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 . This action is in response to the communication filed on 9/6/2024. Claims 1-13, 16-22 are pending.
Examiner Note
The examiner is here to serve, to assist, and to help applicant to the very best of his ability. The Primary Patent Examiner position is a position of serving and it is an honor to externally serve the applicant and attorney and to internally serve junior examiners and supervisors. The goal of the examiner is to work with and assist applicant to move cases along as efficiently as possible.
Applicant is encouraged to call examiner to schedule an interview if applicant has any questions about this action, wants to discuss any possible paths forward, has proposed amendments to the claims to run by the examiner, or for any other issues that applicant would like to discuss.
Examiner can normally be reached at (571) 270-3863 or michael.keller@uspto.gov, Monday-Friday, from about 6 AM - 10 PM EST and if your call is missed examiner will try to return call quickly, thank you.
Priority
This application claims priority of PCT/CN2022/079108, filed 3/3/2022. The assignee of record is BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD. The listed inventor(s) is/are: FU, Ting; LI, Yanhua.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 9/3/2024 & 6/24/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 18 & 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
The claims recite “a computer-readable storage medium…”
The claims fail to place the invention squarely within one statutory class of invention. Based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the term “a computer-readable storage medium…” the term is not limited to non-transitory computer readable storage media, and may include transitory media. The transitory media generally stores/encodes/transmits data/information in form of signals. As such, the claim is drawn to a signal per se. Signal per se does not appear to be a process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter.
[Claims that recite nothing but the physical characteristics of a form of energy, such as frequency, voltage or the strength of a magnetic field, define energy or magnetism, per se, and as such are nonstatutory natural phenomena. O'Reilly, 56 U. S. (15 How.) at 112-14. See also In re Nuijten. Docket no. 2006-1371 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 20, 2007)(slip. Op. at 18): "A propagating signal is not a process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter"].
Wording such as non-transitory computer-readable storage media would overcome the rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4, 5, 11, 12, & 22 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The terms “first range” and “second range” in claims 4, 5, 11, 12 & 22 are undefined by the claim, making the claim indefinite. The examiner notes that the Applicant Specification ¶ 0079 & 0081 provide “example” ranges, e.g. ¶ 0079 “first range may be [-3 dB, 3 dB]” & ¶ 0081 “second range may be [-8 dB, 8 dB].” While the example ranges exist in the Specification, it is not clear if these ranges are to be interpreted as the first and second ranges presented in the claims. In other words, one of ordinary skill in the art would not know if the first range specifically excludes [-8 dB, 8dB] or if it’s possible that the first range could include [-8dB, 8dB]. Therefore the scope of the claims can not be properly discerned.
Examiner notes that amendments that specifically clarify the ranges such as from ¶ 0079, ¶ 0081 of the Specification would appear to be one way to overcome the current 112 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.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP 36.211 (ETSI TS 136 211 V15.14.0, 2021-10; hereinafter 3GPP211) in view of 3GPP 36.213 (ETSI TS 136 213 V15.13.0, 2021-05; hereinafter 3GPP213).
For Claim 1, 3GPP211 teaches a method for receiving a wake up signal (3GPP211 6.1.2, 6.11B), comprising: receiving a wake up signal sent by a network device (3GPP211 6.11B.2 teaches MWUS transmission in downlink subframes and explains the eNB is transmitting), wherein a cyclic prefix length of the wake up signal is the same as a cyclic prefix length of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) (3GPP211 6.1 Unless otherwise specified, transmission in each downlink subframe shall use the same cyclic prefix length as used for downlink subframe #0.
3GPP211 6.1.2 A downlink physical signal corresponds to a set of resource elements used by the physical layer but does not carry information originating from higher layers. The following downlink physical signals are defined:
- Reference signal
- Synchronization sign
- Discovery signal
- MTC wake-up signal, MWUS
3GPP211 6.11.1.2 & 6.11.2.2 map PSS and SSS to downlink OFDM resource elements and 3GPP211 6.11B.2 maps MWUS to downlink OFDM resource elements.
In the 15kHz extended cyclic prefix Table 6.12-1 shows assigning the same 512 sample cyclic prefix to every OFDM symbol. Therefore, the PSS, SSS and MWUS have the same cyclic prefix length in that configuration).
3GPP211 does not explicitly teach performed by a user equipment.
However, 3GPP213 teaches performed by a user equipment (3GPP213 17 A BL/CE UE using MWUS can assume the actual duration of MWUS. Please see screenshot of 3GPP213 17 and Table 17-1 below, thank you:
PNG
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600
956
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).
3GPP213 and 3GPP211 are analogous art because they are both related to WUS.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the wake-up signal techniques of 3GPP213 with the system of 3GPP211 so that a UE can monitor and receive wake-up signals from an eNB.
For Claim 6, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 1, wherein a subcarrier spacing of the wake up signal is the same as a subcarrier spacing of the SSS (3GPP211 6.11B.2 defines MWUS and maps across 12 subcarriers and Table 6.2.3-1 identifies a 12-subcarrier downlink for the 15-kHz normal and extended cyclic prefix configurations).
