CTNF 18/796,086 CTNF 82232 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Examiner’s Notes As underlined in the “obtaining” clause in the forthcoming action, the scope of which conditions are required by the claims is unclear when considering the combination of the commas; “or”; and “and” statements used by the Applicant. For example, one of the issues is with which “or” statement does the last “and” statement link. Applicant’s comments regarding the scope of the “obtaining” clause or an amendment is respectfully requested. An indefiniteness rejection will be raised in the forthcoming action regarding this specific clause. An amendment to the claims will necessarily alter the scope of the claims, since the scope of the “obtaining” clause is currently unclear unless the Applicant provides a convincing argument. In order to dispose the instant application in the most efficient manner, the Applicant is encouraged to reconsider the broad nature of the terms used in the pending claims. For example, a term like “mobility of the user equipment” can be read in many different ways, i.e., velocity, location, resource allocation, handoff, etc. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 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. 07-34-01 Claims 1-20 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. First Ground-Indefiniteness Consider Claims 39, 46, and 53, the scope of which conditions are required by the claims is unclear when considering the combination of the commas; “or”; and “and” statements used by the Applicant. For example, one of the issues is with which “or” statement does the last “and” statement link. Applicant’s comments regarding the scope of the “obtaining” clause or an amendment is respectfully requested. This language in itself is hereby deemed indefinite. Claims 40-45, 47-52, and 54-58 are rejected under similar grounds for depending upon independent claims that are rejected under 112(b). Second Ground-Antecedent basis Regarding Claims 39, 46, and 53, consider the language “wherein performing the additional radio resource management measurements comprise: performing positioning measurements and transmitting positioning sounding reference signals , performing radio resource management measurements with a synchronization signal block before performing at least one of downlink positioning reference signal measurements or transmission of a positioning sounding reference signal; and performing the radio resource management measurements from the synchronization signal block before a positioning reference signal measurement occasion and a positioning sounding reference signal transmission occasion overlaps with a second paging time window.” At least the underlined language indicated herein references elements within the “obtaining” clause discussed in this office action. However, the “obtaining” clause does not require all the elements (by using “OR” statements”) to be met by the prior art in order to read upon the claims. For example, the prior art used in the forthcoming action addresses channel quality, which reads upon the “obtaining” clause. Therefore, the “measurement occasion” mentioned later in the claim has no antecedent basis. This is only given as an example of the issue being raised, since many similar examples can be discussed. To solve this issue, it is recommended to clarify the ”obtaining” clause and use terms that refer back to the particular language used. Claims 40-45, 47-52, and 54-58 are rejected under similar grounds for depending upon independent claims that are rejected under 112(b). Regarding claims 44, 51, and 57, the language of “the second condition comprises cyclic prefix length increasing above a first threshold and user equipment mobility increasing above a second threshold” provides different first and second thresholds than referred to in the independent claims. The first threshold in the independent claims is a mobility threshold and the second threshold is a positioning threshold. Claims 45, 52, and 58 are rejected under similar grounds for depending upon base claims that are rejected under 112(b). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 39-43, 46-50, and 53-56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsieh et al (Publication number: US 2020/0267690) in view of Thomas et al (Publication number: US 2023/0262648) . Consider Claim 39, Hsieh et al shows a method (see figure 4), comprising: (a) Receiving, by a user equipment, a reference signal (see figure 2; and paragraphs 30-31); (he BS 120 periodically broadcasts the SSBs 240 specifically to the cell that the BS 120 serves; that is, the SSBs 240 are cell-specific. Each SSB 240 carries system information to the UEs in the cell identified by a Cell ID. The UEs can find out in which cell they are located by decoding the Cell ID in the received SSB 240). (b) Obtaining a first condition related to additional radio resource management measurements, wherein the first condition comprises the following: the user equipment is in a sleep mode, mobility of the user equipment exceeds a first threshold, a next positioning reference signal measurement occasion or sounding reference signal transmission occasion is outside of a periodic paging time windows, a positioning accuracy above a second threshold is required, wireless channel condition or quality is less than a third