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 .
Claims 1-13, 17-18, 21, 25, 30, 32, and 55 are pending in Instant Application.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s claim to priority benefits :This application is a 371 of PCT/EP2022/057682 filed 03/23/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 9/22/2024 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
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, 4-13, 7-18, 25, and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shan et al. (US Pub. No.: 2021/0337476).
As per claim 1, Shan disclose A method performed by a radio node (see Fig.2, Network Device and Core Device), comprising:
determining a category of User Equipments, UEs (see Fig.2, para. 0090-0094, S201, a core network device determines, based on a service feature of a terminal device, a first category to which a terminal device belongs), to be woken-up, the category of UEs being one of a plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs (see Fig.2, para. 0094-0110, steps S201 and S203, S203: the network device sends a configuration of a plurality of wake up signals to the terminal device / to be woken-up, the configuration of the plurality of wake up signals includes a mapping relationship between category information and a wake up signal, one piece of category information corresponds to one wake up signal, or corresponds to a plurality of wake up signals / the category of UEs being one of a plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs);
generating a category wake-up signal, C-WUS, that is indicative of the category of UEs to be woken-up (see Fig.2, para. 0103-0113, S206, S206: the network device determines the to-be-monitored wake up signal in the plurality of wake up signals based on the first category {generating a category wake-up signal, C-WUS} and the mapping relationship between category information and a wake up signa / indicative of the category of UEs to be woken-up); and
broadcasting the C-WUS (see Fig.2, para. 0111-0117, S207, sending/broadcasting the C-WUS, see also para. 0118).
As per claim 2, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan further disclose wherein one or more characteristics of the C-WUS are indicative of the category of UEs to be woken-up (see para. 0075, the network device pre-configures the plurality of wake up signals, and the configuration of the plurality of wake up signals includes the mapping relationship between category information and a wake up signal. Therefore, after receiving the paging message including the first category to which the terminal device belongs, the network device may search for the wake up signal corresponding to the first category, based on the first category and the mapping relationship between category information and a wake up signal. The wake up signal corresponding to the first category is the wake up signal that needs to wake up the terminal device).
As per claim 4, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan further disclose wherein the C-WUS is encoded or modulated with a category identifier, ID, of the category of UEs to be woken-up (see para. 0117-0120, the C-WUS is encoded or modulated with a category identifier, ID / the identifier of the terminal device, of the category of UEs to be woken-up).
As per claim 5, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan further disclose wherein the plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs comprise a plurality of functional categories of UEs (see para. 0087, 0092, 0122, the terminal device includes a water meter, a smoke alarm, a mobile phone, and a computer. The core network device may determine, based on service features of the water meter and the smoke alarm, that a category to which the water meter and the smoke alarm belong is the category of uplink service trigger, and determine, based on service features of the mobile phone and the computer, that a category to which the mobile phone and the computer belong is the category of the downlink service trigger, see also para. 0155).
As per claim 6, Shan disclose the method of claim 5.
Shan further disclose wherein the one or more functional categories of UEs comprise: (a) one or more media-related categories, (b) one or more building-related measurement sensor categories, (c) one or more lock categories, (d) one or more home automation categories, (e) one or more Information Technology, IT, peripheral categories, or (f) a combination of any two or more of (a)-(e) (see para. 0087, 0092, 0122, 0155, the terminal device includes a water meter, a smoke alarm, a mobile phone, and a computer. The core network device may determine, based on service features of the water meter and the smoke alarm, that a category to which the water meter and the smoke alarm belong is the category of uplink service trigger, and determine, based on service features of the mobile phone and the computer, that a category to which the mobile phone and the computer belong is the category of the downlink service trigger. In addition, after separately determining the categories to which the water meter, the smoke alarm, the mobile phone, and the computer respectively belong, the core network device sends the categories to which the water meter, the smoke alarm, the mobile phone, and the computer respectively belong to the corresponding water meter, smoke alarm, mobile phone, and computer).
As per claim 7, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan further disclose wherein the plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs comprise a plurality of service categories of UEs (see para. 0087, 0092, 0122, the terminal device includes a water meter, a smoke alarm, a mobile phone, and a computer. The core network device may determine, based on service features of the water meter and the smoke alarm, that a category to which the water meter and the smoke alarm belong is the category of uplink service trigger, and determine, based on service features of the mobile phone and the computer, that a category to which the mobile phone and the computer belong is the category of the downlink service trigger, see also para. 0155).
As per claim 8, Shan disclose the method of claim 7.
