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
Response to Amendment
Examiner acknowledges Applicant's amendment filed on September 30, 2026. Claims 1, 2, 6, 7, 11, 12, 16 and 17 are amended.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending consideration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claim 1-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (US 2026/0107344 A1) in view of Xue et al. (US 2023/0120774 A1).
4. Regarding claims 1 and 11, Zhou teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication system (Fig. 15), the method comprising:
transmitting, to a base station, capability information including a capability to support an energy saving mode of the base station, the energy saving mode of the base station being based on cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) (Fig. 35 Paragraphs [0329], [0330] and [0344] to [0346] first and second power states; cell DTX);
receiving, from the base station, information associated with a measurement for the energy saving mode of the base station (Fig. 35, Paragraphs [0329], [0330] and [0344] to [0346] PDCCH occasions);
identifying that the base station operates according to the energy saving mode; and receiving, from the base station, a reference signal for measurement based on the
information (Fig. 35, Paragraphs [0329], [0330] and [0344] to [0346] PDCCH occasions).
Zhou does not explicitly disclose measuring the reference signal during an evaluation time period, wherein a length of the evaluation time period increases as a cell DTX cycle of the cell DTX increases.
Xue teaches measuring the reference signal during an evaluation time period, wherein a length of the evaluation time period increases as a cell DTX cycle of the cell DTX increases (Paragraph [0107] sensing window length increased with each DTX).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide measuring the reference signal during an evaluation time period, wherein a length of the evaluation time period increases as a cell DTX cycle of the cell DTX increases as taught by Xue in the system of Zhou for relaxed sensing see Paragraph [0107] of Xue.
5. Regarding claims 6 and 16, Zhou teaches a base station (Fig. 15) and a method performed by a base station operating according to an energy saving mode in a communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a user equipment (UE), capability information including a capability to
support the energy saving mode of the base station, the energy saving mode of the base station being based on cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) (Fig. 35 Paragraphs [0329], [0330] and [0344] to [0346] first and second power states; cell DTX);
transmitting, to the UE, information associated with a measurement for the energy saving mode of the base station (Fig. 35, Paragraphs [0329], [0330] and [0344] to [0346] PDCCH occasions); and
transmitting, to the UE, a reference signal for measurement according to the information (Fig. 35, Paragraphs [0329], [0330] and [0344] to [0346] PDCCH occasions).
Zhou does not explicitly disclose wherein a length of an evaluation time period, during which the UE measures the reference signal, increases as a cell DTX cycle of the cell DTX increases.
Xue teaches wherein a length of an evaluation time period, during which the UE measures the reference signal, increases as a cell DTX cycle of the cell DTX increases (Paragraph [0107] sensing window length increased with each DTX).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein a length of an evaluation time period, during which the UE measures the reference signal, increases as a cell DTX cycle of the cell DTX increases as taught by Xue in the system of Zhou for relaxed sensing see Paragraph [0107] of Xue.
6. Regarding claims 2, 7, 12, and 17, Zhou in view of Xue teaches wherein the information includes a cell DTX cycle and a gap between the cell DTX cycle and a start of a periodicity of the reference signal, and wherein the reference signal is received in an active time of the cell DTX defined based on the cell DTX cycle and the gap between the cell DTX cycle and the start of the periodicity of the reference signal (Zhou, Fig. 35, Paragraphs [0329], [0330] and [0344] to [0346] time window; gap; periodicity).
7. Regarding claims 3, 8, 13, and 18, Zhou in view of Xue teaches wherein the cell DTX cycle is a multiple of the periodicity of the reference signal (Zhou, Fig. 35, Paragraphs [0329], [0330] and [0344] to [0346] multiple of the periodicity).
8. Regarding claims 4, 9, 14, and 19, Zhou in view of Xue teaches wherein the information includes a first periodicity for the energy saving mode, and wherein the reference signal is received based on the first periodicity for the energy saving mode (Zhou, Fig. 35, Paragraphs [0329], [0330] and [0344] to [0346] PDCCH occasions; cell DTX).
9. Regarding claims 5, 10, 15, and 20, Zhou in view of Xue teaches
wherein the first periodicity for the energy saving mode is larger than a second periodicity for a normal mode (Zhou, Paragraph [0330] periodicity of DRX cycle; first time duration and second time duration).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at (571)272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DIANE L LO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