threshold , synchronization error is outside of a first range, and downlink reception reference timing or uplink transmission reference timing is changed over a fourth threshold (see figure 4; and paragraphs 40-42); (The condition related to additional RRM is read as channel quality being less than a third threshold. The method 400 begins when the UE at step 410 measures the received signal quality of its primary cell and each of its neighboring cells). (c) Determining whether the first condition triggering the additional radio resource management measurements is met; and in response to the first condition being met, performing the additional radio resource management measurements (see figure 4; and paragraph 41); (The UE at step 430 calculates Offset, which is equal to the received signal quality of PCell minus the received signal quality of BCell). (d) Wherein performing the additional radio resource management measurements comprise: performing positioning measurements, performing radio resource management measurements with a synchronization signal block before performing at least one of downlink positioning reference signal measurements OR transmission of a positioning sounding reference signal (see figure 3; and paragraphs 37-39); (A UE may perform RRM measurements at a cycle period equal to M1 by default. When a predefined condition is satisfied, the UE may perform RRM measurements at a relaxed cycle period). However, Hsieh et al does not specifically show transmitting a positioning sounding signal, performing the radio resource management measurements from the synchronization signal block before a positioning reference signal measurement occasion AND a positioning sounding reference signal transmission occasion overlaps with a second paging time window. In related art, Thomas et al shows transmitting a positioning sounding signal, performing the radio resource management measurements from the synchronization signal block before a positioning reference signal measurement occasion AND a positioning sounding reference signal transmission occasion overlaps with a second paging time window (see figures 5 and 6; and paragraphs 49, 97, 201, 209, and 232-233); (The transmission of Positioning Reference Signals (“PRS”) enables the UE 205 to perform UE positioning-related measurements to enable the computation of a UE's location estimate and are configured per Transmission Reception Point). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Thomas et al into the teachings of Hsieh et al in order to periodically monitor a positioning System Information Block (see Thomas et al; paragraphs 49-50). Consider Claim 46, Hsieh et al shows a user equipment comprising: a processor; and a memory comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processor (see figures 1-4; and paragraph 60), cause the user equipment to perform the following operations: (a) Receiving a reference signal (see figure 2; and paragraphs 30-31); (he BS 120 periodically broadcasts the SSBs 240 specifically to the cell that the BS 120 serves; that is, the SSBs 240 are cell-specific. Each SSB 240 carries system information to the UEs in the cell identified by a Cell ID. The UEs can find out in which cell they are located by decoding the Cell ID in the received SSB 240). (b) Obtaining a first condition related to additional radio resource management measurements, wherein the first condition comprises the following: the user equipment is in a sleep mode, mobility of the user equipment exceeds a first threshold, a next positioning reference signal measurement occasion or sounding reference signal transmission occasion is outside of a periodic paging time windows, a positioning accuracy above a second threshold is required, wireless channel condition or quality is less than a third threshold, synchronization error is outside of a first range, and downlink reception reference timing or uplink transmission reference timing is changed over a fourth threshold (see figure 4; and paragraphs 40-42); (The condition related to additional RRM is read as channel quality being less than a third threshold. The method 400 begins when the UE at step 410 measures the received signal quality of its primary cell and each of its neighboring cells). (c) Determining whether the first condition triggering the additional radio resource management measurements is met; and in response to the first condition being met, performing the additional radio resource management measurements (see figure 4; and paragraph 41); (The UE at step 430 calculates Offset, which is equal to the received signal quality of PCell minus the received signal quality of BCell). (d) Wherein performing the additional radio resource management measurements comprise: performing positioning measurements, performing radio resource management measurements with a synchronization signal block before performing at least one of downlink positioning reference signal measurements OR transmission of a positioning sounding reference signal (see figure 3; and paragraphs 37-39); (A UE may perform RRM measurements at a cycle period equal to M1 by default. When a predefined condition is satisfied, the UE may perform RRM measurements at a relaxed cycle period). However, Hsieh et al does not specifically show transmitting a positioning sounding signal, performing the radio resource management measurements