement gap” (See HE [0085] The UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied. [0090] The configuration information may indicate at least one criterion for refraining from performing measurements (e.g., the neighbor cell measurements) in the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration. [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap until the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation is no longer satisfied); “and communicating traffic, corresponding to at least one communication session during the at least one resource management measurement gap, with respect to the serving radio network node” (See HE [0094] As shown by reference number 615, the UE 120 may communicate data with the network node 110 (e.g., transmit uplink data to the network node 110 and/receive data from the network node 110) during a measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement gap occasion based at least in part on the at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in the measurement gap). Regarding claim 18, HE discloses “A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a user equipment, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: as part of a communication session with a serving radio network node” (See Fig. 9, Fig. 6A-B), “receiving, from the serving radio network node, at least one resource management measurement gap measurement modification indication indicative that the user equipment is to determine to avoid measuring, during at least one resource management measurement gap, at least one reference signal corresponding to at least one radio network node other than the serving radio network node” (See Fig. 6A, [0087] As shown in FIG. 6A, and by reference number 605, the network node 110 may transmit configuration information to the UE 120. The UE 120 may receive the configuration information from the network node 110. The configuration information may indicate a measurement gap configuration and at least one criterion for refraining from performing a measurement in a measurement gap. [0085] The UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied. [0090] The configuration information may indicate at least one criterion for refraining from performing measurements (e.g., the neighbor cell measurements) in the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration. [0093] For example, the at least one criterion for measurement gap deactivation may include at least one criterion, which when satisfied, may trigger deactivation of all scheduled measurement gap occasions for the configured measurement gap); “avoiding measuring at least one radio parameter, corresponding to at least one radio network node other than the serving radio network node, during at least one resource management measurement gap that is scheduled by the serving radio network node; and communicating buffered traffic, corresponding to the communication session, during the at least one resource management measurement gap, with respect to the serving radio network node” (See [0085] The UE may communicate data with the network node during the measurement gap in at least one scheduled measurement gap occasion for the measurement gap based at least in part on the at least one criterion. For example, the UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied). HE does not explicitly disclose analyzing a session characteristic with respect to a session criterion. However, MAAMARI discloses “based on analysis of at least one session characteristic corresponding to the communication session, analyzing the at least one session characteristic, corresponding to the communication session, with respect to at least one session criterion to result in at least one analyzed session characteristic”; and based on the at least one analyzed session characteristic being determined to violate the at least one session criterion” (See [0029] To illustrate, the UE may determine the UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration based at least in part on information at the UE, such as a UE buffer size, a delay status, and/or a mobility status, such that the UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration mitigates packet delay. [0101] a measurement gap has a higher priority relative to data traffic, resulting in the interruption of the transmission and/or reception of the data traffic. In some aspects, the measurement gaps may cause frequent packet delays and/or an increase in a packet delay duration that may lead to the wireless network (e.g., via a network node 110 and/or a UE 120) failing to satisfy a low-latency operating condition and/or a high-reliability operating condition. [0120] the network node 110 may indicate one or more operating conditions that trigger the UE 120 to initiate the activation and/or deactivation of a UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration, such as a packet delay at the UE 120 satisfying a delay threshold. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated the session-characteristic analysis of MAAMARI when determining whether to implement the measurement gap operation of HE, in order to reduce packet delay and improve satisfaction of latency and QoS requirements. Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HE et al. (US 20240056862 A1) in view of MAAMARI et al. (US 20260019848 A1), and further in view of LOHR (WO 2024171174 A1). Regarding claim 19, HE in view of MAAMARI discloses “The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise: based on the at least one analyzed session characteristic being determined to violate the at least one session criterion” (See MAAMARI [0029] To illustrate, the UE may determine the UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration based at least in part on information at the UE, such as a UE buffer size, a delay status, and/or a mobility status, such that the UE-selected measurement gap scheduling configuration mitigates packet delay. [0101] a measurement gap has a higher priority relative to data traffic, resulting in the interruption of the transmission and/or reception of the data traffic. In some aspects, the measurement gaps may cause frequent packet delays and/or an increase in a packet delay duration that may lead to the wireless network (e.g., via a network node 110 and/or a UE 120) failing to satisfy a low-latency operating condition and/or a high-reliability operating condition). HE in view of MAAMARI does not explicitly disclose transmitting a measurement gap skipping indication via a preamble resource. However, LOHR discloses “transmitting, to the serving radio network node, at least one resource management measurement gap skipping indication” (See [0071] measurement gap deactivation request transmitted using MAC-CE), “via at least one preamble resource associated with the at least one resource management measurement gap” (See [0090] (8) (8) UE can obtain contention free random access (CFRA) resources (e.g., preamble/physical random access channel (PRACH) resources) which can be used to signal to a gNB the triggering of MAC CEs and/or high priority traffic), “indicative of an absence, during at least one future resource management measurement gap, of at least one measured parameter value corresponding to at least one radio network node other than the serving radio network node being transmitted to the serving radio network node by the user equipment” (See HE [0085] The UE may deprioritize, relax, and/or deactivate the measurement gap in one or more measurement gap occasions when the at least one criterion is satisfied. [0090] The configuration information may indicate at least one criterion for refraining from performing measurements (e.g., the neighbor cell measurements) in the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration). Note: Accordingly, the combined teachings disclose transmitting a measurement gap skipping indication using a PRACH preamble resource, which deactivates future measurement gap operation. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of HE and MAAMARI, with the teachings of LOHR, and the motivation to do so would have been to efficiently utilize existing signaling resources for conveying the measurement gap indication. Regarding claim 20, HE in view of MAAMARI and LOHR discloses “The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the at least one resource management measurement gap skipping indication is transmitted via at least one medium access control control element” (See LOHR [0071] measurement gap deactivation request transmitted using MAC-CE. [0090] (8) (8) UE can obtain contention free random access (CFRA) resources (e.g., preamble/physical random access channel (PRACH) resources) which can be used to signal to a gNB the triggering of MAC CEs and/or high priority traffic). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the teachings of HE and MAAMARI, with the teachings of LOHR, and the motivation to do so would have been to efficiently utilize existing signaling resources for conveying the measurement gap indication. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SALMA A AYAD whose telephone number is (571)270-0285. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 to 5:30 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, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at 5712723927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SALMA AYAD/Examiner, Art Unit 2462 /YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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Prosecution Timeline

Jul 16, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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1-2
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75%
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3y 0m (~9m remaining)
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