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 § 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)(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.
Claim(s) 1, 4-6, 9-11, 14-16, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhou et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0334538).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Zhou discloses a method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system, the method terminal comprising:
a transceiver (paragraph 218); and
a controller (paragraph 218) configured to:
receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including
information on a radio network temporary identity (RNTI) for network energy saving
(NES) associated with discontinuous transmission (DTX)/discontinuous reception
(DRX) (paragraph 517: RRC message further comprise a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for the DCI associated with activation of cell DTX/DRX configuration for network energy saving (NES)), and configuration information for least one serving cell (paragraph 517: wireless device receives an RRC message comprising configuration parameters of the cell DTX configuration), wherein the configuration information includes a DTX/DRX configuration for a corresponding serving cell among the at least one serving cell (paragraphs 419-423, 517 and 518: UE receives a RRC message from base station for cell DTX);
receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) scrambled
with the RNTI for the NES, the DCI including a DTX/DRX indication for the
corresponding serving cell (figure 49A, paragraphs 463, 464; 467, 509, 510, 517, and 518: CRC bits of DCI scrambled by RNTI); and
performing an activation or a deactivation for the DTX/DRX configuration of
the corresponding serving cell, based on the DTX/DRX indication (paragraphs 517 and 518: wireless device activates/deactivates cell DTX configuration based on received DCI).
Regarding claims 4, 9, 14, and 19, all limitations of claims 1, 6, 11, and 16 are disclosed above. Zhou further teaches wherein the RRC message further includes information indicating that the activation or the deactivation is to be monitored by an L1 signaling of the corresponding
serving cell (paragraphs 107, 129, 152, 204, 517, 518: wireless device to monitor on search space for PDCCH/DCI on layer 1), and wherein one of a DTX operation, a DRX operation or both the DTX operation and the DRX operation is activated or deactivated based on the DTX/DRX configuration (paragraphs 517, 518).
Regarding claims 5, 10, 15, and 20, all limitations of claims 1, 6, 11, and 16 are disclosed above. Zhou further teaches receiving, from the base station, information on a common search space for the DCI, wherein the activation or the deactivation for the DTX/DRX configuration is applied, after a pre-configured number of slots from a reception of the DCI (paragraphs 517 and 518: common search space for DCI, DCI indicating activation, and starting offset of DTX cycle).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Zhou discloses a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising:
a transceiver (paragraph 218); and
a controller (paragraph 218) configured to:
control the transceiver to transmit, to a terminal, a radio resource control
(RRC) message including information on a radio network temporary identity
(RNTI) for network energy saving (NES) associated with discontinuous
transmission (DTX)/discontinuous reception (DRX) (paragraph 517: RRC message further comprise a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for the DCI associated with activation of cell DTX/DRX configuration for network energy saving (NES)), and configuration information for least one serving cell (paragraph 517: wireless device receives an RRC message comprising configuration parameters of the cell DTX configuration), wherein the configuration information includes a DTX/DRX configuration for a corresponding serving cell among the at least one serving cell (paragraphs 419-423, 517 and 518: UE receives a RRC message from base station for cell DTX), and
control the transceiver to transmit, to the terminal, downlink control
information (DCI) scrambled with the RNTI for the NES, the DCI including a
DTX/DRX indication for the corresponding serving cell (figure 49A, paragraphs 463, 464; 467, 509, 510, 517, and 518: CRC bits of DCI scrambled by RNTI),
wherein an activation or a deactivation for the DTX/DRX configuration of the
corresponding serving cell is performed in the terminal, based on the DTX/DRX
indication (paragraphs 517 and 518: wireless device activates/deactivates cell DTX configuration based on received DCI).
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.
Claim(s) 2, 7, 12, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0334538) in view of Lei (US Pub. No. 2025/0193882).
Regarding claims 2, 7, 12, and 17, all limitations of claims 1, 6, 11, and 16 are disclosed above. Zhou does not teach but Lei discloses wherein the RRC message further includes information on a size of the DCI (paragraph 86), and wherein information bits for the DCI are identified based on the information on the size of the DCI (Table 1, paragraphs 115-120).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement in Zhou the RRC message further includes information on a size of the DCI and wherein information bits for the DCI are identified based on the information on the size of the DCI.
The motivation would have been for proper DCI format.
Claim(s) 3, 8, 13, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0334538).
Regarding claims 3, 8, 13, and 18, all limitations of claims 1, 6, 11, and 16 are disclosed above. Zhou further teaches wherein the configuration information further includes information on a position of a bit field for the DTX/DRX indication in the DCI, wherein the DTX/DRX indication is identified based on the information on the position of the bit field, and wherein a value of for the bit field indicates the deactivation and a value of for the bit field indicates the activation (paragraphs 438, 465, and 472).
Zhou does not explicitly discloses a value of 0 is for deactivation and a value of 1 is for activation.
However, Zhou’s paragraphs 465 and 472 teaches a first value is for activation and second value is for deactivation. Since a bit has only two possible values (0 and 1), it would have been obvious to try either value for activation and deactivation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Maleki et al. (US Pub. No. 2025/0286682) discloses an RRC message with DCI size and indication.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TITO Q PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-4122. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9AM-6PM EST.
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/TITO Q PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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