from the synchronization signal block before a positioning reference signal measurement occasion AND a positioning sounding reference signal transmission occasion overlaps with a second paging time window. In related art, Thomas et al shows transmitting a positioning sounding signal, performing the radio resource management measurements from the synchronization signal block before a positioning reference signal measurement occasion AND a positioning sounding reference signal transmission occasion overlaps with a second paging time window (see figures 5 and 6; and paragraphs 49, 97, 201, 209, and 232-233); (The transmission of Positioning Reference Signals (“PRS”) enables the UE 205 to perform UE positioning-related measurements to enable the computation of a UE's location estimate and are configured per Transmission Reception Point). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Thomas et al into the teachings of Hsieh et al in order to periodically monitor a positioning System Information Block (see Thomas et al; paragraphs 49-50). Consider Claim 53, Hsieh et al shows a system comprising: a user equipment; a processor; and a memory comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processor (see figures 1-4; and paragraph 60), , cause the user equipment to perform the following operations: (a) Receiving a reference signal (see figure 2; and paragraphs 30-31); (he BS 120 periodically broadcasts the SSBs 240 specifically to the cell that the BS 120 serves; that is, the SSBs 240 are cell-specific. Each SSB 240 carries system information to the UEs in the cell identified by a Cell ID. The UEs can find out in which cell they are located by decoding the Cell ID in the received SSB 240). (b) Obtaining a first condition related to additional radio resource management measurements, wherein the first condition comprises the following: the user equipment is in a sleep mode, mobility of the user equipment exceeds a first threshold, a next positioning reference signal measurement occasion or sounding reference signal transmission occasion is outside of a periodic paging time windows, a positioning accuracy above a second threshold is required, wireless channel condition or quality is less than a third threshold, synchronization error is outside of a first range, and downlink reception reference timing or uplink transmission reference timing is changed over a fourth threshold (see figure 4; and paragraphs 40-42); (The condition related to additional RRM is read as channel quality being less than a third threshold. The method 400 begins when the UE at step 410 measures the received signal quality of its primary cell and each of its neighboring cells). (c) Determining whether the first condition triggering the additional radio resource management measurements is met; and in response to the first condition being met, performing the additional radio resource management measurements (see figure 4; and paragraph 41); (The UE at step 430 calculates Offset, which is equal to the received signal quality of PCell minus the received signal quality of BCell). (d) Wherein performing the additional radio resource management measurements comprise: performing positioning measurements, performing radio resource management measurements with a synchronization signal block before performing at least one of downlink positioning reference signal measurements OR transmission of a positioning sounding reference signal (see figure 3; and paragraphs 37-39); (A UE may perform RRM measurements at a cycle period equal to M1 by default. When a predefined condition is satisfied, the UE may perform RRM measurements at a relaxed cycle period). However, Hsieh et al does not specifically show transmitting a positioning sounding signal, performing the radio resource management measurements from the synchronization signal block before a positioning reference signal measurement occasion AND a positioning sounding reference signal transmission occasion overlaps with a second paging time window. In related art, Thomas et al shows transmitting a positioning sounding signal, performing the radio resource management measurements from the synchronization signal block before a positioning reference signal measurement occasion AND a positioning sounding reference signal transmission occasion overlaps with a second paging time window (see figures 5 and 6; and paragraphs 49, 97, 201, 209, and 232-233); (The transmission of Positioning Reference Signals (“PRS”) enables the UE 205 to perform UE positioning-related measurements to enable the computation of a UE's location estimate and are configured per Transmission Reception Point). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Thomas et al into the teachings of Hsieh et al in order to periodically monitor a positioning System Information Block (see Thomas et al; paragraphs 49-50). Consider Claims 40, 47, and 54, Thomas et al shows that the first condition related to additional radio resource management measurements is received from a network entity (see figure 6). Consider Claims 41, 48, and 55, Hsieh et al shows that the first condition related to additional radio resource management measurements is pre-defined (see figure 4); (Predefined measurements is read as the offset; see steps 430-470). Consider Claims 42, 49, and 56, Hsieh et al shows sending an indication of synchronization failure to a network; and receiving the first condition from the network (see paragraphs 21-24); (A base station may generate the paging indication signals using the same sequence generation formula as that for generating the Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) in an SSB, and designate each page indication signal for paging a respective paging group. A paging group includes one or more UEs. A base station may broadcast multiplexed paging indication signals to multiple paging groups. The network may configure the UEs to receive their respective paging indication signals at predetermined time instants and frequencies. When a UE receives a paging indication signal indicating that the network has a message pending for the UE , the paging indication signal indicates to the UE that its base station is going to send the message in the UE's next scheduled reception opportunity ). Consider Claims 43, and 50, Hsieh et al shows changing radio resource management measurement frequency based on a second condition (see figure 4; and paragraphs 40-42); (The condition related to additional RRM is read as channel quality being less than a third threshold. The method 400 begins when the UE at step 410 measures the received signal quality of its primary cell and each of its neighboring cells) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 44-45, 51-52, and 57-58 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsieh et al (Publication number: US 2020/0267690) in view of Thomas et al (Publication number: US 2023/0262648) in view of Xiong et al (Patent No. US 11,968,713) . Consider Claims 44, and 51, Hsieh et al in view of Thomas et al do not specifically show that the second condition comprises cyclic prefix length increasing above a first threshold and user equipment mobility increasing above a second threshold. In related art, Xiong et al shows that the second condition comprises cyclic prefix length increasing above a first threshold and user equipment mobility increasing above a second threshold (see column 14, lines 40-65). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teaching of Xiong et al into the teaching of Hsieh et al and Thomas et al in order for a UE to obtain configuration information of the network from the network side through system information (see Xiong et al; column 14, lines 40-65). Consider Claim 57, Hsieh et al in view of Thomas et al show that the computer-executable instructions further cause the user equipment to perform the following operation: changing radio resource management measurement frequency based on a second condition (see Thomas et al; figure 4; and paragraphs 40-42); (The condition related to additional RRM is read as channel quality being less than a third threshold. The method 400 begins when the UE at step 410 measures the received signal quality of its primary cell and each of its neighboring cells). Hsieh et al in view of Thomas et al do not specifically show that the second condition comprises cyclic prefix length increasing above a first threshold and user equipment mobility increasing above a second threshold. In related art, Xiong et al shows that the second condition comprises cyclic prefix length increasing above a first threshold and user equipment mobility increasing above a second threshold (see column 14, lines 40-65). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teaching of Xiong et al into the teaching of Hsieh et al and Thomas et al in order for a UE to obtain configuration information of the network from the network side through system information (see Xiong et al; column 14, lines 40-65). Consider Claims 45, 52, and 58, Hsieh et al shows that the additional radio resource management measurements are performed when a received signal power of a recently measured synchronization signal block (SSB) does not exceed a threshold (see figure 2; and paragraphs 30-31); (he BS 120 periodically broadcasts the SSBs 240 specifically to the cell that the BS 120 serves; that is, the SSBs 240 are cell-specific. Each SSB 240 carries system information to the UEs in the cell identified by a Cell ID. The UEs can find out in which cell they are located by decoding the Cell ID in the received SSB 240). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL A FARAGALLA whose telephone number is (571)270-1107. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00. 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, Matthew Eason can be reached at 571-270-7230. 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. /MICHAEL A FARAGALLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624 05/22/2026 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 2 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 3 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 4 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 6 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 7 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 8 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 9 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 10 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 11 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 12 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 13 Art Unit: 2624 Application/Control Number: 18/796,086 Page 14 Art Unit: 2624
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