DETAILED ACTION
The instant application having Application No. 18/781709 filed on 07/23/2024 is presented for examination by the examiner.
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 . 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 for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection.
Allowable Subject Matters
Claims 2, 6, 10, 12 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. Claims 3, 4 are objected since they depend on claim 2.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. §101 which forms the basis for all patent-ineligible rejections set forth in this Office action:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
The factual inquires set forth in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank, 573 U.S. 134 (2014), that are applied for establishing a background for determining patent-ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining whether the claim is directed to a process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter.
2A. Determining whether the claim is directed to a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea (judicially recognized exceptions).
2B. Determining whether the claim recite additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. §101 as being directed to patent-ineligible subject matter. The rationale for this determination is explained below. Representative claim 18 recites: “A processor for wireless communication, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to:……”. (Notice that the recited “memory” is not part of the processor.)
Step 1: Statutory Category
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter, software per se. Although claim 18 recites a controller in the body of a system claim, the specification does not limit the controller to be only a hardware controller and thus it could be just a system of software. As such, claim 18 does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claims do not include hardware elements in the body of the claim as required by MPEP 2106(I).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1, 5, 7-9, 11, 13, 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xu et al. (EP 4145915 A1). (From Applicant’s IDS)
As per claim 1, Xu discloses “A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to:” as [(fig. 5 and par. 0030), UE 505 includes a Main radio (MR) 510 (radio 1) and a low power wake-up radio (WUR) 515 (radio 2).] “perform one or more reference signal measurements at a first radio of the UE, at a second radio of the UE, or both;” [(par. 0045), UE 505 measures WUR-RS on the WUR 515.] “select a radio from the first radio and the second radio in accordance with the one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a first threshold value for the first radio or the one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a second threshold value for the second radio;” [(par. 0046), the UE 505 may send the measurement result based on the WUR-RS and a WUR request message to gNB 520 based on a RSRP threshold for the WUR request. (par. 0042), the trigger condition for sending the WUR request may be, for example, when the RSRP measurement for WUR-RS are below a threshold value.] “transmit a first signaling indicating the radio;” [(par. 0046), the UE 505 may send the measurement result based on the WUR-RS and a WUR request message to gNB 520 based on a RSRP threshold for triggering the WUR request. (par. 0042), the trigger condition for sending the WUR request may be, for example, when the RSRP measurement for WUR-RS are below a threshold value.] “and monitor, in response to the first signaling, for a second signaling.” [(par. 0047), In 545 the UE 505 receive from gNB 520 a set of WUR-S configuration parameters in response to the WUR request.]
As per claim 5, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the first signaling comprises a first message of a two-step random access procedure, the first message comprising one or more parameters dedicated to paging information” [(par. 0046), the UE 505 may send the measurement result based on the WUR-RS and a WUR request message to gNB 520 based on a RSRP threshold for triggering the WUR request. (par. 0042), the trigger condition for sending the WUR request may be, for example, when the RSRP measurement for WUR-RS are below a threshold value.]
As per claim 7, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the first signaling comprises a third message of a four-step random access procedure, the third message comprising one or more parameters dedicated to paging information” [(par. 0046), the UE 505 may send the measurement result based on the WUR-RS and a WUR request message to gNB 520 based on a RSRP threshold for triggering the WUR request. (par. 0042), the trigger condition for sending the WUR request may be, for example, when the RSRP measurement for WUR-RS are below a threshold value.]
As per claim 8, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the second signaling comprises a second message or a fourth message of a four-step random access procedure, the fourth message comprising at least one parameter associated with paging information” [(par. 0046), the UE 505 may send the measurement result based on the WUR-RS and a WUR request message to gNB 520 based on a RSRP threshold for triggering the WUR request. (par. 0042), the trigger condition for sending the WUR request may be, for example, when the RSRP measurement for WUR-RS are below a threshold value.]
As per claim 9, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the first threshold value, the second threshold value, or both correspond to a mobility state of the UE” [(par. 0046), the UE 505 may send the measurement result based on the WUR-RS and a WUR request message to gNB 520 according to a RSRP threshold for WUR request. (par. 0042), the trigger condition for WUR request may be for example a RSRP threshold indicating a threshold value wherein, when the RSRP measurement for WUR-RS are below a threshold value.)]
As per claim 11, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the radio is selected in accordance with the one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a third threshold value for the first radio or the one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a fourth threshold value for the second radio” [(par. 0046), the UE 505 may send the measurement result based on the WUR-RS and a WUR request message to gNB 520 according to a RSRP threshold for WUR request. (par. 0042), the trigger condition for WUR request may be for example a RSRP threshold indicating a threshold value wherein, when the RSRP measurement for WUR-RS are below a threshold value.)]
