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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to application no. 18/785,465 filed on 07/26/2024.
Claims 1 – 14, 17 – 19 and 24 – 25 are amended.
Claims 15 and 20 – 23 are cancelled.
Claims 1 – 14, 16 – 19 and 24 – 25 are pending and ready for examination.
Priority
This application claims priority to United Kingdom Application No. GB 2312275.7, filed on 10-Aug-2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/26/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 24 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 24 recites in line 6, “LTM”. The descriptions of the acronym is required for the first time recitation in an independent claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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 1 – 4, 12 – 14 and 16 – 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHANDRASHEKAR et al. (CHANDRASHEKAR hereinafter referred to CHANDRASHEKAR) (US 2025/0234422 A1) in view of Johansson et al. (Johansson hereinafter referred to Johansson) (US 2017/0055192 A1) (cited in IDS).
Regarding claim 1, CHANDRASHEKAR teaches (Title, CELL DTX/DRX INTERWORKING WITH LAYER1/LAYER2 TRIGGERED MOBILITY), an apparatus (Fig.2, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11, UE 230)
causing performance, by the UE, of L1/L2-Triggered Mobility, LTM, assistance measurements ([0045], an LTM-configured UE is required to send one or more L1 measurements to the associated base station, in order to trigger an LTM cell switch) when the UE is in an active period ([0006] and [0007], Layer 1 (L1)/Layer 2 (L2) Triggered Mobility (LTM)-specific active duration; [0045], UE only sends the L1 measurement(s) during the active duration of the Cell DRX cycle(s) of the serving cell. Here, LTM assistance measurement is performed when UE is in an active duration/ period); and
stopping performance, by the UE, of LTM assistance measurements when the UE is not in an active period ([0045], the serving cell cannot receive the L1 measurement(s) from the UE during the non-active duration of the Cell DRX cycle(s). Similarly, the UE only sends the L1 measurement(s) during the active duration of the Cell DRX cycle(s) of the serving cell. Here, the LTM measurement is not performed when the UE is in non-active duration; i.e. it is obvious that the LTM assistance measurement is stopped when the UE is not in an active period).
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
an apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including computer program code;
the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
determining whether a user equipment, UE, is in an active period.
However, Johansson teaches (Title, Method Of High-efficiency Connected Mode Cell Re-selection)
an apparatus (Fig.2 and [0028], UE 201) comprising:
at least one processor (Fig.2 and [0028], processor 203); and
at least one memory including computer program code (Fig.2 and [0028], Memory 202 stores data and program instructions 210);
the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform (Fig.2 and [0028], program instructions 210 to be executed by the processor to control the operations of UE 201):
determining whether a user equipment, UE, is in an active period ([0005], When DRX is applied, radio resource management (RRM) measurement is performed only within DRX ON durations; [0029], UE 201 then determines whether to apply connected mode cell reselection and which parameters are used for connected mode cell reselection. Here, ON duration is an active period; so, the RRM measurement is performed during the active period. Therefore, it is obvious to determine whether the UE is in an active period);
causing performance, by the UE, of L1/L2-measurements (Fig.2 and [0029], Measurement and reporting module 207 performs various L1/L2 RRM measurements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified CHANDRASHEKAR as mentioned above and further incorporate the teaching of Johansson. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a novel and efficient connected mode cell reselection procedure is proposed to improve the mobility performance for user equipments (UEs) configured with extended connected mode Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle in LTE system (Johansson, Abstract).
Regarding claim 16, CHANDRASHEKAR teaches a method (Title, CELL DTX/DRX INTERWORKING WITH LAYER1/LAYER2 TRIGGERED MOBILITY) comprising:
causing performance, by the UE, of L1/L2-Triggered Mobility, LTM, assistance measurements ([0045], an LTM-configured UE is required to send one or more L1 measurements to the associated base station, in order to trigger an LTM cell switch) when the UE is in an active period ([0006] and [0007], Layer 1 (L1)/Layer 2 (L2) Triggered Mobility (LTM)-specific active duration; [0045], UE only sends the L1 measurement(s) during the active duration of the Cell DRX cycle(s) of the serving cell. Here, LTM assistance measurement is performed when UE is in an active duration/ period); and
stopping performance, by the UE, of LTM assistance measurements when the UE is not in an active period ([0045], the serving cell cannot receive the L1 measurement(s) from the UE during the non-active duration of the Cell DRX cycle(s). Similarly, the UE only sends the L1 measurement(s) during the active duration of the Cell DRX cycle(s) of the serving cell. Here, the LTM measurement is not performed when the UE is in non-active duration; i.e. it is obvious that the LTM assistance measurement is stopped when the UE is not in an active period).