For Claim 8, 3GPP211 teaches a method for sending a wake up signal, performed by a network device, comprising: sending a wake up signal to a user equipment, wherein a cyclic prefix length of the wake up signal is the same as a cyclic prefix length of a primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) (3GPP211 6.1.2, 6.11.1.2-6.11.2.2, Table 6.12-1, 6.1 & 6.11B.2). 3GPP211 does not explicitly teach performed by a network device. However, 3GPP213 teaches performed by a network device (3GPP213 17)
For Claim 13, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 8, wherein a subcarrier spacing of the wake up signal is the same as a subcarrier spacing of the SSS (3GPP211 6.11B.2, Table 6.2.3-1).
For Claim(s) 16, 18, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 1 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
For Claim(s) 17, 19, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 8 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
Claim(s) 2-5, 7, 9-12, 20-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP211-3GPP213 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Qualcomm (WO 2019067266 A1, published 4/4/2019; hereinafter WO266).
For Claim 2, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 1, 3GPP211-3GPP213 does not explicitly teach further comprising: receiving a system message sent by the network device, wherein the system message comprises information for indicating a-power of the wake up signal.
However, WO266 teaches receiving a system message sent by the network device, wherein the system message comprises information for indicating a power of the wake up signal (WO266 ¶ 0089 the BS 110 may configure a power level for the wakeup signal, and may provide information identifying the power level to the UE 120 (e.g., via a SIB, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and/or the like). In some aspects, the information identifying the power level may include a power offset relative to a synchronization signal or reference signal (e.g., PSS, SSS, NPSS, NSSS, RS, NRS, and/or the like). The UE 120 may perform synchronization and/or determine the reference value based at least in part on the power level of the wakeup signal. In some aspects, when no power offset is specified, the UE 120 may use a default offset (e.g., 0 dB and/or the like).
WO266 and 3GPP211-3GPP213 are analogous art because they are both related to WUS.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the power techniques of WO266with the system of 3GPP211-3GPP213 to improve battery efficiency (WO266).
For Claim 3, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 1, 3GPP211-3GPP213 does not explicitly teach wherein an energy per resource element of the wake up signal is the same as an energy per resource element of the SSS, however, WO266 teaches wherein an energy per resource element of the wake up signal is the same as an energy per resource element of the SSS (WO266 ¶ 0089).
For Claim 4, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 1, 3GPP211-3GPP213 does not explicitly teach wherein a ratio of a between power of the wake up signal and power of the SSS is within a first range, however, WO266 teaches wherein a ratio of a between power of the wake up signal and power of the SSS is within a first range (WO266 ¶ 0089).
For Claim 5, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 1, 3GPP211-3GPP213 does not explicitly teach wherein a ratio of a between power of the wake up signal to a and power of the PSS is within a second range, however, WO266 teaches wherein a ratio of a between power of the wake up signal to a and power of the PSS is within a second range (WO266 ¶ 0089).
For Claim 7, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 1, 3GPP211-3GPP213 does not explicitly teach wherein receiving the wake up signal sent by the network device comprises: receiving, in an idle state, the wake up signal sent by the network device, however, WO266 teaches wherein receiving the wake up signal sent by the network device comprises: receiving, in an idle state, the wake up signal sent by the network device (WO266 ¶ 0056).
For Claim 9, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 8, 3GPP211-3GPP213 does not explicitly teach further comprising: sending a system message to the user equipment, wherein the system message comprises information for indicating a-power of the wake up signal, however, WO266 teaches sending a system message to the user equipment, wherein the system message comprises information for indicating a-power of the wake up signal (WO266 ¶ 0089).
For Claim 10, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 8, 3GPP211-3GPP213 does not explicitly teach wherein an energy per resource element of the wake up signal is the same as an energy per resource element of the SSS, however, WO266 teaches wherein an energy per resource element of the wake up signal is the same as an energy per resource element of the SSS (WO266 ¶ 0089).
For Claim 11, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 8, 3GPP211-3GPP213 does not explicitly teach wherein a ratio of a between power of the wake up signal to a andpower of the SSS is within a first range, however, WO266 teaches wherein a ratio of a between power of the wake up signal to a andpower of the SSS is within a first range (WO266 ¶ 0089).
For Claim 12, 3GPP211-3GPP213 teaches the method of claim 8, 3GPP211-3GPP213 does not explicitly teach wherein a ratio of a between power of the wake up signal to a power of the PSS is within a second range, however, WO266 teaches wherein a ratio of a between power of the wake up signal to a power of the PSS is within a second range (WO266 ¶ 0089).
For Claim(s) 20, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 2 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
For Claim(s) 21, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 3 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
For Claim(s) 22, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 4 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is listed below, thank you:
i. US 20200029302 A1, WAKE UP SIGNAL FOR MACHINE TYPE COMMUNICATION AND NARROWBAND-INTERNET-OF-THINGS DEVICES3
Please see PTO-892 for additional listing of relevant prior art made of record but not relied upon, thank you.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Keller at (571)270-3863 or michael.keller@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Moo Jeong can be reached on 571-272-9617.
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/MICHAEL A KELLER/
Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418
Prosecution Insights