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 .
This action is in response t the application filed on 9/19/2024.
Claims 1, 3, 8, 11, 13, 18-19, 23-24 are amended.
Claim 14, 20-22 and 25-26 are canceled.
The IDS filed on 9/19/2024 and 6/242025 is considered.
Claims 1-13, 15-19, 23-24 are examined and rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 11-12 and 23-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nam (US 20210289443 A1, hereinafter “Nam”).
Regarding claim 1, Nam teaches a method for monitoring a wake up signal (WUS), performed by a user device (see FIG. 15, SSB-based beam management for WUS monitoring), comprising:
monitoring a WUS occasion corresponding to the user device (see para 128, At 1512, UE monitors for the one or more WUSs in one or more WUS occasions using the determined RX beams), wherein each WUS occasion comprises a plurality of WUS monitoring occasions (see para 124, the network entity configures UE with a WUS configuration indicating a set of candidate WUS occasions. Each WUS occasion may be associated with an SSB), and each WUS monitoring occasion corresponds to one synchronization signal block (SSB) beam (see para 126, based on the SSB measurements, UE determines one or more proper WUS occasions to monitor (as well as one or more RX beams) among the configured candidate WUS occasions).
Regarding claims 2, 12, Nam teaches: each WUS occasion comprises WUS monitoring occasions with a number being a product of M and N, M is a number of SSB beams performing data transmission, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and each SSB beam corresponds to N WUS monitoring occasions (see para 126, the network entity transmit SSBs (associated with the WUS occasions) to UE. The UE measures the received SSBs. Given the QCL assumption and SSB to WUS occasion association, based on the SSB measurements, the UE determines one or more proper WUS occasions to monitor (as well as one or more RX beams) among the configured candidate WUS occasions).
Regarding claim 11, Nam teaches a method for sending a wake up signal (WUS), performed a network device, comprising:
determining a WUS occasion corresponding to a user device (see para 128, At 1512, UE monitors for the one or more WUSs in one or more WUS occasions using the determined RX beams), wherein each WUS occasion comprises a plurality of WUS monitoring occasions (see para 124, the network entity configures UE with a WUS configuration indicating a set of candidate WUS occasions. Each WUS occasion may be associated with an SSB), and each WUS monitoring occasion corresponds to one synchronization signal block (SSB) beam see para 126, based on the SSB measurements, UE determines one or more proper WUS occasions to monitor (as well as one or more RX beams) among the configured candidate WUS occasions); and
sending a WUS to the user device at the WUS occasion (see FIG. 15., para 128, at step 1510, the network entity sends a WUS or sweep one or more WUSs in one or more WUS occasions using the determined TX beams).
Regarding claim 23, Nam teaches a communication apparatus, comprising; a processor; and a memory storing a computer program (see FIG. 4, UE 120); wherein the processor is configured to
monitor a wake up signal (WUS) occasion corresponding to a user device (see para 128, At 1512, UE monitors for the one or more WUSs in one or more WUS occasions using the determined RX beams), wherein each WUS occasion comprises a plurality of WUS monitoring occasions (see para 124, the network entity configures UE with a WUS configuration indicating a set of candidate WUS occasions. Each WUS occasion may be associated with an SSB), and each WUS monitoring occasion corresponds to one synchronization signal block (SSB) beam (see para 126, based on the SSB measurements, UE determines one or more proper WUS occasions to monitor (as well as one or more RX beams) among the configured candidate WUS occasions).
Regarding claim 24, Nam teaches a communication apparatus, comprising; a processor; and a memory storing a computer program (see FIG. 4., base station 110); wherein the processor is configured to perform the method according to claim 11.
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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam in view of Xu (US 20220312327 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Nam teaches the method according to claim 1, but does not teach: determining, according to an identification of the user device and a WUS cycle, the WUS occasion corresponding to the user device.
Xu teaches this limitation: see FIG. 9., para 77, the UE determines its paging occasion PO location using legacy techniques. The UE then determines the WUS occasion set 920 location. Within the WUS occasion set 920, the UE 110 may find its WUS occasion based on its UE ID (e.g., 5G S-temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI) or any other appropriate UE ID).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Nam, so that the UE determines it WUS occasion based on its user ID, as taught by Xu, the motivation being to mitigate the inefficient power consumption associated with paging reception at the UE (see Xu, Background).