As per claim 13, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein to monitor for the second signaling, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive the second signaling, and wherein the second signaling indicates a base station successfully received the first signaling” [(par. 0047), In 545 the UE 505 receive from gNB 520 a set of WUR-S configuration parameters in response to the WUR request.]
As per claim 16, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to receive a paging indication using the selected radio based at least in part on the first signaling.” [(fig. 5 and par. 0030), a low power wake-up radio (WUR) 515 (radio 2).]
As per claim 17, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein the first radio or the second radio comprise at least one of a low-power wake-up radio or a main radio.” [(fig. 5 and par. 0030), UE 505 includes a Main radio (MR) 510 (radio 1) and a low power wake-up radio WUR 515 (radio 2).]
As per claim 18, as [see rejection of claim 1.]
As per claim 19, as [see rejection of claim 1.]
As per claim 20, Xu discloses “A base station for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the base station to:” as [(fig. 5), eNB 520 and UE 505 includes MR 510 (radio 1) and WUR 515 (radio 2).] “receive a first signaling indicating a radio selected from a first radio at a user equipment (UE) and a second radio at the UE,” [(par. 0046), the UE 505 may send the measurement result based on the WUR-RS and a WUR request message to gNB 520 according to a RSRP threshold for WUR request. (par. 0042), the trigger condition for WUR request may be for example a RSRP threshold indicating a threshold value wherein, when the RSRP measurement for WUR-RS are below a threshold value.)] “the radio selected based at least in part on one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a first threshold value for the first radio or the one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a second threshold value for the second radio;” [(par. 0046), the UE 505 may send the measurement result based on the WUR-RS and a WUR request message to gNB 520 according to a RSRP threshold for WUR request. (par. 0042), the trigger condition for WUR request may be for example a RSRP threshold indicating a threshold value wherein, when the RSRP measurement for WUR-RS are below a threshold value.)] “and transmit, in response to the first signaling, a second signaling” [(par. 0047), In 545 the UE 505 receive from gNB 520 a set of WUR-S configuration parameters in response to the WUR request.]
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 of this title, 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 14, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (EP 4145915 A1) in view of Kim et al. (US 2008/0304447 A1).
As per claim 14, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.]
Xu does not explicitly disclose “wherein to monitor for the second signaling, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: receive the second signaling, wherein the second signaling indicates a base station unsuccessfully received the first signaling; or fail to receive the second signaling, wherein the failure to receive the second signaling indicates a base station unsuccessfully received the first signaling”.
However, Kim discloses “wherein to monitor for the second signaling, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: receive the second signaling, wherein the second signaling indicates a base station unsuccessfully received the first signaling; or fail to receive the second signaling, wherein the failure to receive the second signaling indicates a base station unsuccessfully received the first signaling” as [(par. 0013), the ENB transmits an HARQ NACK signal to the UE. In response to this, the UE transmits a retransmitted HARQ packet corresponding to the HARQ NACK signal to the ENB, and transmits a new HARQ packet corresponding to the HARQ ACK signal to the ENB.]
Xu et al. (EP 4145915 A1) and Kim et al. (US 2008/0304447 A1) are analogous art because they are the same field of endeavor of network communication. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kim’s teaching into Xu’s teaching. The motivation for making the above modification would be to allow the UE to retransmit the missing packet to the eNB.
As per claim 15, Xu discloses “The UE of claim 14,” as [see rejection of claim 14.]
Xu does not explicitly disclose “wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to transmit a retransmission of the first signaling in accordance with the second signaling”.
However, Kim discloses “wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to transmit a retransmission of the first signaling in accordance with the second signaling” as [(par. 0013), the ENB transmits an HARQ NACK signal to the UE. In response to this, the UE transmits a retransmitted HARQ packet corresponding to the HARQ NACK signal to the ENB, and transmits a new HARQ packet corresponding to the HARQ ACK signal to the ENB.]
Xu et al. (EP 4145915 A1) and Kim et al. (US 2008/0304447 A1) are analogous art because they are the same field of endeavor of network communication. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kim’s teaching into Xu’s teaching. The motivation for making the above modification would be to allow the UE to retransmit the missing packet to the eNB.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1, 13, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by FUTAKI (US 2020/0045684 A1).
