DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . The instant First Office Action on the merits is in response to claims filed on 8/13/2024.
Claims 1-16 and 19-22 are pending. Claims 1, 16 and 19 are the base independent claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted was filed before the mailing of a first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97(b). Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-11, 14-16 and 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by CHEN et al (US 2024/0340737) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over CHEN et al (US 2024/0340737) in view of LEI et al (US 2024/0406896) or in view of CUI et al (US 2025/0071700) or in view of Tang et al (US 2025/0039715).
Regarding claim 1, CHEN discloses a measurement method, comprising:
performing a radio resource management (RRM) measurement based on measurement configuration parameters (par 33; e.g. the terminal may perform RRM based on a cell defining synchronization signal);
wherein the measurement configuration parameters comprise a parameter for indicating an RRM measurement based on a cell defining synchronized signal block (CD-SSB) (par 33; CD-SSB) and a parameter for indicating an RRM measurement based on a non-cell defining synchronized signal block (NCD-SSB) (par 33-35; e.g. the SSB is usually a non-cell defining synchronization signal; the terminal is configured to perform RRM measurement at the frequency of the second SSB).
Regarding claim 2, the reference does not explicitly disclose a BWP is corresponding to an activated BWP, however, it is obvious when LEI discloses:
wherein performing the RRM measurement based on the measurement configuration parameters comprises:
in response to the RRM measurement being a measurement for a serving cell of the user equipment (fig. 15 & par 114; a spatial relation configuration in the first DL and UL BWP pair is based on the SSB or the DL reference signal of the serving cell configured in the second DL BWP), performing, the RRM measurement based on a synchronized signal block (SSB) on an activated bandwidth part (BWP) for the serving cell (par 119; UE may switch from the first DL BWP or the first UL BWP to the second DL BWP to measure the SSB), wherein the SSB on the activated BWP is a CD-SSB or (examining note: since the claim shows a limitation in an alternative form, the prior art may teach either or both limitations, and this notice applies to subsequent occurrences of claim limitations that are in the alternative form) an NCD-SSB (par 89, 91; UE may expect the active DL BWP to include a NCD-SSB for the serving cell).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of LEI with the electronic system of CHEN. One is motivated as such to meet timing error limit (LEI, par 99).
Regarding claim 3, CHEN discloses:
wherein performing the RRM measurement based on the measurement configuration parameters comprises:
determining that the SSB on the activated BWP for the serving cell is a reference SSB (par 90-91; the first BWP refers to measurement performnace of a reference signal(for example, a CD-SSB)).
Regarding claim 4, CHEN discloses:
wherein performing the RRM measurement based on the measurement configuration parameters comprises:
in response to the RRM measurement being a measurement for a neighboring cell of a serving cell of the user equipment, and an SSB of a measurement object of the neighboring cell satisfying a first condition, determining that a measurement for the SSB of the measurement object is an intra-frequency measurement; or determining, in response to the RRM measurement being the measurement for the neighboring cell of the serving cell of the user equipment, and the SSB of the measurement object not satisfying the first condition, determining that the measurement for the SSB of the measurement object is an inter-frequency measurement (par 46-47; e.g. if Srxlev and/or Squal are/is less than the threshold values, the intra-frequency neighboring cell needs to be measured).
Regarding claim 5, CHEN discloses:
wherein performing the RRM measurement based on the measurement configuration parameters comprises:
determining a first measurement result after performing a first RRM measurement on a serving cell of the user equipment; and determining, based on the first measurement result, whether to perform a second RRM measurement based on the NCD-SSB on a neighboring cell of the serving cell (par 91; when quality of the second BWP is relatively good, switching can be performed to the second BWP to perform a predetermined operation or to the second BWP)
Regarding claim 6, CHEN discloses:
wherein determining, based on the measurement result, whether to perform the second RRM measurement based on the NCD-SSB on the neighboring cell of the serving cell comprises: determining, in response to the first measurement result being greater than a set threshold, determining to perform the RRM measurement based on the NCD-SSB on the neighboring cell of the serving cell (par 91; when quality of the second BWP is relatively good, switching can be performed to the second BWP to perform a predetermined operation or to the second BWP; and the measurement performance of the second BWP refers to measurement performance of a reference signal (for example, an NCD-SSB) on the second BWP).
