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 is in response to communication filed on 09/18/2025.
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-8, 10-11, 17, 20, 22, 25-27, 29-30, 32, 37, 42 and 47 are pending of which claims 1, 25 and 47 are the base independent claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/23/2024 and 09/18/2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11, 17, 20, 32, 37 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 10, 22, 25-27, 42 and 47 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon et al (US 2022/0046540) and further in view of He (US 2023/0379828).
Regarding claim 1, 25, 47, Kwon’540 discloses a method for listening to a wake up signal, performed by a user equipment(see fig.6, listening to a wake up signal (WUS), see para.0005, which discusses transmitting, by a base station, a plurality of wake up signals (WUSs) to a user equipment (UE), see fig.13, memory couple to processor), wherein the method comprises:
obtaining first information (fig.6, see para.0119, which discusses time gap T1 620 configured, thus obtain), wherein the first information is used to determine a first duration corresponding to a time domain range(see fig.6, gap T1 duration between WUS 610 and 601);
wherein the first duration is a first gap (from a starting position of the time domain range to) a starting position of a listening period corresponding to the time domain range(see fig.6 & see para.0119, which discusses the time gap T1 620 configured between the WUS 610 and the start of the paging occasion 601, may be any time between the end of WUS 610 transmission and the start of the paging occasion 601 as listening), and the listening period is used to listen to a wake up signal corresponding to the time domain range(see fig.6 & see para.0120, which discusses one WUS is configured for each paging occasion);
determining the starting position of the listening period based on the first duration(see para.0119, which discusses the time gap T1 620 may be any time duration in a way that a UE can estimate the start time of the associated paging occasion, for example the paging occasion 601, using the configured time gap T1 620 from the time the WUS 610 is received, thus UE determining the start time position of the associated paging occasion as listing period); and
listening to the wake up signal based on the starting position of the listening period (see para.0118, which discusses the start of paging occasion 601 is configured such that the UE can identify the time at which the WUS 610 is transmitted by the base station, see para.0119, which discusses UE can estimate the start time of the associated paging occasion, for example the paging occasion 601, using the configured time gap T1 620 from the time the WUS 610 is received).
As discussed above, although Kwon’540 discloses first duration is a first gap between the WUS 610 and a starting position of a listening period corresponding to the time domain range(see fig.6 & see para.0119, which discusses the time gap T1 620 configured between the WUS 610 and the start of the paging occasion 601, may be any time between the end of WUS 610 transmission and the start of the paging occasion 601 as listening), Kwon’540 does not explicitly show the use of “wherein the first duration is a first gap from a starting position of the time domain range to a starting position of a listening period corresponding to the time domain range” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “wherein the first duration is a first gap from a starting position of the time domain range to a starting position of a listening period corresponding to the time domain range” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by He’828.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, He’828 teaches the use of wherein the first duration is a first gap(see fig.9, which shows third offset, see para.0105, which discusses the third time offset are configured by the network device) from a starting position of the time domain range to a starting position of a listening period corresponding to the time domain range(see fig.9 & see para.0135, which discusses the third time offset is an offset between a starting position of the first time length and the starting position of the target PO).
In view of the above, having the system of Kwon’540 and then given the well-established teaching of He’828, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kwon’540 to include “wherein the first duration is a first gap from a starting position of the time domain range to a starting position of a listening period corresponding to the time domain range” as taught by He’828, since He’828 stated in para.0002+ that such a modification would provide an improved system of determining the monitoring occasion for the power saving signal to realize multi-beam transmission of power-saving signal.
Regarding claim 2, 26, Kwon’540 discloses wherein obtaining the first information comprises at least one(due to at least one language, only one of them is being considered) of: obtaining the first information according to a protocol; or(due to or alternative language, only one of them is being considered) receiving the first information sent by a network device (see fig.1 & 6, which shows base station as network device, see para.0119, which discusses the time gap T1 620 configured…, thus receiving by the network device ).
Regarding claim 4, 27, Kwon’540 discloses wherein the time domain range is one(due to at least one language, only one of them is being considered) of: a monitor occasion (MO) in a paging occasion (PO); a paging occasion (PO); or a paging frame (PF) (see at least fig.6, which shows paging occasion (PO)) .
Regarding claim 5, Kwon’540 discloses wherein the first information is used to indicate the first duration; or(due to or alternative language, only one of them is being considered) the first information comprises: second information to indicate a second gap from the starting position of the time domain range to an end position of the listening period corresponding to the time domain range, and third information to indicate a duration of the listening period (see fig.6 & see para.0119, which discusses the time gap T1 620 configured between the WUS 610 and the start of the paging occasion 601, may be any time between the end of WUS 610 transmission and the start of the paging occasion 601 as listening, thus first duration).
Regarding claim 10, Kwon’540 discloses wherein determining the starting position of the listening period based on the first duration comprises at least one of: determining a first moment based on the first duration and a starting position of the paging occasion (PO), wherein the first moment is the starting position of the listening period; or(due to or language, only one of them is being considered) determining a fourth moment based on the first duration and a starting position of the paging frame (PF), wherein the fourth moment is the starting position of the listening period(see fig.6 & see para.0119, which discusses the time gap T1 620 configured between the WUS 610 and the start of the paging occasion 601, may be any time between the end of WUS 610 transmission and the start of the paging occasion 601 as listening).