As per claim 1, FUTAKI discloses “A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to:” as [(par. 0057), n Step 503, the UE 2 performs measurement of transmission beams transmitted from the NR NB 1 in accordance with the beam configuration.] “perform one or more reference signal measurements at a first radio of the UE, at a second radio of the UE, or both;” [(par. 0057), In Step 503, the UE 2 performs measurement of transmission beams transmitted from the NR NB 1 in accordance with the beam configuration. Specifically, the UE 2 attempts to receive one or more beamformed reference signals that respectively correspond to one or more transmission beams] “select a radio from the first radio and the second radio in accordance with the one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a first threshold value for the first radio or the one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a second threshold value for the second radio;” [(par. 0047), UE 2 performs beam selection (or beam determination), the beam configuration information may include a beam selection criterion (or beam determination criterion). The beam selection criterion may include, for example, a threshold or an offset to be applied to a reception quality of the beamformed reference signal obtained by the beam measurement. The reception quality is, for example, received signal strength (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)), received signal quality (e.g., Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), or Signal to Interference-pulse-Noise Ratio (SINR)).] “transmit a first signaling indicating the radio;” [(par. 0060), when the reception quality of the beamformed reference signal of one transmission beam is larger than the reception quality of the beamformed reference signal of the current serving beam by more than a predetermined threshold, the UE 2 may select this transmission beam as a new serving beam. In Step 506, the UE 2 transmits to the NR NB 1 a MAC layer message (e.g., beam indication message) indicating the serving beam newly selected by the UE 2.] “and monitor, in response to the first signaling, for a second signaling.” [(par. 0063), In Step 511, the NR NB 1 transmits a response message (e.g., beam indication acknowledge message) to the UE 2 in response to receiving the beam indication message in Step 506.]
As per claim 13, FUTAKI discloses “The UE of claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.] “wherein to monitor for the second signaling, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive the second signaling, and wherein the second signaling indicates a base station successfully received the first signaling” [(par. 0063), In Step 511, the NR NB 1 transmits a response message (e.g., beam indication acknowledge message) to the UE 2 in response to receiving the beam indication message in Step 506.]
As per claim 18, as [see rejection of claim 1.]
As per claim 19, as [see rejection of claim 1.]
As per claim 20, FUTAKI discloses “A base station for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the base station to:” [(par. 0057), n Step 503, the UE 2 performs measurement of transmission beams transmitted from the NR NB 1 in accordance with the beam configuration.] “receive a first signaling indicating a radio selected from a first radio at a user equipment (UE) and a second radio at the UE,” [(par. 0060), when the reception quality of the beamformed reference signal of one transmission beam is larger than the reception quality of the beamformed reference signal of the current serving beam by more than a predetermined threshold, the UE 2 may select this transmission beam as a new serving beam. In Step 506, the UE 2 transmits to the NR NB 1 a MAC layer message (e.g., beam indication message) indicating the serving beam newly selected by the UE 2.] “the radio selected based at least in part on one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a first threshold value for the first radio or the one or more reference signal measurements satisfying a second threshold value for the second radio;” [(par. 0047), UE 2 performs beam selection (or beam determination), the beam configuration information may include a beam selection criterion (or beam determination criterion). The beam selection criterion may include, for example, a threshold or an offset to be applied to a reception quality of the beamformed reference signal obtained by the beam measurement. The reception quality is, for example, received signal strength (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)), received signal quality (e.g., Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), or Signal to Interference-pulse-Noise Ratio (SINR)).] “and transmit, in response to the first signaling, a second signaling” [(par. 0063), In Step 511, the NR NB 1 transmits a response message (e.g., beam indication acknowledge message) to the UE 2 in response to receiving the beam indication message in Step 506.]
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Publications:
ZHAO et al. (US 2021/0136645 A1) [(par. 0049), the UE computing device may be configured to enter the LTE prioritization state in response to determining a WLAN and/or LTE signal condition is met. In some embodiments, in response to determining an LTE signal measurement is above a quality threshold, the UE computing device may be configured to enter the LTE prioritization state. As one example, when IMS is set such that WWAN is preferred and the LTE signal strength rise above a quality threshold value, the UE computing device may enter the LTE prioritization state. In some embodiments, in response to determining a WLAN signal measurement is below a quality threshold, the UE computing device may be configured to enter the LTE prioritization state. As an example, when IMS is set to WLAN preferred (e.g., Wi-Fi preferred) and WLAN quality (e.g., Wi-Fi quality) becomes unsuitable the UE computing device may be configured to enter the LTE prioritization state. As an example, the WLAN quality may be unsuitable when the WLAN packet error rate and/or the WLAN signal strength indicate the WLAN quality is below a threshold set for acceptable for voice and/or video services.]
Zhu et al. (US 2012/0315905 A1) [(par. 0101), the decision block 410 compares the RSSI 26 with the signal threshold parameter, S(x): [0102] if (RSSI<S(x), then D=1; else D=0 Here, "D=1" means that the measured signal strength of the WLAN radio 20 is less than the signal threshold parameter, such that the WLAN-to-WWAN handover 200 (FIG. 6) is triggered. "D=0" means that the measured signal strength of the WLAN radio 20 is the same as or greater than the signal threshold parameter, such that the WLAN-to-WWAN handover 200 is not triggered.]
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANG HANG YEUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-7319. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rebecca Song can be reached on (571) 270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANG HANG YEUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2417
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