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
determining whether a user equipment, UE, is in an active period.
However, Johansson teaches a method (Title, Method Of High-efficiency Connected Mode Cell Re-selection) comprising:
determining whether a user equipment, UE, is in an active period ([0005], When DRX is applied, radio resource management (RRM) measurement is performed only within DRX ON durations; [0029], UE 201 then determines whether to apply connected mode cell reselection and which parameters are used for connected mode cell reselection. Here, ON duration is an active period; so, the RRM measurement is performed during the active period. Therefore, it is obvious to determine whether the UE is in an active period);
causing performance, by the UE, of L1/L2-measurements (Fig.2 and [0029], Measurement and reporting module 207 performs various L1/L2 RRM measurements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified CHANDRASHEKAR as mentioned above and further incorporate the teaching of Johansson. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a novel and efficient connected mode cell reselection procedure is proposed to improve the mobility performance for user equipments (UEs) configured with extended connected mode Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle in LTE system (Johansson, Abstract).
Regarding claims 2 and 17, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 16, respectively as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR further teaches
wherein the UE is configured for discontinuous reception, DRX, and wherein determining whether the UE is in the active period comprises determining whether the UE is in a DRX active period (Abstract and [0005], Cell Discontinuous Transmission (DTX)/Discontinuous Reception (DRX) interworking with Layer 1/Layer 2 (L1/L2) Triggered Mobility (LTM); LTM-specific active duration to at least one Cell DTX/DRX cycle associated with a serving cell; [0042], The active duration and cycle parameters are common between Cell DTX and Cell DRX, when both the Cell DTX and Cell DRX are configured or activated).
Regarding claims 3 and 18, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 16, respectively as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
wherein determining whether the UE is in the active period comprises determining whether an inactivity timer is running at the UE, wherein the UE is in the active period when the inactivity timer is running at the UE.
However, Johansson teaches
wherein determining whether the UE is in the active period ([0050], A possible criterion for autonomous activation/suspension of UE cell reselection and optionally activation/suspension of measurement reporting for network controlled handover is based on DRX) comprises determining whether an inactivity timer is running at the UE, wherein the UE is in the active period when the inactivity timer is running at the UE ([0050], It is expected that DRX state is changed in reaction to traffic/data transmission, such that UE is kept more awake after data transmission, e.g. due to a running inactivity timer. Here, the activation of UE or awake of the UE is considered as the UE is in the active period. Therefore, the UE is in the active period when the inactivity timer is running at the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson as mentioned in claims 1 and 16 and further incorporate the teaching of Johansson. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a novel and efficient connected mode cell reselection procedure is proposed to improve the mobility performance for user equipments (UEs) configured with extended connected mode Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle in LTE system (Johansson, Abstract).
Regarding claims 4 and 19, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 16, respectively as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR further teaches
determine/ determining whether a request has been made for the UE ([0046], base station is required to provide an LTM cell switch command to the UE. Here, the command from the base station is considered as a request for the UE) to start performing LTM assistance measurements ([0049], a base station (e.g., a DU) to timely provide an LTM cell switch command to one or more UEs, and enable the one or more UEs to timely receive the LTM cell switch command to perform LTM cell switch based thereon; [0073], the base station, based on determining that the UE is configured with LTM, provide information of the Cell DTX/DRX cycle associated with the serving cell to the UE. Here, performing the LTM cell switch based on the command from the base station is considered as starting performing LTM assistance measurements); and
causing performance, by the UE, of LTM assistance measurements based, at least in part, on determining whether a request has been made for the UE to start performing LTM assistance measurements ([0049], a base station (e.g., a DU) to timely provide an LTM cell switch command to one or more UEs, and enable the one or more UEs to timely receive the LTM cell switch command to perform LTM cell switch based thereon; [0073], the UE 230 aligns or adjusts, based on the information of the Cell DTX/DRC cycle, the periodic L1 measurement(s) and the reporting of the L1 measurement(s) according to the Cell DTX/DRC cycle).
Regarding claim 12, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR further teaches
determine that at least one LTM assistance measurement condition is satisfied; and cause performance, by the UE, of LTM assistance measurements based, at least in part, on determining that at least one LTM assistance measurement condition is satisfied ([0073], the base station, based on determining that the UE is configured with LTM, provide information of the Cell DTX/DRX cycle associated with the serving cell to the UE. Accordingly, the UE aligns or adjusts, based on the information of the Cell DTX/DRC cycle, the periodic L1 measurement(s) and the reporting of the L1 measurement(s); [0079], Upon configuring with LTM (and adjusting the associated configuration according to the Cell DTX/DRX configuration, if applicable), the UE continuously (or periodically) performs one or more measurements on the serving cell and/or one or more neighboring cells. Here, the alignment or adjustment of the UE with LTM configuration is considered as LTM assistance measurement condition is satisfied for the UE).