Claim(s) 4-9, 15-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam in view of Wu (US 20230269666 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Nam teaches the method according to claim 1, but does not teach: the WUS monitoring occasion comprises at least one time-domain symbol, and a number of time-domain symbols comprised in each WUS monitoring occasion in a same WUS occasion is identical.
Wu teaches this limitation: see FIG. 21., paras 130-132, WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set use the same frequency domain resource and different time domain resources, and the WUS time domain mapping in WUS set can comply with a predefined pattern. For example: 1) WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set are sent in continuous slots. FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of time domain resources used by WUSs in different beam directions in a WUS set. As shown in FIG. 21, the WUS set contains three beam directions, and each WUS occupies four consecutive symbols. The WUS set occupies three consecutive slots, and each WUS occupies the same symbol within each slot. 2) WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set are continuous in time domain, that is, there is no interval.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Nam, so as to specify the time domain symbols in each WUS monitoring occasion as taught by Wu, the motivation being to implement services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources (see Wu, para 8).
Regarding claims 5, 15, Nam does not teach: or receiving first configuration information sent by a network device, wherein the first configuration information is configured to indicate a number of time-domain symbols comprised in the WUS monitoring occasion.
Wu teaches this limitation: see para 124, In the above scheme, the UE can determine the WUS slot by the offset of the WUS relative to the reference SSB, and also determine the start symbol of the WUS by the information on the WUS location within the slot indicated by the base station. For example, the base station can indicate the start symbol location of the WUS within the slot by the way of a bitmap, such as a bitmap containing 14 bits, each bit corresponding to a symbol within the slot, and the symbol with a bit indication value of “1” being the start symbol of the WUS. The WUS can occupy N consecutive symbols, and N is a positive integer. There can be only one WUS resource in a slot at most, or there can be multiple WUS resources in a slot, and the number of WUS resources in a slot depends on the configuration.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Nam, so as to determine the time domain location in each WUS monitoring occasion as taught by Wu, the motivation being to implement services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources (see Wu, para 8).
Regarding claims 6, 16, Nam does not teach: or receiving second configuration information sent by a network device, wherein the second configuration information is configured to indicate a of time-domain position comprised in the WUS monitoring occasion.
Wu teaches this limitation: see para 106, FIG. 21., is a schematic diagram of a time domain location of a WUS … the UE determines the time domain location/i.e., time domain position, of the WUS according to the time domain location of the nearest SSB burst set before the PO and the offset indicated by the base station. Particularly, the WUS is before the SSB, that is, the WUS is at the location that satisfies the offset before the SSB, as illustrated in FIG. 12.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Nam, so as to determine the time domain location in each WUS monitoring occasion as taught by Wu, the motivation being to implement services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources (see Wu, para 8).
Regarding claims 7, 17, Nam does not teach: receiving third configuration information from a network device, wherein the third configuration information is configured to configure an uplink resource; updating, in response to any symbol in the WUS monitoring occasion overlapping with an uplink symbol in the uplink resource, a start time-domain position of the WUS monitoring occasion to a start position of a downlink symbol closest after the uplink symbol.
Wu teaches this limitation: see paras 134-135, FIG. 24., WUS resources determined according to a predetermined pattern may collide with an uplink symbol. Even if only one symbol in the WUS resource collides with an uplink symbol, the WUS resource determined according to the predetermined pattern cannot be used. In one solution, the base station indicates the start point of the WUS set, that is, indicating the start point of the WUS in the first beam direction in WUS set, and the UE determines WUS resource in other beam directions based on a predetermined pattern. If the WUS resource collides with the uplink symbol, the corresponding WUS can be delayed to the following first available WUS resource for transmission, and the integrity of the WUS resource can be ensured. For example, it is ensured that WUS resource can occupy multiple consecutive downlink symbols. That is, the start point of the WUS set is indicated by the network, while the end point of the WUS set depends on the uplink and downlink subframe configuration … FIG. 24, which is a schematic diagram of time domain resources used by a WUS set according to another embodiment. In FIG. 24, the WUS resource for the third beam direction cannot be used due to collision with the uplink symbol, then the WUS in the third beam direction and the WUS in the fourth beam direction are both delayed for transmission.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Nam, so as to determine WUS resource collision symbol as taught by Wu, the motivation being the integrity of the WUS resource can be ensured (see Wu, para 135).
