Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/820,009

DCI FOR CELL DTX/DRX CONFIGURATION AND CELL TURN-OFF

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Aug 29, 2024
Priority
Nov 01, 2023 — provisional 63/595,309
Examiner
PEI, PATRICK YIPAO
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Lenovo (United States) Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 2m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allowance Rate
21 granted / 26 resolved
+20.8% vs TC avg
Strong +31% interview lift
Without
With
+31.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
15 currently pending
Career history
48
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
65.6%
+25.6% vs TC avg
§102
32.5%
-7.5% vs TC avg
§112
2.0%
-38.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 26 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1, 16-17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kusashima et al. US 20170105179 A1 (Foreign Priority May 21, 2014). Regarding claim 1, Kusashima discloses a User Equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (see, information treated is temporarily accumulated in a random access memory (RAM) at the time of the processing, and then is stored in various ROMs such as flash read-only memory (ROM) or hard disk drive (HDD). When necessary, the information is read by the CPU, and is modified or rewritten, section 0939; noted, a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor may be used. In a case where a technology of realizing the devices or functional blocks as the integrated circuit has appeared instead of the LSI due to the advance of semiconductor technology, section 0945) and configured to cause the UE to: receive, from a network entity, a cell discontinuous transmission and/or reception (DTX/DRX) configuration (see, terminal device may configure the DRX by the RRC accompanying by the DRX function in order to control the activation (whether or not to perform the PDCCH monitoring) of the PDCCH monitoring of the terminal device, section 0516) for a plurality of serving cells (see, discontinuous reception (DRX) for the ON/OFF cell may be independently configured for each ON/OFF cell, section 0706; noted, PDCCH/EPDCCH indicating the downlink grant for the ON/OFF cell for which the OFF state is configured or the uplink grant for the ON/OFF cell for which the OFF state is configured in the serving cell, sections 0700-0703; noted, DRX active timer is applied to the activation serving cel, section 0538); receive a downlink control information (DCI) signal for a serving cell (see, field indicating the serving cell is configured for the DCI format, section 0602) corresponding to at least the cell DTX/DRX configuration (see, DRX can be configured in all the activation serving cells, section 0539), wherein the DCI signal further comprises an indication of a cell turn-off (see, DCI format including the information indicating the activated/deactivated state of the cell, section 0605); and perform a cell search based at least in part on the cell turn-off and the cell DTX/DRX configuration (see, search space associated with the ON/OFF cell for which wither the ON or OFF state is configured, section 0655; noted, discontinuous reception (DRX) for the ON/OFF cell may be independently configured for each ON/OFF cell, section 0667). Regarding claim 16, Kusashima discloses a processor for wireless communication, comprising: at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive, from a network entity, a cell discontinuous transmission and/or reception (DTX/DRX) configuration (see, terminal device may configure the DRX by the RRC accompanying by the DRX function in order to control the activation (whether or not to perform the PDCCH monitoring) of the PDCCH monitoring of the terminal device, section 0516) for a plurality of serving cells (see, discontinuous reception (DRX) for the ON/OFF cell may be independently configured for each ON/OFF cell, section 0706; noted, PDCCH/EPDCCH indicating the downlink grant for the ON/OFF cell for which the OFF state is configured or the uplink grant for the ON/OFF cell for which the OFF state is configured in the serving cell, sections 0700-0703; noted, DRX active timer is applied to the activation serving cel, section 0538); receive a downlink control information (DCI) signal for a serving cell (see, field indicating the serving cell is configured for the DCI format, section 0602) corresponding to at least the cell DTX/DRX configuration (see, DRX can be configured in all the activation serving cells, section 0539), wherein the DCI signal further comprises an indication of a cell turn-off (see, DCI format including the information indicating the activated/deactivated state of the cell, section 0605); and perform a cell search based at least in part on the cell turn-off and the cell DTX/DRX configuration (see, search space associated with the ON/OFF cell for which wither the ON or OFF state is configured, section 0655; noted, discontinuous reception (DRX) for the ON/OFF cell may be independently configured for each ON/OFF cell, section 0667). Regarding claim 17, Kusashima discloses a base station for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the base station to: transmit, to at least one user equipment (UE), a cell discontinuous transmission and/or reception (DTX/DRX) configuration (see, terminal device may configure the DRX by the RRC accompanying by the DRX function in order to control the activation (whether or not to perform the PDCCH monitoring) of the PDCCH monitoring of the terminal device, section 0516) for a plurality