Regarding claim 13, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR further teaches
wherein causing performance, by the UE, of LTM assistance measurements comprises causing performance, by the UE, of LTM assistance measurements according to an LTM measurement configuration ([0079], Upon configuring with LTM (and adjusting the associated configuration according to the Cell DTX/DRX configuration, if applicable), the UE continuously (or periodically) performs one or more measurements).
Regarding claim 14, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR further teaches
the apparatus to:
cause transmission of at least one measurement report based, at least in part, on at least part of the LTM assistance measurements ([0073], the UE aligns or adjusts, based on the information of the Cell DTX/DRC cycle, the periodic L1 measurement(s) and the reporting of the L1 measurements; In this way, the UE timely provides the L1 measurement(s) to the serving cell during the active duration of the Cell DTX/DRX cycle; [0075], the UE is configured to adjust or align, based on the Cell DTX/DRX configuration, the periodic L1 measurement) and reporting of the L1 measurements).
Claims 5, 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHANDRASHEKAR in view of Johansson and further in view of KATO et al. (KATO hereinafter referred to KATO) (WO 2016/013371 A1) (Eng. translation is attached).
Regarding claim 5, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
wherein determining whether the UE is in the active period comprises determining whether an extension timer is running at the UE, wherein the UE is in the active period when the extension timer is running at the UE.
However KATO teaches (Title, RADIO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, BASE STATION APPARATUS, TERMINAL APPARATUS, RADIO COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND INTEGRATED CIRCUIT)
wherein determining whether the UE is in the active period comprises determining whether an extension timer is running at the UE, wherein the UE is in the active period when the extension timer is running at the UE (Pg.10: last para, The active time indicates a period in which the intermittent reception period timer, the retransmission period timer, and the reception extension period timer given by the DRX parameter are operating. Here, the reception extension period timer is an extension timer; therefore, the UE is in the active period when the extension timer is running at the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson as mentioned in claim 1 and further incorporate the teaching of KATO. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a terminal apparatus that performs inter-device data communication while connecting to a base station apparatus to perform efficient intermittent-reception control / intermittent transmission control in order to efficiently perform radio resource allocation to each mobile station apparatus by the base station apparatus and to reduce power consumption of the mobile station apparatus (KATO, Abstract and Pg.9: para. 4).
Regarding claim 6, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO teaches all the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
the apparatus to: receive a configuration of the extension timer.
However KATO teaches
the apparatus to: receive a configuration of the extension timer (Pg.9: para. 4, The mobile station apparatus receives a DRX parameter set …, reception extension period timer (Inactivity timer), re-transmission from the base station apparatus; Claim 4, A terminal device receives intermittent reception parameter set including intermittent reception period offset, intermittent reception period timer and reception extension period timer from the base station device. Here, the apparatus received from the base station a configuration of the extension timer).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO as mentioned in claim 5 and further incorporate the teaching of KATO. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a terminal apparatus that performs inter-device data communication while connecting to a base station apparatus to perform efficient intermittent-reception control / intermittent transmission control in order to efficiently perform radio resource allocation to each mobile station apparatus by the base station apparatus and to reduce power consumption of the mobile station apparatus (KATO, Abstract and Pg.9: para. 4).
Regarding claim 9, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO teaches all the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
wherein the extension timer has a configured duration.
However KATO teaches
wherein the extension timer has a configured duration (Pg.11: para. 2, The monitoring is extended by the set reception extension period for the PDCCH or the EPDCCH in all the cells. Here, the set reception extension period is a configured duration of the extension timer).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO as mentioned in claim 5 and further incorporate the teaching of KATO. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a terminal apparatus that performs inter-device data communication while connecting to a base station apparatus to perform efficient intermittent-reception control / intermittent transmission control in order to efficiently perform radio resource allocation to each mobile station apparatus by the base station apparatus and to reduce power consumption of the mobile station apparatus (KATO, Abstract and Pg.9: para. 4).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO in view of WANG et al. (WANG hereinafter referred to WANG) (KR 20130050264 A) (Eng. translation is attached).
Regarding claim 7, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO teaches all the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
the apparatus to:
start the extension timer when an inactivity timer is started or when an inactivity timer expires.