Regarding claim 22, 42, Kwon’540 discloses wherein a wake up signal corresponding to the paging frame (PF) comprises an identifier of the paging frame (PF); or a wake up signal corresponding to the paging occasion (PO) comprises an identifier of the paging occasion (PO) (see fig.6, which shows WUS for identify 601, see para.0120, which discusses one WUS is configured for each paging occasion).
Claim(s) 7, 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon et al (US 2022/0046540), in view of He (US 2023/0379828) and further in view of Wang et al (US 2022/0394526).
Regarding claim 7, 29, as discussed above, although the combined system of Kwon’540 and He’828 discloses time domain range is a first monitor occasion in the more than one monitor occasion (MO)( Kwon’540, see at least fig.6, which shows PO 601 as the time domain range in the PO 601 and next PO as more than one monitor occasion (MO), the combined system of Kwon’540 and He’828 does not explicitly show the use of “wherein one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO) in one PO, and the time domain range is a first monitor occasion in the more than one monitor occasion (MO); or one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO) in one PO, and M monitor occasions in the paging occasion (PO) comprise a first monitor occasion in one PO corresponding to each synchronization information block beam” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “wherein one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO) in one PO, and the time domain range is a first monitor occasion in the more than one monitor occasion (MO); or one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO) in one PO, and M monitor occasions in the paging occasion (PO) comprise a first monitor occasion in one PO corresponding to each synchronization information block beam” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Wang’526.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Wang’526 teaches the use of wherein one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO) in one PO, and the time domain range is a first monitor occasion in the more than one monitor occasion (MO); or(due to or language, only one of them is being considered) one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO)(see para.0149, which discusses one SSB corresponds to one or more PDCCH monitoring occasions) in one PO (see para.0149, which discusses the PO includes L PDCCH monitoring occasions), and M monitor occasions in the paging occasion (PO) (see para.0149, which discusses the PO includes L PDCCH monitoring occasions) comprise a first monitor occasion in one PO corresponding to each synchronization information block beam(see para.0149, which discusses one PDCCH monitoring occasion also corresponds to one or more SSBs).
In view of the above, having the combined system of Kwon’540 and He’828 and then given the well-established teaching of Wang’526, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combined system of Kwon’540 and He’828 to include “wherein one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO) in one PO, and the time domain range is a first monitor occasion in the more than one monitor occasion (MO); or one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO) in one PO, and M monitor occasions in the paging occasion (PO) comprise a first monitor occasion in one PO corresponding to each synchronization information block beam” as taught by Wang’526, since Wang’526 stated in para.0003+ that such a modification would reduce power consumption of a terminal device.
Claim(s) 8, 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon et al (US 2022/0046540), in view of He (US 2023/0379828) and further in view of Islam et al (US 10,893,551).
Regarding claim 8, 30, Kwon’540 discloses wherein the first duration i is a value in a unit of a first time domain unit(see fig.6, T1 Gap of time domain).
As discussed above, although the combined system of Kwon’540 and He’828 discloses the first duration is a value in a unit of a first time domain unit(see fig.6, T1 Gap of time domain), the combined system of Kwon’540 and He’828 does not explicitly show the use of “wherein the first duration is an absolute time value, the first duration is a value in a unit of a first time domain unit, or the first duration consists of a frame-level gap and a symbol-level gap” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “wherein the first duration is an absolute time value, the first duration is a value in a unit of a first time domain unit, or the first duration consists of a frame-level gap and a symbol-level gap” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Islam’551.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Islam’551 teaches the use of wherein the first duration is an absolute time value, the first duration is a value in a unit of a first time domain unit, or(due to or alternative language, only one of them is being considered) the first duration consists of a frame-level gap and a symbol-level gap (see col.3, lines 4-7, which discusses the minimum time gap may be an absolute time or a default number of symbols, see col.8, lines 26-41, which discusses the additional timing durations may be represented in absolute time, or a number of slots, mini-slots).
In view of the above, having the combined system of Kwon’540 and He’828 and then given the well-established teaching of Islam’551, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combined system of Kwon’540 and He’828 to include “wherein one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO) in one PO, and the time domain range is a first monitor occasion in the more than one monitor occasion (MO); or one synchronization information block beam corresponds to more than one monitor occasion (MO) in one PO, and M monitor occasions in the paging occasion (PO) comprise a first monitor occasion in one PO corresponding to each synchronization information block beam” as taught by Islam’551, since Islam’551 stated in col.1, lines 51+ that such a modification would provide techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, or apparatuses that support numerology dependent communication timing.
Conclusion
Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINNCELAS LOUIS whose telephone number is (571)270-5138. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00 PM.
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, Michael Thier can be reached at 571-272-2832. 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.
/VINNCELAS LOUIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
Prosecution Insights