Regarding claim 7, the reference does not disclose a higher priority in the CD-SSB and the NCD-SSB, however, CUI discloses:
wherein performing the RRM measurement based on the measurement configuration parameters comprises: in response to a measurement object being configured with a CD-SSB and an NCD-SSB, performing the RRM measurement for an SSB with a higher priority in the CD-SSB and the NCD-SSB (par 39; e.g. In some cases, an MG associated with receiving a CD-SSB may be prioritized over an MG associated with receiving an NCD-SSB).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of CUI with the electronic system of CHEN. One is motivated as such to improve the network (CUI, par 34).
Regarding claim 8, CUI discloses:
wherein a priority of the CD-SSB and a priority of the NCD-SSB are determined based on an indication of a network device, or determined based on a specification of a communication protocol (par 96; e.g. the base station can implement the configuration and can broadcast each of a CD-SSB and an NCD-SSB according to the configuration).
Regarding claim 9, CHEN discloses:
wherein performing the RRM measurement based on the measurement configuration parameters comprises:
in response to a measurement object being configured with a CD-SSB and an NCD-SSB, performing a measurement for an intra-frequency SSB of the measurement object, wherein the intra-frequency SSB is the CD-SSB or the NCD-SSB; and the intra-frequency SSB satisfies a first condition (par 46-47; e.g. if Srxlev and/or Squal are/is less than the threshold values, the intra-frequency neighboring cell needs to be measured; par 112; e.g. the measurement performance of the NCD-SSB of the second BWP can replace the measurement performance of the CD-SSB of the first BWP).
Regarding claim 10, the reference does not explicitly disclose reporting a measurement result, however, Tang discloses:
reporting, by the user equipment, a measurement result of the RRM measurement to a network device (par 93, 128; e.g. sending a report to the network node).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Tang with the electronic system of CHEN. One is motivated as such to apply adaptive reference frequency for measurements (Tang, par 84).
Regarding claim 11, Tang discloses:
in response to a plurality of measurement objects being configured on a working frequency band for a cell, and presence of an intra-frequency measurement and an inter-frequency measurement for a cell, reporting a measurement result of the intra-frequency measurement, wherein the intra-frequency measurement is an RRM measurement for an intra-frequency SSB of the cell, and the inter-frequency measurement is an RRM measurement for an inter-frequency SSB of the cell (par 125; e.g. determining whether the measurement is an inter-frequency measurement or an intra-frequency measurement based on a reference frequency and a frequency of a reference signal on the second cell), the intra-frequency SSB satisfies a first condition, and the inter-frequency SSB is provided with a frequency point different from a frequency point of the intra-frequency SSB (par 137; e.g. the frequencies of RS1 and RS2 are different; also par 159).
Regarding claim 14, the reference does not disclose the subject matter, however, Tang discloses:
wherein the first condition comprises being provided with a center frequency point and a subcarrier spacing (SCS), which are respectively the same as a center frequency point and a SCS of a reference SSB, and the reference SSB is an SSB on an activated BWP of the serving cell (par 84; e.g. If the definition of intra-frequency will follow the legacy definition, the NCD-SSB in target cell which has the same center frequency with the NCD-SSB in active BWP of serving cell may be believed as an inter-frequency and BR UE needs to perform measurements with measurement gaps).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of communication protocol configured for the electronic system of Tang with the electronic system of CHEN. One is motivated as such to apply adaptive reference frequency for measurements (Tang, par 84).
Regarding claim 15, CHEN discloses:
receiving, by the user equipment, the measurement configuration parameters sent by a network device (par 64; e.g. to obtain the measurement performance of the first object, the terminal may receive relevant configuration information of the NCD-SSB of the second BWP from the network side device).
Regarding claim 16, CHEN discloses a measurement method, performed by a network device, and comprising:
sending measurement configuration parameters to a user equipment (par 64; e.g. to obtain the measurement performance of the first object, the terminal may receive relevant configuration information of the NCD-SSB of the second BWP from the network side device);
wherein the measurement configuration parameters comprise a parameter for indicating an RRM measurement based on a cell defining synchronized signal block (CD-SSB) (par 33; e.g. the terminal may perform RRM based on a cell defining synchronization signal) and a parameter for indicating an RRM measurement based on a non-cell defining synchronized signal block (NCD-SSB) (par 33-35; e.g. the SSB is usually a non-cell defining synchronization signal; the terminal is configured to perform RRM measurement at the frequency of the second SSB).
Regarding claims 19-22, CHEN also discloses a processor, a memory or computer-readable storage medium for performing the method of claims 1 and 16 similar to the mapping above (also see par 282).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12 and 13 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YAOTANG WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4023. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00-18:00 ET (M, W, TH & alternate F).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, HADI ARMOUCHE can be reached at 571-270-3618. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YAOTANG WANG/SCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409
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