Shan further disclose wherein the one or more service categories of UEs comprise: (i) one or more audio playback categories, (ii) one or more energy measurement categories, (iii) one or more pollution measurement categories, (iv) one or more computer support categories, or (v) a combination of any two or more of (i)-(v) (see para. 0087, 0092, 0122, 0155, the terminal device includes a water meter, a smoke alarm, a mobile phone, and a computer. The core network device may determine, based on service features of the water meter and the smoke alarm, that a category to which the water meter and the smoke alarm belong is the category of uplink service trigger, and determine, based on service features of the mobile phone and the computer, that a category to which the mobile phone and the computer belong is the category of the downlink service trigger. In addition, after separately determining the categories to which the water meter, the smoke alarm, the mobile phone, and the computer respectively belong, the core network device sends the categories to which the water meter, the smoke alarm, the mobile phone, and the computer respectively belong to the corresponding water meter, smoke alarm, mobile phone, and computer).
As per claim 9, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan further disclose wherein the plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs comprise a plurality of device type categories (see para. 0087, 0092, 0122, the terminal device includes a water meter, a smoke alarm, a mobile phone, and a computer. The core network device may determine, based on service features of the water meter and the smoke alarm, that a category to which the water meter and the smoke alarm belong is the category of uplink service trigger, and determine, based on service features of the mobile phone and the computer, that a category to which the mobile phone and the computer belong is the category of the downlink service trigger, see also para. 0155).
As per claim 10, Shan disclose the method of claim 9.
Shan further disclose wherein the one or more device type categories comprise: (A) a category of devices with ultra-low power, (B) a category of devices with low wake-up latency, low bit-rate, and frequent wake-up category, (C) a category of devices with long operational activity but long deep-sleep periods, or (D) a combination of any two or more of (A)-(C) (see para. 0087, 0092, 0122, 0155, the terminal device includes a water meter, a smoke alarm, a mobile phone, and a computer. The core network device may determine, based on service features of the water meter and the smoke alarm, that a category to which the water meter and the smoke alarm belong is the category of uplink service trigger, and determine, based on service features of the mobile phone and the computer, that a category to which the mobile phone and the computer belong is the category of the downlink service trigger. In addition, after separately determining the categories to which the water meter, the smoke alarm, the mobile phone, and the computer respectively belong, the core network device sends the categories to which the water meter, the smoke alarm, the mobile phone, and the computer respectively belong to the corresponding water meter, smoke alarm, mobile phone, and computer).
As per claim 11, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan further disclose wherein the plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs comprises one or more vendor categories, one or more service provider categories, or one or more user or owner categories (see para. 0087, 0092, 0122, the terminal device includes a water meter, a smoke alarm, a mobile phone, and a computer. The core network device may determine, based on service features of the water meter and the smoke alarm, that a category to which the water meter and the smoke alarm belong is the category of uplink service trigger, and determine, based on service features of the mobile phone and the computer, that a category to which the mobile phone and the computer belong is the category of the downlink service trigger, see also para. 0155).
As per claim 12, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan further disclose wherein the plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs comprises one or more third-party defined categories (see para. 0087, 0092, 0122, 0155, for the smoke alarm, the smoke alarm may determine to-be-determined wake up signals in the eight wake up signals based on the category of the uplink service trigger to which the smoke alarm belongs. The to-be-determined wake up signals are the wake up signal 1, the wake up signal 2, the wake up signal 3, and the wake up signal 4. Then, the smoke alarm further determines the to-be-monitored wake up signal that the smoke alarm needs to monitor in the four to-be-determined wake up signals: the wake up signal 1, the wake up signal 2, the wake up signal 3, and the wake up signal 4, based on a remainder obtained after the modulo-4 operation is performed on an identifier of the smoke alarm. If the remainder obtained after the modulo-4 operation is performed on the identifier of the smoke alarm is 2, the smoke alarm may determine, based on the group 3, that the to-be-monitored signal that the water meter needs to monitor is 3, and monitor the wake up signal 3. For the mobile phone, the mobile phone may determine to-be-determined wake up signals in the eight wake up signals based on the category of the downlink service trigger to which the mobile phone belongs).
As per claim 13, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan further disclose wherein the C-WUS is unique to the category of UEs to be woken-up (see Fig.2, see para. 0107-0113, the C-WUS is unique to the category {an identifier of the terminal device and the first category} of UEs to be woken-up).
As per claim 17, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan further disclose generating a group wake-up signal, G-WUS, that is indicative of a group of UEs, the group of UEs being one of a plurality of predefined or preconfigured groups; and broadcasting the G-WUS (see para. 0110-0115, reference is made to a method in a current technology, to perform a modulo-N operation on identifiers of terminal devices, divide the terminal devices into groups based on remainders obtained after the modulo-N operation, and then determine the wake up signal that needs to wake up the terminal device, namely, a to-wake-up signal, based on a relationship between a group and a wake up signal).
