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 .
Priorities and Examiner Remarks
This application is a Continuation of 17737233 (filed 05/05/2022, now U.S. Patent # 12069599), which is a Continuation of PCT/CN2019/116057 (filed
11/06/2019).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3-4, 6-7, 12, 15, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 3 line 2, the phrase “wherein determining the location information of the second base station” is unclear and ambiguous. For example, claim 1 recites “...determining, based on location information of a first base station... and location information of a second base station..., a latency difference...”. Claim 1 does not appear to claim “determining a location information of the second base station”. Clarification is respectively requested. Similar problem appears in claim 15.
Claim 4 is rejected based on its dependency from the rejected base claim 3.
Claim 6 line 2, the phrase “a first adjustment amount” is unclear and ambiguous as to whether it is referred to the “first adjustment parameter” as in claim 1 line 6. If indeed so, it is suggested that --- a first adjustment amount --- be changed to --- the first adjustment parameter ---. Otherwise, clarification is respectively requested. Similar problem appears in line 4, as well as claims 7 and 18.
Claim 12 line 3-4, "the second SMTC window" has no antecedent basis.
Claim 12 line 6-7, "the first identifier" has no antecedent basis.
Claim 12 line 11-12, the phrase “a signal of the first base station is transmitted to the terminal device” is unclear and ambiguous as to whether it is referred to the “signal of the first base station transmitted to a terminal device” as in claim 1 line 4-5. If indeed so, it is suggested that --- a signal of the first base station is transmitted to the terminal device --- be changed to --- the signal of the first base station transmitted to the terminal device ---. Otherwise, clarification is respectively requested.
Claim 12 line 13, the phrase “a signal of the second base station is transmitted to the terminal device” is unclear and ambiguous as to whether it is referred to the “signal of the second base station transmitted to a terminal device” as in claim 1 line 5. If indeed so, it is suggested that --- a signal of the second base station is transmitted to the terminal device --- be changed to --- the signal of the second base station transmitted to the terminal device ---. Otherwise, clarification is respectively requested.
Double Patenting
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-11 of U.S. patent 12069599 B2 (hereinafter “patent 12069599”). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of the following:
Regarding claim 1, patent 12069599 teaches the following:
instant application 18788515 claims:
patent 12069599 teaches:
1. A communication method, comprising:
1. A communication method, comprising:
determining, based on location information of a first base station that is of a serving cell and location information of a second base station corresponding to a to-be-measured neighboring cell, a latency difference between a signal of the first base station transmitted to a terminal device and a signal of the second base station transmitted to the terminal device;
determining, based on location information of a first base station that is a base station of a serving cell and a second base station that is a base station corresponding to a to-be-measured neighboring cell, a latency difference between signals of the first base station and the second base station that are transmitted to a terminal device;
determining a first adjustment parameter of the to-be-measured neighboring cell according to the latency difference;
determining, by the terminal device, a first adjustment parameter of the to-be-measured neighboring cell according to at least the latency difference;
determining, based on the first adjustment parameter, a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window corresponding to the to-be-measured neighboring cell; and
determining, based on the first adjustment parameter, a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window corresponding to the to-be-measured neighboring cell; and
measuring the to-be-measured neighboring cell based on the first SMTC window.
measuring the to-be-measured neighboring cell based on the first SMTC window.
Hence, claim 1 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 1 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 2, claim 2 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 2 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 3, claim 3 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 3 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 4, 4 2 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 4 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 5, claim 5 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 5 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 6, claim 6 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 6 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 7, claim 7 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 7 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 8, claim 8 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 8 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 9, claim 9 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 9 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 10, claim 10 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 10 of the instant application.
Regarding claim 12, claim 11 of patent 12069599 is directed to the same or substantially identical invention as claim 12 of the instant application.
Regarding claims 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, these claims are rejected for the same reasoning as claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, respectively, except each of these claims is in computer-readable medium claim format.
Regarding claims 19, and 20, these claims are rejected for the same reasoning as claims 1 and 2, respectively, except each of these claims is in system claim format.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (WO 2019157661 A1, hereinafter Liu, note: corresponding US 20200358547 A1 is used below for citation purposes), in view of LIN et al. (US 20200029315 A1, hereinafter LIN).