Regarding claims 8, 18, Nam teaches determining wakeup signal using SSBs, but does not teach: receiving fourth configuration information from a network device, wherein the fourth configuration information is configured to configure a downlink resource, and the downlink resource is a synchronization signal, a SSB, or
Examiners Note: Using BRI consistent with the specification the above limitation has been interpreted as: considering a resource element granularity to include ”symbols”, and when a collision occurs, then delaying the WUS beam direction based on the collided resource element or symbol.
Based on this interpretation, Wu teaches collision handing using symbol granularity, it further teaches: see paras 134-135, FIG. 24., WUS resources determined according to a predetermined pattern may collide with an uplink symbol. Even if only one symbol in the WUS resource collides with an uplink symbol, the WUS resource determined according to the predetermined pattern cannot be used. In one solution, the base station indicates the start point of the WUS set, that is, indicating the start point of the WUS in the first beam direction in WUS set, and the UE determines WUS resource in other beam directions based on a predetermined pattern. If the WUS resource collides with the uplink symbol, the corresponding WUS can be delayed to the following first available WUS resource for transmission, and the integrity of the WUS resource can be ensured. For example, it is ensured that WUS resource can occupy multiple consecutive downlink symbols. That is, the start point of the WUS set is indicated by the network, while the end point of the WUS set depends on the uplink and downlink subframe configuration … FIG. 24, which is a schematic diagram of time domain resources used by a WUS set according to another embodiment. In FIG. 24, the WUS resource for the third beam direction cannot be used due to collision with the uplink symbol, then the WUS in the third beam direction and the WUS in the fourth beam direction are both delayed for transmission.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Nam, so as to determine WUS resource collision symbol as taught by Wu, the motivation being the integrity of the WUS resource can be ensured (see Wu, para 135).
Regarding claim 9, Nam teaches the method according to claim 1, but does not teach: WUS signals corresponding to the plurality of WUS monitoring occasions in the WUS occasion are identical.
Wu teaches this limitation: see FIG. 21., para 130, WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set use the same frequency domain resource and different time domain resources, and the WUS time domain mapping in WUS set can comply with a predefined pattern. For example: WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set are sent in continuous slots. FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of time domain resources used by WUSs in different beam directions in a WUS set. As shown in FIG. 21, the WUS set contains three beam directions, and each WUS occupies four consecutive symbols. The WUS set occupies three consecutive slots, and each WUS occupies the same symbol within each slot.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Nam, so as to specify the time domain symbols in each WUS monitoring occasion as taught by Wu, the motivation being to implement services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources (see Wu, para 8).
Regarding claim 19, Nam teaches the method according to claim 11, but does not teach: WUS signals corresponding to the plurality of WUS monitoring occasions in the WUS occasion are identical; wherein the WUS monitoring occasion comprises at least one time-domain symbol, and a number of time-domain symbols comprised in each WUS monitoring occasion in a same WUS occasion is identical.
Wu teaches these limitations: WUS signals corresponding to the plurality of WUS monitoring occasions in the WUS occasion are identical (see FIG. 21., para 130, WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set use the same frequency domain resource and different time domain resources, and the WUS time domain mapping in WUS set can comply with a predefined pattern. For example: WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set are sent in continuous slots. FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of time domain resources used by WUSs in different beam directions in a WUS set. As shown in FIG. 21, the WUS set contains three beam directions, and each WUS occupies four consecutive symbols. The WUS set occupies three consecutive slots, and each WUS occupies the same symbol within each slot); wherein the WUS monitoring occasion comprises at least one time-domain symbol, and a number of time-domain symbols comprised in each WUS monitoring occasion in a same WUS occasion is identical (see FIG. 21., paras 130-132, WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set use the same frequency domain resource and different time domain resources, and the WUS time domain mapping in WUS set can comply with a predefined pattern. For example: 1) WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set are sent in continuous slots. FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of time domain resources used by WUSs in different beam directions in a WUS set. As shown in FIG. 21, the WUS set contains three beam directions, and each WUS occupies four consecutive symbols. The WUS set occupies three consecutive slots, and each WUS occupies the same symbol within each slot. 2) WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set are continuous in time domain, that is, there is no interval).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Nam, so as to specify the time domain symbols in each WUS monitoring occasion as taught by Wu, the motivation being to implement services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources (see Wu, para 8).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam in view of Bala (US 20230189147 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Nam teaches the method according to claim 1 and at para 124 teaches that the network entity configures UE with a WUS configuration indicating a set of candidate WUS occasions. Each WUS occasion may be associated with an SSB, but does not teach details regarding the underlined limitation: WUS signals corresponding to the plurality of WUS monitoring occasions in the WUS occasion carry indexes of the SSB beams corresponding to the WUS monitoring occasions, respectively.
