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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 2, “circuity” is mistyped. Appropriate correction is required.
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 13, 15, 16, 19, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhou et al (US 2022/0322115 A1).
Regarding claim 13, Zhou discloses a method performed by a network node, the method comprising:
receiving, from a User Equipment (UE), physical layer (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements for only a subset of a first set of reference signals configured to the UE for L1-RSRP measurements (73rd and 77th paragraphs, UE may report a subset of measured reference signals having a highest L1 metric or a lowest L1 metric. Herein, L1 measurements are L1-RSRP measurements).
Regarding claim 15, Zhou discloses performing one or more operational tasks based on the L1-RSRP measurements (Fig. 7, block 730, activate TCI stated associated with non-serving cell upon reception of L1 measurement report).
Regarding claim 16, Zhou discloses sending to the UE: information that configures the UE to perform the RRM measurements (62nd paragraph and Fig. 5, UE may measure and report L3 metrics for the detected neighbor PCIs. Herein, network node must configure UE with L3 measurement. L3 measurement is RRM measurement); and information that configures the UE to perform the L1-RSRP measurements on the first set of reference signals (Fig. 7, block 715, transmit to UE a configuration to perform L1 measurements of reference signals).
Regarding claim 19, Zhou discloses that wherein the reference signals are Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) (7th paragraph, UE may perform L1 measurements on SSB).
Regarding claim 21, Zhou discloses a network node (Fig. 3, base station 310), the method comprising:
processing circuitry (Fig. 3, processor 375) configured to cause the network node to receive, from a User Equipment (UE), physical layer (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements for only a subset of a first set of reference signals configured to the UE for L1-RSRP measurements (73rd and 77th paragraphs, UE may report a subset of measured reference signals having a highest L1 metric or a lowest L1 metric. Herein, L1 measurements are L1-RSRP measurements).
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.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Leng et al (US 2023/0130286 A1).
Regarding claim 14, Zhou discloses performing L1 measurements based on L1 configuration (Fig. 6). Zhou does not disclose that wherein the subset of the first set of reference signals consist of reference signals that are both in the first set of reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurements and in a second set of reference signals identified during Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements performed by the UE. Leng discloses that the RRCReconfiguration message can include measurement and reporting configuration. L1 measurement on SSBs and/or reference signals, can be configured for RRM (106th paragraph). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include SSBs having L1 measurements and RRM measurements in Zhou’s system, as suggested by Leng, to fine tune the selected target node for handover to ensure seamless transition.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Zhang et al (US 2025/0015866 A1).
Regarding claim 18, Zhou discloses performing L1 measurements based on L1 configuration (Fig. 6). Zhou does not disclose that wherein the network node receives capability information for the UE that indicates whether the UE supports reporting of all reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurement or only a subset of those reference signals that are identified during RRM measurements (alternative). Zhang discloses receiving UE capability report including an indication of SSBs that UE supports for L1-RSRP measurements (50th paragraph). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include transmitting UE capability information to base station in Zhou’s system, as suggested by Zhang, to indicate SSBs that UE supporting for L1 measurements.
Claims 1-6, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Leng et al (US 2023/0130286 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Zhou discloses a method performed by a User Equipment (UE), the method comprising:
performing physical layer (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements for at least a subset of a first set of reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurements; and reporting the L1-RSRP measurements only for the subset of the first set of reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurements (73rd and 77th paragraphs, UE may report a subset of measured reference signals having a highest L1 metric or a lowest L1 metric. Herein, L1-RSRP measurements are performed before reporting and L1 measurements are L1-RSRP measurements). Zhou does not disclose that the subset of the first set of reference signals consisting of reference signals that are both in the first set of reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurements and in a second set of reference signals identified during Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements performed by the UE. Leng discloses that the RRCReconfiguration message can include measurement and reporting configuration. L1 measurement on SSBs and/or reference signals, can be configured for RRM (106th paragraph). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include SSBs having L1 measurements and RRM measurements in Zhou’s system, as suggested by Leng, to fine tune the selected target node for handover to ensure seamless transition.
Regarding claim 2, Zhou discloses receiving from a network node: information that configures the UE to perform the RRM measurements (62nd paragraph and Fig. 5, UE may measure and report L3 metrics for the detected neighbor PCIs. Herein, network node must configure UE with L3 measurement. L3 measurement is RRM measurement); and information that configures the UE to perform the L1-RSRP measurements on the first set of reference signals (Fig. 7, block 715, transmit to UE a configuration to perform L1 measurements of reference signals).
Regarding claim 3, Zhou discloses performing the RRM measurements (62nd paragraph and Fig. 5), wherein performing the RRM measurements comprising identifying the second set of reference signals (62nd paragraph and Fig. 5, UE may measure and report L3 metrics for the detected neighbor PCIs. Herein, SSBs or CSI-RS associated with L3 measurements must be configured for UE).
Regarding claim 4, Zhou discloses reporting the RRM measurements for the second set of reference signals identified while performing the RRM measurements (62nd paragraph and Fig. 5, UE may measure and report L3 metrics for the detected neighbor PCIs).
Regarding claim 5, Zhou discloses that wherein performing the L1-RSRP measurements comprises performing the L1-RSRP measurements for only the subset of the first set of reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurements (Fig. 6, blocks 620 and 624, receiving one or more reference signals and perform L1 measurements on received one or more reference signals).
Regarding claim 6, Zhou discloses that wherein performing the L1-RSRP measurements comprises performing the L1-RSRP measurements for the first of reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurements (Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 9, Zhou discloses that wherein the reference signals are Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) (7th paragraph, UE may perform L1 measurements on SSB).
Regarding claim 11, Zhou discloses a User Equipment (UE) (Fig. 3, UE 350) comprising:
a communication interface comprising a transmitter and a receiver (Fig. 3, interface 352 and/or 354 having TX and RX); and
processing circuitry communicatively coupled to the communication interface (Fig. 3, processor 359), the processing circuitry configured to cause the UE to:
perform physical layer (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements for at least a subset of a first set of reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurements; and report the L1-RSRP measurements only for the subset of the first set of reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurements (73rd and 77th paragraphs, UE may report a subset of measured reference signals having a highest L1 metric or a lowest L1 metric. Herein, L1-RSRP measurements are performed before reporting and L1 measurements are L1-RSRP measurements). Zhou does not disclose that the subset of the first set of reference signals consisting of reference signals that are both in the first set of reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurements and in a second set of reference signals identified during Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements performed by the UE. Leng discloses that the RRCReconfiguration message can include measurement and reporting configuration. L1 measurement on SSBs and/or reference signals, can be configured for RRM (106th paragraph). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include SSBs having L1 measurements and RRM measurements in Zhou’s system, as suggested by Leng, to fine tune the selected target node for handover to ensure seamless transition.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou and Leng further in view of Zhang.
Regarding claim 8, Zhou discloses performing L1 measurements based on L1 configuration (Fig. 6). Zhou does not disclose that wherein the network node receives capability information for the UE that indicates whether the UE supports reporting of all reference signals configured for L1-RSRP measurement or only a subset of those reference signals that are identified during RRM measurements (alternative). Zhang discloses receiving UE capability report including an indication of SSBs that UE supports for L1-RSRP measurements (50th paragraph). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include transmitting UE capability information to base station in Zhou’s system, as suggested by Zhang, to indicate SSBs that UE supporting for L1 measurements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Da Silva et al (US 2024/0022925 A1), same field of endeavor, discloses L1/L2 neighbor cell measurements (Figs. 9-12).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANH VU H LY whose telephone number is (571)272-3175. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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ANH VU H. LY
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2472
/ANH VU H LY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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