Regarding claim 1, Liu teaches a communication method, comprising (Liu, in general, see sections including paragraph 91-115 (along with fig. 6-7), in view of sections including paragraphs 41-45 (along with fig. 2):
determining, based on location information of a first base station that is of a serving cell and location information of a second base station corresponding to a to-be-measured neighboring cell, a latency difference between a signal of the first base station transmitted to a terminal device and a signal of the second base station transmitted to the terminal device (Liu, see at least para. 93 in view of para. 45, “...When the serving network wants to instruct UE to obtain the cell information of target cell, as well as the timing difference between serving cell and the target cell (which is an NR cell), the serving network sends the measurement configuration towards the UE. This measurement configuration includes the PCI and frequency of target cell, ... Furthermore, the network may enable the timing difference measurement between serving cell and target cell in this measurement configuration...”; note that “...measurements can be configured based on SSB, and the network can indicate the frequency position of measured SSB in a MeasObject via measurement configuration message sent from network to UE...”, in other words, frequency positions of SSBs for measurements are configured for both serving cell and target cell);
determining a first adjustment parameter of the to-be-measured neighboring cell according to the latency difference (Liu, see at least para. 104, “...Upon receiving the measurement configuration, UE starts a timer, and attempts to search the SSB of target cell B based on the received frequency and PCI of cell B. ... the UE may obtain the SFN and frame information of target cell B, and then calculate the timing difference between serving cell A and target cell B...”);
determining, based on the first adjustment parameter, a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window corresponding to the to-be-measured neighboring cell (Liu, see at least para. 105-106, “...Thus, the network may obtain the SSB resource timing configuration of target cell B, and adjust the SSB measurement timing configuration of target cell B's frequency based on the timing difference results received from UE. In addition, the network may adjust the CSI-RS resource configuration of target cell C's frequency, and send the adjusted configuration of cell B's frequency towards UEs within cell A...”).
Liu does not specifically teach measuring the to-be-measured neighboring cell based on the first SMTC window.
LIN teaches measuring the to-be-measured neighboring cell based on the first SMTC window (LIN, in general, see sections including paragraphs 328-336, in particular, see at least para. 352-354, “...In step 2601, the UE receives the assistance information from gNB for configuring SS/PBCH block based measurement. In step 2602, the UE measures SS/PBCH block locations indicated by associated bitmap per time offset level within the configured cell-specific measurement duration per SMTC time offset...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate LIN into Liu for providing enhancements on SS/PBCH based intra-frequency and inter-frequency mobility measurements as well as providing enhancements on the design for SS/PBCH block based measurements and CSI-RS based measurements.
Regarding claim 2, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 1.
Liu further teaches wherein the first adjustment parameter of the to-be-measured neighboring cell is further determined according to time domain location information of a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB) of the to-be-measured neighboring cell. (Liu, see at least para. 104, “...the UE may obtain the SFN and frame information of target cell B, and then calculate the timing difference between serving cell A and target cell B...”)
Regarding claim 3, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 2.
Liu further teaches wherein determining the location information of the second base station comprises determining location information of the second base station based on a first identifier of the to-be-measured neighboring cell. (Liu, see at least para. 93 in view of para. 45, “...When the serving network wants to instruct UE to obtain the cell information of target cell, as well as the timing difference between serving cell and the target cell (which is an NR cell), the serving network sends the measurement configuration towards the UE. This measurement configuration includes the PCI and frequency of target cell, ... Furthermore, the network may enable the timing difference measurement between serving cell and target cell in this measurement configuration...”; note that “...measurements can be configured based on SSB, and the network can indicate the frequency position of measured SSB in a MeasObject via measurement configuration message sent from network to UE...”)
Regarding claim 4, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 3.
Liu further teaches wherein the first identifier of the to-be-measured neighboring cell is obtained from the first base station. (Liu, see at least para. 93 in view of para. 45, “...When the serving network wants to instruct UE to obtain the cell information of target cell, as well as the timing difference between serving cell and the target cell (which is an NR cell), the serving network sends the measurement configuration towards the UE. This measurement configuration includes the PCI and frequency of target cell, ... Furthermore, the network may enable the timing difference measurement between serving cell and target cell in this measurement configuration...”; note that “...measurements can be configured based on SSB, and the network can indicate the frequency position of measured SSB in a MeasObject via measurement configuration message sent from network to UE...”)
Regarding claim 5, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 2.
Liu does not specifically teach determining the time domain location of the SSB of the to-be-measured neighboring cell by separately measuring at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) of the to-be-measured neighboring cell at different time domain locations.