of serving cells (see, discontinuous reception (DRX) for the ON/OFF cell may be independently configured for each ON/OFF cell, section 0706; noted, PDCCH/EPDCCH indicating the downlink grant for the ON/OFF cell for which the OFF state is configured or the uplink grant for the ON/OFF cell for which the OFF state is configured in the serving cell, sections 0700-0703; noted, DRX active timer is applied to the activation serving cel, section 0538); transmit a downlink control information (DCI) signal for a serving cell (see, field indicating the serving cell is configured for the DCI format, section 0602) corresponding to at least the cell DTX/DRX configuration (see, DRX can be configured in all the activation serving cells, section 0539), wherein the DCI signal further comprises an indication of a cell turn-off (see, DCI format including the information indicating the activated/deactivated state of the cell, section 0605); and deactivate the serving cell based at least in part on the cell turn-off and the cell DTX/DRX configuration (see, DRX active timer associated with activation and deactivation serving cell, section 0538). Regarding claim 20, Kusashima discloses a method performed by a base station, the method comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a cell discontinuous transmission and/or reception (DTX/DRX) configuration (see, terminal device may configure the DRX by the RRC accompanying by the DRX function in order to control the activation (whether or not to perform the PDCCH monitoring) of the PDCCH monitoring of the terminal device, section 0516) for a plurality of serving cells (see, discontinuous reception (DRX) for the ON/OFF cell may be independently configured for each ON/OFF cell, section 0706; noted, PDCCH/EPDCCH indicating the downlink grant for the ON/OFF cell for which the OFF state is configured or the uplink grant for the ON/OFF cell for which the OFF state is configured in the serving cell, sections 0700-0703; noted, DRX active timer is applied to the activation serving cel, section 0538); transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) signal for a serving cell (see, field indicating the serving cell is configured for the DCI format, section 0602) corresponding to at least the cell DTX/DRX configuration (see, DRX can be configured in all the activation serving cells, section 0539), wherein the DCI signal further comprises an indication of a cell turn-off (see, DCI format including the information indicating the activated/deactivated state of the cell, section 0605); and deactivating the serving cell based at least in part on the cell turn-off and the cell DTX/DRX configuration (see, DRX active timer associated with activation and deactivation serving cell, section 0538). 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. The factual inquiries 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 1-6 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusashima et al. US 20170105179 A1 (Foreign Priority May 21, 2014) in view of Kim et al. US 20260181438 A1 (Domestic Priority May 12, 2023). Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 2, the UE of claim 1, wherein the indication of the cell turn-off comprises an indication of a network energy savings (NES) conditional handover (CHO). However Kim from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the indication of the cell turn-off comprises an indication of a network energy savings (NES) conditional handover (CHO) (see, reception of DCI which activates CHO condition(s) configured as an NES event indication where the CHO procedure is used while an NES technology is applied (e.g., when a cell activates or turns off cell DTX/DRX), sections 0168-0175 Kim). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the CHO of Kim. The motivation would have been to improve cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) operation in a wireless communication system. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 3, the UE of claim 1, wherein the cell DTX/DRX configuration comprises radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and wherein the DCI signal comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission corresponding to a DCI format 2_9. However Kim from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the cell DTX/DRX configuration comprises radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see, enhancement on cell DTX/DRX mechanism including the alignment of cell DTX/DRX and UE DRX in RRC_CONNECTED mode, sections 0166-0167 Kim; noted, Cell DTX/DRX may be activated/inactivated through RRC signaling, section 0168 Kim), and wherein the DCI signal comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission (see, terminal receives downlink control information (DCI) through a PDCCH, section 0083 Kim) corresponding to a DCI format 2_9 (see, see, control information related to cell DTX/DRX may include DCI that has a designated format (e.g., format 2_9), section 0179 Kim). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the DCI that has a designated format of 2_9 of Kim. The motivation would have been to improve cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) operation in a wireless communication system. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 4, the UE of claim 3, wherein a size of the DCI format 2_9 is configured by higher-layer signaling. However Kim from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 3, wherein a size of the DCI format 2_9 is configured by higher-layer signaling (see, terminal may identify a search space set for monitoring a PDCCH delivering control information with a designated format for an active time through a higher layer parameter (e.g., SearchSpace) and acquire a location of information on a serving cell within the control information through a higher layer parameter where control information related to cell DTX/DRX may include DCI that has a designated format (e.g., format 2_9), section 0179 Kim). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the DCI that has a designated format of 2_9 of Kim. The motivation would have been to improve cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) operation in a wireless communication system. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 5, the UE of claim 1, wherein the cell DTX/DRX configuration comprises a higher-layer parameter for a network energy savings (NES) specific CHO. However Kim from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the cell DTX/DRX configuration comprises a higher-layer parameter for a network energy savings (NES) specific CHO (see, reception of DCI which activates CHO condition(s) configured as an NES event indication where the CHO procedure is used while an NES technology is applied (e.g., when a cell activates or turns off cell DTX/DRX), sections 0168-0175 Kim; noted, terminal may identify a search space set for monitoring a PDCCH delivering control information with a designated format for an active time through a higher layer parameter (e.g., SearchSpace) and acquire a location of information on a serving cell within the control information through a higher layer parameter (e.g., positionInDCI-cellDTRX), section 0179 Kim; noted, control information related to cell DTX/DRX may be used to indicate activation or inactivation of cell DTX and/or cell DRX and/or to provide an NES-mode indicator, section 0180 Kim). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the CHO of Kim. The motivation would have been to improve cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) operation in a wireless communication system. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 6, the UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive a cell turn-off configuration for the at least one serving cell, wherein both the cell DTX/DRX configuration and the cell turn-off configuration are higher-layer configured. However Kim from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive a cell turn-off configuration for the at least one serving cell (see, terminal may acquire at least one cell DTX and/or cell DRX configuration for a serving cell for activation/deactivation that may be indicated for at least one cell DTX and/or cell DRX configuration, section 0207 Kim), wherein both the cell DTX/DRX configuration (terminal may identify a search space set for monitoring a PDCCH delivering control information with a designated format for an active time through a higher layer parameter (e.g., SearchSpace) and acquire a location of information on a serving cell within the control information through a higher layer parameter (e.g., positionInDCI-cellDTRX), section 0179 Kim) and the cell turn-off configuration (see, higher layer parameter repetition being set to either ON or OFF, sections 0109-0110 Kim) are higher-layer configured. In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the higher layer of Kim. The motivation would have been to improve cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) operation in a wireless communication system. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 18, the base station of claim 17, wherein the indication of the cell turn-off comprises an indication of a network energy savings (NES) conditional handover (CHO), and wherein the cell DTX/DRX configuration comprises a higher-layer parameter for a NES-specific CHO. However Kim from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the base station of claim 17, wherein the indication of the cell turn-off comprises an indication of a network energy savings (NES) conditional handover (CHO) (see, reception of DCI which activates CHO condition(s) configured as an NES event indication where the CHO procedure is used while an NES technology is applied (e.g., when a cell activates or turns off cell DTX/DRX), sections 0168-0175 Kim), and wherein the cell DTX/DRX configuration comprises a higher-layer parameter for a NES-specific CHO (see, reception of DCI which activates CHO condition(s) configured as an NES event indication where the CHO procedure is used while an NES technology is applied (e.g., when a cell activates or turns off cell DTX/DRX), sections 0168-0175 Kim; noted, terminal may identify a search space set for monitoring a PDCCH delivering control information with a designated format for an active time through a higher layer parameter (e.g., SearchSpace) and acquire a location of information on a serving cell within the control information through a higher layer parameter (e.g., positionInDCI-cellDTRX), section 0179 Kim; noted, control information related to cell DTX/DRX may be used to indicate activation or inactivation of cell DTX and/or cell DRX and/or to provide an NES-mode indicator, section 0180 Kim). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the CHO of Kim. The motivation would have been to improve cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) operation in a wireless communication system. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 19, the base station of claim 17, wherein the cell DTX/DRX configuration comprises radio resource control (RRC) signaling, wherein the DCI signal comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission corresponding to a DCI format 2_9, and wherein a size of the DCI format 2_9 is configured by higher-layer signaling. However Kim from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the base station of claim 17, wherein the cell DTX/DRX configuration comprises radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see, enhancement on cell DTX/DRX mechanism including the alignment of cell DTX/DRX and UE DRX in RRC_CONNECTED mode, sections 0166-0167 Kim; noted, Cell DTX/DRX may be activated/inactivated through RRC signaling, section 0168 Kim), wherein the DCI signal comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission corresponding to a DCI format 2_9 (see, terminal receives downlink control information (DCI) through a PDCCH, section 0083 Kim; noted, see, control information related to cell DTX/DRX may include DCI that has a designated format (e.g., format 2_9), section 0179 Kim), and wherein a size of the DCI format 2_9 is configured by higher-layer signaling (see, terminal may identify a search space set for monitoring a PDCCH delivering control information with a designated format for an active time through a higher layer parameter (e.g., SearchSpace) and acquire a location of information on a serving cell within the control information through a higher layer parameter where control information related to cell DTX/DRX may include DCI that has a designated format (e.g., format 2_9), section 0179 Kim). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the DCI that has a designated format of 2_9 of Kim. The motivation would have been to improve cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) operation in a wireless communication system. Claims 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusashima et al. US 20170105179 A1 (Foreign Priority May 21, 2014) in view of Cirik et al. US 20250106848 A1 (Domestic Priority September 25, 2023). Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 7, the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells, wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a one-bit field indicating a cell DTX/DRX operation based at least in part on a DTX/DRX type parameter being configured to cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) and a cell turn-off parameter being unconfigured. However Cirik from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells (see, if the wireless device is configured with a DTX/DRX parameter such as cellDTRX-DCI-config, one or more blocks may be configured for the wireless device, for example, by higher layers, with the field defined for each block, section 0358 Cirik; noted, a DCI format may be used for activating or deactivating a cell DTX/DRX (or a cell DTX/DRX configuration or a cell DTX/DRX operation) of one or multiple serving cells for one or more wireless devices, section 0355 Cirik), wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a one-bit field indicating a cell DTX/DRX operation (see, one or more bits associated with each block of the one or more blocks where each bit corresponds to the DTX/DRX indicator field (e.g., TRP DTX/DRX indicator field) in a block of the one or more blocks may indicate activation or deactivation of one of: the first DTX, the second DTX, the first DRX, and the second DRX, section 0539) based at least in part on a DTX/DRX type parameter being configured to cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) (see, 1 bit if either cellDTXConfig or cellDTXConfig is configured for a cell, section 0358 Cirik) and a cell turn-off parameter being unconfigured (see, no configuration of cell switch off or on with the cell, sections 0217-0218 Cirik; noted, configuration parameter associated with bits where each field configured may be one extra bit thus when not configured then total bits will be less, sections 0539-0556 Cirik). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the bits associated with blocks of Cirik. The motivation would have been to improve scheduling of transmission/reception. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 8, the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells, wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a one-bit field indicating a cell turn-off operation based at least in part on a cell turn-off parameter being configured and a cell DTX/DRX type parameter being unconfigured. However Cirik from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells (see, if the wireless device is configured with a DTX/DRX parameter such as cellDTRX-DCI-config, one or more blocks may be configured for the wireless device, for example, by higher layers, with the field defined for each block, section 0358 Cirik; noted, a DCI format may be used for activating or deactivating a cell DTX/DRX (or a cell DTX/DRX configuration or a cell DTX/DRX operation) of one or multiple serving cells for one or more wireless devices, section 0355 Cirik), wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a one-bit field indicating a cell turn-off operation based at least in part on a cell turn-off parameter being configured () and a cell DTX/DRX type parameter being unconfigured (see, no configuration of cell switch off or on with the cell associated with DTX, sections 0217-0218 Cirik; noted, configuration parameter associated with bits where each field configured may be one extra bit thus when not configured then total bits will be less, sections 0539-0556 Cirik). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the bits associated with blocks of Cirik. The motivation would have been to improve scheduling of transmission/reception. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 9, the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells, wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a two-bit field indicating a cell DTX/DRX operation based at least in part on a cell DTX/DRX type parameter being configured to cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) and discontinuous reception (DRX) and a cell turn-off parameter being unconfigured. However Cirik from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells (see, if the wireless device is configured with a DTX/DRX parameter such as cellDTRX-DCI-config, one or more blocks may be configured for the wireless device, for example, by higher layers, with the field defined for each block, section 0358 Cirik; noted, a DCI format may be used for activating or deactivating a cell DTX/DRX (or a cell DTX/DRX configuration or a cell DTX/DRX operation) of one or multiple serving cells for one or more wireless devices, section 0355 Cirik), wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a two-bit field indicating a cell DTX/DRX operation (see, one or more bits associated with each block of the one or more blocks where each bit corresponds to the DTX/DRX indicator field (e.g., TRP DTX/DRX indicator field) in a block of the one or more blocks may indicate activation or deactivation of one of: the first DTX, the second DTX, the first DRX, and the second DRX, section 0539) based at least in part on a cell DTX/DRX type parameter being configured to cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) and discontinuous reception (DRX) (see, 1 bit if either cellDTXConfig or cellDTXConfig is configured for a cell, section 0358 Cirik) and a cell turn-off parameter being unconfigured (see, no configuration of cell switch off or on with the cell, sections 0217-0218 Cirik; noted, configuration parameter associated with bits where each field configured may be one extra bit thus when not configured then total bits will be less, sections 0539-0556 Cirik). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the bits associated with blocks of Cirik. The motivation would have been to improve scheduling of transmission/reception. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 10, the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells, wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a two-bit field indicating a cell turn-off operation based at least in part on a cell turn-off parameter being configured to cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) and further indicating a cell turn-off operation based at least in part on a cell turn-off parameter being configured. However Cirik from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells (see, if the wireless device is configured with a DTX/DRX parameter such as cellDTRX-DCI-config, one or more blocks may be configured for the wireless device, for example, by higher layers, with the field defined for each block, section 0358 Cirik; noted, a DCI format may be used for activating or deactivating a cell DTX/DRX (or a cell DTX/DRX configuration or a cell DTX/DRX operation) of one or multiple serving cells for one or more wireless devices, section 0355 Cirik), wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a two-bit field indicating a cell turn-off operation based at least in part on a cell turn-off parameter being configured to cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) (FIG. 19A, a block (e.g., Block 3 in or a DTX/DRX indicator field in Block 3) of the one or more blocks may be 2 bits if the first DTX and the second DTX are configured/indicated, by the one or more configuration parameters, for the cell, section 0545 Cirik) and further indicating a cell turn-off operation based at least in part on a cell turn-off parameter being configured (see, one or more configuration parameters associated with whether there is non-active time/period/duration of the first DTX, section 0500 Cirik). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the bits associated with blocks of Cirik. The motivation would have been to improve scheduling of transmission/reception. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 11, the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells, wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a three-bit field indicating a cell DTX/DRX operation based at least in part on a cell DTX/DRX type parameter being configured to cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) and cell discontinuous reception (DRX), and further indicating a cell turn-off operation based at least in part on a cell turn-off parameter being configured. However Cirik from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the DCI signal comprises a plurality of blocks associated with the plurality of serving cells (see, if the wireless device is configured with a DTX/DRX parameter such as cellDTRX-DCI-config, one or more blocks may be configured for the wireless device, for example, by higher layers, with the field defined for each block, section 0358 Cirik; noted, a DCI format may be used for activating or deactivating a cell DTX/DRX (or a cell DTX/DRX configuration or a cell DTX/DRX operation) of one or multiple serving cells for one or more wireless devices, section 0355 Cirik), wherein a respective block of the plurality of blocks comprises a three-bit field indicating a cell DTX/DRX operation (see, one or more bits associated with each block of the one or more blocks where each bit corresponds to the DTX/DRX indicator field (e.g., TRP DTX/DRX indicator field) in a block of the one or more blocks may indicate activation or deactivation of one of: the first DTX, the second DTX, the first DRX, and the second DRX, section 0539) based at least in part on a cell DTX/DRX type parameter being configured to cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) and cell discontinuous reception (DRX) (FIG. 19A, a block (e.g., Block 3 in or a DTX/DRX indicator field in Block 3) of the one or more blocks may be 2 bits if the first DTX and the second DTX are configured/indicated, by the one or more configuration parameters, for the cell, section 0545 Cirik), and further indicating a cell turn-off operation based at least in part on a cell turn-off parameter being configured (see, one or more configuration parameters associated with whether there is non-active time/period/duration of the first DTX, section 0500 Cirik). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the bits associated with blocks of Cirik. The motivation would have been to improve scheduling of transmission/reception. Claims 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kusashima et al. US 20170105179 A1 (Foreign Priority May 21, 2014) in view of Moon et al. US 20240267985 A1 (Foreign Priority February 7, 2023). Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 12, the UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to determine an application time of the cell turn-off for the serving cell. However Moon from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to determine an application time of the cell turn-off for the serving cell (see, NES DCI may indicate cell DTX/DRX activation and/or inactivation operations for the serving cells to the terminal, section 0186 Moon; noted, application time of the NES DCI may be defined as a predetermined time after the terminal receives the NES DCI, section 0184 Moon). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the application time of Moon. The motivation would have been to improve DTX and DRX operations. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 13, the UE of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to ignore a transmission or a reception associated with the serving cell based at least in part on the application time of the cell turn-off. However Moon from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to ignore a transmission or a reception associated with the serving cell based at least in part on the application time of the cell turn-off (see, application delay time (e.g., D1, D2, a time determined based on D1, a time determined based on D2) may be determined based on a subcarrier spacing of a serving cell that is a target to which the activation/inactivation indication (e.g., cell DTX and/or cell DRX activation/inactivation indication) is applied, section 0184 Moon). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the application time of Moon. The motivation would have been to improve DTX and DRX operations. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 14, the UE of claim 12, wherein the application time of the cell turn-off is computed with reference to a reception time of the DCI signal, and wherein the application time of the cell turn-off is set by a rule or a fixed value. However Moon from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 12, wherein the application time of the cell turn-off is computed with reference to a reception time of the DCI signal (see, NES DCI may indicate cell DTX/DRX activation and/or inactivation operations for the serving cells to the terminal, section 0186 Moon; noted, application time of the NES DCI may be defined as a predetermined time after the terminal receives the NES DCI, section 0184 Moon), and wherein the application time of the cell turn-off is set by a rule or a fixed value (see, application time of the NES DCI may be defined as a predetermined time after the terminal receives the NES DCI, section 0184 Moon). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the application time of Moon. The motivation would have been to improve DTX and DRX operations. Kusashima discloses all the claim limitations but fail to disclose: Regarding claim 15, the UE of claim 12, wherein the application time of the cell turn-off is configured from a set of candidate values or is indicated in the DCI signal. However Moon from a similar filed of endeavor discloses: the UE of claim 12, wherein the application time of the cell turn-off is configured from a set of candidate values or is indicated in the DCI signal (see, terminal may receive an indication for cell DTX/DRX activation and inactivation operations for the plurality of serving cells through one NES DCI, section 0171 Moon). In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art of which the claimed invention pertains to modify Kusashima with the application time of Moon. The motivation would have been to improve DTX and DRX operations. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK YIPAO PEI whose telephone number is (703)756-1890. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM ET. 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, Kwang Yao can be reached at (571) 272-3182. 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. /PATRICK YIPAO PEI/Examiner, Art Unit 2473 /KWANG B YAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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Prosecution Timeline

Aug 29, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 15, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
81%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+31.3%)
3y 2m (~1y 2m remaining)
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