However WANG teaches (Title, METHOD OF REFERENCE CELL MAINTENANCE)
the apparatus to:
start the extension timer when an inactivity timer is started or when an inactivity timer expires (Pg.9: last para, when the event triggers the first SCell to start or restart the inactivity timer associated with the first SCell, the UE starts or restarts the inactivity timer associated with the first SCell and starts or restarts the extension timer associated with the reference cell. Here, the extension timer starts when an inactivity timer starts).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO as mentioned in claim 5 and further incorporate the teaching of WANG. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a method for maintaining a reference cell which enables to avoid inaccurate information references (WANG, Abstract and Pg.9: 2nd last para).
Claims 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO in view of KIM et al. (KIM hereinafter referred to KIM) (CN 105409290 A) (Eng. translation is attached).
Regarding claim 8, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO teaches all the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
the apparatus to:
receive a request to start the extension timer; and
start the extension timer based, at least in part, on receiving the request to start the extension timer.
However KIM teaches (Title, Plmn Selection Method And User Equipment)
the apparatus to:
receive a request to start the extension timer; and
start the extension timer based, at least in part, on receiving the request to start the extension timer (Pg.17: last para – Pg.18: 1st para, the extension timer T3417 is initially the E-UTRAN/LTE service for the UE is set and the extension timer T3417 is 10 seconds. when sending the service request message, sends an extended service request message to perform 1xCS falls, or when a UE with low priority by the service type field is configured by S1 of packet service and sends an extended service request message, starting the T3417 timer. Here, the extension timer T3417 starts when a request is received).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO as mentioned in claim 5 and further incorporate the teaching of KIM. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide mobile communication system for improvement of data transmission to minimize the transmission delay of optimization (KIM, Pg.2: middle para: background technology).
Regarding claim 10, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO teaches all the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
the apparatus to:
receive a request to start the extension timer; and
start the extension timer based, at least in part, on receiving the request to start the extension timer;
receive a request to stop the extension timer; and
stop the extension timer based, at least in part, on receiving the request to stop the extension timer.
However KIM teaches (Title, Plmn Selection Method And User Equipment)
the apparatus to:
receive a request to start the extension timer; and
start the extension timer based, at least in part, on receiving the request to start the extension timer (Pg.17: last para – Pg.18: 1st para, the extension timer T3417 is initially the E-UTRAN/LTE service for the UE is set and the extension timer T3417 is 10 seconds. when sending the service request message, sends an extended service request message to perform 1xCS falls, or when a UE with low priority by the service type field is configured by S1 of packet service and sends an extended service request message, starting the T3417 timer. Here, the extension timer T3417 starts when a request is received);
receive a request to stop the extension timer; and
stop the extension timer based, at least in part, on receiving the request to stop the extension timer (Pg.18: 1st para, receiving the service reject message from the network, the extended T3417 timer is stopped. Here, the service reject message is a request to stop the extension timer).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of CHANDRASHEKAR, Johansson and KATO as mentioned in claim 5 and further incorporate the teaching of KIM. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide mobile communication system for improvement of data transmission to minimize the transmission delay of optimization (KIM, Pg.2: middle para: background technology).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHANDRASHEKAR in view of Johansson and further in view of ABRAHAM et al. (ABRAHAM hereinafter referred to ABRAHAM) (US 2026/0230944 A1).
Regarding claim 11, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR further teaches
the apparatus to:
receive a request to continue causing performance, by the UE, of LTM assistance measurements ([0072], When the UE is first connected to the serving cell, the base station provides (to the UE) configurations which, when being utilized by the UE, enable the UE to be configured with LTM. [0079], Upon configuring with LTM (and adjusting the associated configuration according to the Cell DTX/DRX configuration, if applicable), the UE continuously (or periodically) performs one or more measurements. Here, the LTM configuration is provide by the base station and the UE continuously performs measurements after the LTM configuration; therefore, it is obvious that the UE receives a request to continue performing LTM assistance measurements).
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
LTM assistance measurements until a request to stop is received or the UE leaves connected mode.
However ABRAHAM teaches (Title, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HANDOVER AND LOWER LAYER TRIGGERED MOBILITY IN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM)
causing performance, by the UE, of LTM assistance measurements until a request to stop is received ([0127], the gNB CU (108) incorporates an IE into the F1AP UE context modification request to halt one or more LTM actions; the request to stop one or more LTM actions is conveyed through the existing F1AP IE “Transmission Stop Indicator”. Here, the LTM assistance measurement is stopped once the “Transmission Stop Indicator”/ request to stop is received) or the UE leaves connected mode (Due to alternative language “or” in the claim, examiner addresses one limitation only).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and Johansson as mentioned in claim 1 and further incorporate the teaching of ABRAHAM. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide method and apparatus for handling handover and lower layer triggered mobility in communication system; the proposed method brings in deterministic behavior for the mobility and reduces unnecessary signalling and implementation complexity (ABRAHAM, Title and [0062]).
Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHANDRASHEKAR in view of ABRAHAM.
Regarding claim 24, CHANDRASHEKAR teaches (Title, CELL DTX/DRX INTERWORKING WITH LAYER1/LAYER2 TRIGGERED MOBILITY), an apparatus (Fig.12 and [0203], network node 1200) comprising:
at least one processor (Fig.12 and [0204], processor 1230); and
at least one memory (Fig.12 and [0204], storage 1220) including computer program code ([0213], the storage 1220 includes one or more storage mediums suitable for storing data, information, and/or computer-executable instructions);
the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor ([0213], the storage 1220 includes at least one memory storage that stores information and/or instructions for use by the processor 1230), cause the apparatus at least to perform ([0216], the storage 1220 is configured to store one or more information associated with one or more operations performed by the processor 1230):
causing transmission, towards a UE of a request to continue performing LTM assistance measurements ([0072], When the UE is first connected to the serving cell, the base station provides (to the UE) configurations which, when being utilized by the UE, enable the UE to be configured with LTM. [0079], Upon configuring with LTM (and adjusting the associated configuration according to the Cell DTX/DRX configuration, if applicable), the UE continuously (or periodically) performs one or more measurements. Here, the LTM configuration is provide by the base station and the UE continuously performs measurements after the LTM configuration; therefore, it is obvious that the base station/ network node transmits towards the UE a request to continue performing LTM assistance measurements).
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
causing transmission, towards the UE, of a request to stop performing LTM assistance measurements.
However ABRAHAM teaches (Title, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HANDOVER AND LOWER LAYER TRIGGERED MOBILITY IN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM)
causing transmission, towards the UE, of a request to stop performing LTM assistance measurements ([0127], the gNB CU (108) incorporates an IE into the F1AP UE context modification request to halt one or more LTM actions; the request to stop one or more LTM actions is conveyed through the existing F1AP IE “Transmission Stop Indicator”. Here, the LTM assistance measurement is stopped once the “Transmission Stop Indicator”/ request to stop is received; therefore, the network node transmits towards the UE, of a request to stop performing LTM assistance measurements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified CHANDRASHEKAR as mentioned above and further incorporate the teaching of ABRAHAM. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide method and apparatus for handling handover and lower layer triggered mobility in communication system; the proposed method brings in deterministic behavior for the mobility and reduces unnecessary signalling and implementation complexity (ABRAHAM, Title and [0062]).
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHANDRASHEKAR in view of ABRAHAM further in view of KIM.
Regarding claim 25, combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and ABRAHAM teaches all the features with respect to claim 24 as outlined above.
CHANDRASHEKAR does not specifically teach
wherein causing transmission, to the UE, of a request to start an extension timer; and
wherein causing transmission, to the UE, of a request to stop the extension timer.
However, KIM teaches
wherein causing transmission, to the UE, of a request to start an extension timer (Pg.17: last para – Pg.18: 1st para, the extension timer T3417 is initially the E-UTRAN/LTE service for the UE is set and the extension timer T3417 is 10 seconds. when sending the service request message, sends an extended service request message to perform 1xCS falls, or when a UE with low priority by the service type field is configured by S1 of packet service and sends an extended service request message, starting the T3417 timer. Here, the extension timer T3417 starts when a request is transmitted to the UE); and
wherein causing transmission, to the UE, of a request to stop the extension timer (Pg.18: 1st para, receiving the service reject message from the network, the extended T3417 timer is stopped. Here, the service reject message is a request to stop the extension timer).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of CHANDRASHEKAR and ABRAHAM as mentioned in claim 24 and further incorporate the teaching of KIM. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide mobile communication system for improvement of data transmission to minimize the transmission delay of optimization (KIM, Pg.2: middle para: background technology).
Conclusion
The prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
MARTIN et al. (Pub. No. WO 2024/211392 A1) – “Method For Determining Candidate Cell Selection Management During Mobility Events By E.g. Wireless Transmit/receive Unit, Involves Receiving L1/2 Triggered Mobility Measurement Configuration Information For Cell From Set Of Candidate Cells” discloses method for determining candidate cell selection management during mobility events by a wireless transmit/receive unit in a wireless communication system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROWNAK ISLAM whose telephone number is (571)272-8009. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 6 pm (EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached on 571-272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROWNAK ISLAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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