LIN teaches determining the time domain location of the SSB of the to-be-measured neighboring cell by separately measuring at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) of the to-be-measured neighboring cell at different time domain locations (LIN, see at least para. 352 in view of para. 349, “...In step 2603, the UE detects a SS/PBCH block with cell ID I, and the detected time of associated SSS at T{circumflex over ( )}detected_i. In step 2604, it is determined whether UE has the record SS/PBCH block time offset for the detected cell. If yes, the UE derives the index of the detected SS/PBCH block according to Equation 6 in step 2605...”, note that para. 349 discloses that “...The index of a detected SS/PBCH block associated to the target cell # i can be derived from the corresponding detected time of the secondary synchronization sequence (SSS) in the detected SS/PBCH block, denoted as T{circumflex over ( )}detected_i and the reference time of the SSS from the first SS/PBCH block in the RefCell, denoted as T{circumflex over ( )}SSB_0, when UE has the knowledge on the associated SS/PBCH block time offset, O{circumflex over ( )}SSBs_i, according to Equation 6...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate LIN into Liu for providing enhancements on SS/PBCH based intra-frequency and inter-frequency mobility measurements as well as providing enhancements on the design for SS/PBCH block based measurements and CSI-RS based measurements.
Regarding claim 6, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 2.
Liu further teaches determining a first adjustment amount based on the latency difference, wherein the first adjustment amount comprises at least one first adjustment value (Liu, see at least para. 104, “...Upon receiving the measurement configuration, UE starts a timer, and attempts to search the SSB of target cell B based on the received frequency and PCI of cell B. ... the UE may obtain the SFN and frame information of target cell B, and then calculate the timing difference between serving cell A and target cell B...”);
and determining an offset of the first SMTC window based on the first adjustment amount and a second SMTC window (Liu, see at least para. 104, “...In some embodiments, the timing difference may include one or more of an SFN offset, a frame boundary offset and a subframe boundary offset between the serving cell and the target cell...”).
Liu does not specifically teach wherein the second SMTC window is configured by the first base station.
LIN teaches wherein the second SMTC window is configured by the first base station (LIN, see at least para. 347, “...a gNB can signal to a UE a time offset of SS/PBCH block location relative to a reference cell (RefCell) per cell for SS/PBCH block based measurements associated to a SMTC window per frequency layer. In one example for the reference cell, the reference cell (RefCell) can be the serving cell...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate LIN into Liu for providing enhancements on SS/PBCH based intra-frequency and inter-frequency mobility measurements as well as providing enhancements on the design for SS/PBCH block based measurements and CSI-RS based measurements.
Regarding claim 7, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 6.
Liu further teaches wherein a first adjustment value of the at least one first adjustment value indicates at least one of one adjustable value of the offset, or one adjustable range of the offset. (Liu, see at least para. 104, “...In some embodiments, the timing difference may include one or more of an SFN offset, a frame boundary offset and a subframe boundary offset between the serving cell and the target cell...”)
Regarding claim 8, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 2.
Liu further teaches determining a second adjustment amount based on the latency difference, wherein the second adjustment amount comprises at least one second adjustment value (Liu, see at least para. 104, “...Upon receiving the measurement configuration, UE starts a timer, and attempts to search the SSB of target cell B based on the received frequency and PCI of cell B. ... the UE may obtain the SFN and frame information of target cell B, and then calculate the timing difference between serving cell A and target cell B...”);
and determining a duration of the first SMTC window based on the second adjustment amount and the second SMTC window (Liu, see at least para. 104, “...In some embodiments, the timing difference may include one or more of an SFN offset, a frame boundary offset and a subframe boundary offset between the serving cell and the target cell...”).
Liu does not specifically teach wherein the second SMTC window is configured by the first base station.
LIN teaches wherein the second SMTC window is configured by the first base station (LIN, see at least para. 347, “...a gNB can signal to a UE a time offset of SS/PBCH block location relative to a reference cell (RefCell) per cell for SS/PBCH block based measurements associated to a SMTC window per frequency layer. In one example for the reference cell, the reference cell (RefCell) can be the serving cell...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate LIN into Liu for providing enhancements on SS/PBCH based intra-frequency and inter-frequency mobility measurements as well as providing enhancements on the design for SS/PBCH block based measurements and CSI-RS based measurements.
Regarding claim 9, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 8.
Liu further teaches wherein a second adjustment value of the at least one second adjustment value indicates at least one of one adjustable value of the duration, or one adjustable range of the duration. (Liu, see at least para. 104, “...In some embodiments, the timing difference may include one or more of an SFN offset, a frame boundary offset and a subframe boundary offset between the serving cell and the target cell...”)
Regarding claim 10, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 2.
Liu further teaches respectively determining a periodicity and duration of the first SMTC window based on a periodicity and duration of a second SMTC window, ... and determining an offset of the first SMTC window based on the time domain location of the SSB of the to-be-measured neighboring cell (Liu, see at least para. 104 in view of para. 38, “...Upon receiving the measurement configuration, UE starts a timer, and attempts to search the SSB of target cell B based on the received frequency and PCI of cell B. ... the UE may obtain the SFN and frame information of target cell B, and then calculate the timing difference between serving cell A and target cell B. In some embodiments, the timing difference may include one or more of an SFN offset, a frame boundary offset and a subframe boundary offset between the serving cell and the target cell...”, note that para. 38 discloses that “...if UE is required to measure on NR cell, then the network should indicate the SMTC (SSB measurement timing configuration) of measured frequency to UE, which may include duration, period, offset of the measured window, as well as the SSB transmission bitmap...”).