Bala teaches this limitation: see para 212-214, WUS blocks and associated SS blocks may be transmitted within the same SS burst. WUS blocks is transmitted between SS blocks, e.g., as shown by example in FIG. 12. A square (e.g., each square) represents an OFDM symbol in a slot… there may be 14 OFDM symbols in a slot. WUS1 is associated with SSB1 and WUS2 is associated with SSB2… An association between the SS blocks and the WUS blocks may be 1:1, which means that for a transmitted SS block (e.g., each transmitted SS block), a WUS block is expected.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Nam, so as to specify an association between the SS blocks and the WUS blocks as taught by Bala, the motivation being wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) power saving for idle mode (see Bala, para 3).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam in view of Xu, in view of Wu.
Regarding claim 13, Nam teaches the method according to claim 11, but does not teach: determining, according to an identification of the user device and a WUS cycle, the WUS occasion corresponding to the user device; wherein the WUS monitoring occasion comprises at least one time-domain symbol, and a number of time-domain symbols comprised in each WUS monitoring occasion in a same WUS occasion is identical.
Xu teaches “determining, according to an identification of the user device and a WUS cycle, the WUS occasion corresponding to the user device”: see FIG. 9., para 77, the UE determines its paging occasion PO location using legacy techniques. The UE then determines the WUS occasion set 920 location. Within the WUS occasion set 920, the UE 110 may find its WUS occasion based on its UE ID (e.g., 5G S-temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI) or any other appropriate UE ID).
Nam in view of Xu do not teach: the WUS monitoring occasion comprises at least one time-domain symbol, and a number of time-domain symbols comprised in each WUS monitoring occasion in a same WUS occasion is identical.
Wu teaches this limitation: see FIG. 21., paras 130-132, WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set use the same frequency domain resource and different time domain resources, and the WUS time domain mapping in WUS set can comply with a predefined pattern. For example: 1) WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set are sent in continuous slots. FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of time domain resources used by WUSs in different beam directions in a WUS set. As shown in FIG. 21, the WUS set contains three beam directions, and each WUS occupies four consecutive symbols. The WUS set occupies three consecutive slots, and each WUS occupies the same symbol within each slot. 2) WUSs in different beam directions in the WUS set are continuous in time domain, that is, there is no interval.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing sate of the claimed invention, to modify the combined systems of Nam and Xu, so as to specify the time domain symbols in each WUS monitoring occasion as taught by Wu, the motivation being to implement services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources (see Wu, para 8).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Nam (US 20200367167 A1) teaches addressing conflicts with wake up signals. A UE receives a configuration for WUS resources to monitor for a WUS during a WUS occasion associated with a DRX operation. The apparatus determines a conflict with the WUS occasion, and in response to determining the conflict, determines an action associated with WUS monitoring during the WUS occasion… paras 67-69, a UE would monitor for a WUS during a WUS occasion using the configured WUS resources for that particular UE. The resources configured for a UE may include any of a BWP for the WUS (e.g., which may be referred to as a WU-BWP), a CORESET for the WUS (e.g., which may be referred to as a wake up CORESET (WU-CORESET)), and/or a search space set for the WUS (e.g., which may be referred to as a WU-search space). At times there may be a conflict for a WUS occasion for a UE. The conflict may occur in various situations. The WUS resource configured for the UE may overlap, at least partially, with resources for another signal or system resources that have a higher priority than the WUS. The other resources having the higher priority than the WUS resources may include any of radio resource management (RRM) resources, radio link monitoring (RLM) resources, beam-management resources, synchronization signal resources, physical broadcast channel (PBCH) resources, system information block resources, or paging channel resources. In another example, of a conflict, a UE might not have enough time to transition to the configured WUS resource from a previous state of the UE, e.g., from an active state. In another example, the UE may be operating in the active state when the WUS occasion occurs, and the current active resources (e.g., active BWP) might not include the WUS resources. In another example, a current active resource might include the WUS resources, yet the current active resources may be associated with different beams (e.g., different spatial QCL parameter(s)) than the WUS resources for the WUS occasion. Any of these examples may involve a conflict that limits the UE's ability to monitor the configured WUS resources during a WUS occasion.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEEPA BELUR whose telephone number is (571)270-3722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 4:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kevin Bates can be reached at 571-272-3980. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEEPA BELUR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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