Liu does not specifically teach wherein the second SMTC window is configured by the first base station.
LIN teaches wherein the second SMTC window is configured by the first base station (LIN, see at least para. 347, “...a gNB can signal to a UE a time offset of SS/PBCH block location relative to a reference cell (RefCell) per cell for SS/PBCH block based measurements associated to a SMTC window per frequency layer. In one example for the reference cell, the reference cell (RefCell) can be the serving cell...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate LIN into Liu for providing enhancements on SS/PBCH based intra-frequency and inter-frequency mobility measurements as well as providing enhancements on the design for SS/PBCH block based measurements and CSI-RS based measurements.
Regarding claim 11, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 1.
Liu further teaches determining a second adjustment parameter of the to-be-measured neighboring cell; and determining, based on the second adjustment parameter, a third SMTC window corresponding to the to-be-measured neighboring cell, and measuring the to-be-measured neighboring cell by using the third SMTC window. (for rejection purposes, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 1 above, for example, a person skilled in the art would have known that processes of claim 1 can be repeated and updated)
Regarding claim 12, Liu in view of LIN teaches claim 2.
Liu does not specifically teach further comprising performing, before the determining the first adjustment parameter of the to-be-measured neighboring cell, at least one of:
[(i)] determining, based on first indication information from the first base station, that the second SMTC window is invalid, wherein the second SMTC window is configured by the first base station;
or
[(ii)] determining the location information of the second base station based on the first identifier of the to-be-measured neighboring cell, and determining, based on the location information of the second base station, that a distance difference between a first distance and a second distance is greater than a first threshold, wherein the first base station is the base station of the serving cell, wherein the second base station is the base station corresponding to the to-be-measured neighboring cell, wherein the first distance is a distance over which a signal of the first base station is transmitted to the terminal device, and wherein the second distance is a distance over which a signal of the second base station is transmitted to the terminal device.
LIN teaches further comprising performing, before the determining the first adjustment parameter of the to-be-measured neighboring cell, at least one of:
[(i)] determining, based on first indication information from the first base station, that the second SMTC window is invalid, wherein the second SMTC window is configured by the first base station (for [(i)], LIN, see at least para. 329, “...A set of SS/PBCH blocks for a UE to measure within an SMTC measurement duration can be configured to the UE by a network through a bitmap, such as ssb-ToMeasure, by higher layer signaling. ... In synchronous networks, a UE can derive a SS/PBCH block index from a serving cell when an associated configuration parameter useServingCellTimingForSync is set to TRUE; otherwise, the UE may need to decode the PBCH or identify the PBCH-DMRS sequence for SS/PBCH block index identification and timing synchronization...”, note that “...However, both the location and implicit indication of SS/PBCH block indices may not work well for an asynchronous network when a timing difference among all target measurement cells is random and unknown to the UE...”, in other words, while configured by the network, the SMTC measurement duration still may not be able to be used by the UE for measurements)
or
[(ii)] determining the location information of the second base station based on the first identifier of the to-be-measured neighboring cell, and determining, based on the location information of the second base station, that a distance difference between a first distance and a second distance is greater than a first threshold, wherein the first base station is the base station of the serving cell, wherein the second base station is the base station corresponding to the to-be-measured neighboring cell, wherein the first distance is a distance over which a signal of the first base station is transmitted to the terminal device, and wherein the second distance is a distance over which a signal of the second base station is transmitted to the terminal device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate LIN into Liu for providing enhancements on SS/PBCH based intra-frequency and inter-frequency mobility measurements as well as providing enhancements on the design for SS/PBCH block based measurements and CSI-RS based measurements.
Regarding claims 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, these claims are rejected for the same reasoning as claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, respectively, except each of these claims is in computer-readable medium claim format.
To be more specific, Liu in view of LIN also teaches a same or similar apparatus comprising processor, and computer-readable medium (Liu, see at least fig. 8), which are well known in the art and commonly used for providing and enabling robust and reliable data communication hardware and software.
Regarding claims 19, and 20, these claims are rejected for the same reasoning as claims 1 and 2, respectively, except each of these claims is in system claim format.
To be more specific, Liu in view of LIN also teaches a same or similar system comprising terminal and base stations (Liu, see at least fig. 3 and 8), which are well known in the art and commonly used for providing and enabling robust and reliable data communication hardware and software.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YEE F LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7577. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached on 571-270-0422. 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.
/YEE F LAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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