As per claim 18, Shan disclose the method of claim 17.
Shan further disclose one or more characteristics of the G-WUS are indicative of the group, or a waveform of the G-WUS is indicative of the group; or the G-WUS is encoded with a group identifier, ID, of the group of UEs (see Fig.2, para. 0115-0120, after determining, in S204, the to-be-monitored wake up signal that needs to be monitored, the terminal device monitors the to-be-monitored wake up signal based on a configuration of the to-be-monitored wake up signal, according to the wake up signal sending method provided in this embodiment of this application, a group to which the terminal device belongs is not simply determined based on the identifier of the terminal device, the service feature of the terminal device is considered, for example, the uplink/downlink service trigger type of the terminal device or the probability that the terminal device is paged, the first category to which the terminal device belongs is determined based on the service feature of the terminal device, and then the to-be-monitored wake up signal is determined in the plurality of wake up signals based on the first category corresponding to the service feature, see also para. 0121-0130).
As per claim 25, Shan disclose the method of claim 17.
Shan further disclose wherein either: the radio node is a base station in a cellular communications system, and the UEs are UEs in the cellular communications system; or both the radio node and the UEs are UEs in a cellular communications system; or both the radio node and the UEs are Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11 devices (see Fig.1, Fig.2, para. 0080-0082, the communication system includes a core network device, a network device, and at least one terminal device, terminal devices include, for example, a mobile phone, a tablet, a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a mobile internet device (mobile internet device, MID), and a wearable device. The wearable device includes, for example, a smartwatch, a smart band, or a pedometer, and a network device, also referred to as a radio access network (RAN) device, is a device that enables a terminal device to access a wireless network, and includes network devices in various communication standards, for example, includes but is not limited to a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a NodeB (NB), a network device controller (BSC), a network device transceiver station (BTS), a home network device (for example, Home evolved NodeB, or Home NodeB, HNB), and a baseband unit (BBU)).
As per claim 32 Shan disclose A method performed by a User Equipment, UE (Fig.2, Terminal Device), comprising:
while in a deep sleep state, detecting a category wake-up signal, C-WUS (see Fig.2, para. 0094-0110, detecting a category wake-up signal, C-WUS while in a deep sleep state based on a configuration of a plurality of wake-up signals), from a radio node (see Fig.2, Network Device, Core Network Device), the C-WUS being indicative of a category of UEs in which the UE is included (see Fig.2, para. 0094-0110, S204: the terminal device determines the to-be-monitored wake up signal in the plurality of wake up signals based on the first category and the mapping relationship between category information and a wake up signal); and
performing one or more actions responsive to detecting the C-WUS (see para. 0110-0120, S208: the terminal device monitors the to-be-monitored wake up signal and performs one or more actions responsive to detecting the C-WUS).
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 of this title, 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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shan et al. (US Pub. No.: 2021/0337476), and further in view of Raghavan et al. (WO2021011112A1).
As per claim 3, Shan disclose the method of claim 1.
Shan however does not explicitly disclose wherein a waveform of the C-WUS is indicative of the category of UEs to be woken-up.
Raghavan however disclose wherein a waveform of the C-WUS is indicative of a category of UEs to be woken-up (see Fig.7, Fig.9, para/ 0025, 0074-0079, 0082, as illustrated in FIG. 9, for a first transmission pattern / a waveform of the C-WUS, the BS 402 transmits a first WUS to a first combination of UEs, instructing these UEs to wake up at a first wake-up opportunity 902. As illustrated, the first combination of UEs comprise a first subset of UEs from a first group of UEs, a second subset of UEs from the second group of UEs, and a third subset of UEs from a third group of UEs / the C-WUS is indicative of the category of UEs to be woken-up).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein a waveform of the C-WUS is indicative of a category of UEs to be woken-up, as taught by Raghavan, in the system of Sham, so as to improved group wake up signaling for millimeter wave relay node discovery using a waveform pattern, see Raghavan, paragraphs 0006-00014.
Claims 30 and 55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shan et al. (US Pub. No.: 2021/0337476), and further in view of Balasubramanian et al. (US Pub. No.: 2021/0306949).
As per claim 30, Shan disclose A radio node (see Fig.5, a core network device 50, Fig.6, a network device 60) comprising: processing circuitry (see Fig.5, Processor 501, Fig.6, Processor 601), the processing circuitry configured to cause the radio node to:
determine a category of User Equipments, UEs, to be woken-up, the category of UEs being one of a plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs (see Fig.11-Fig.13, para. 0179-0213, AP determining a category of UEs, to be woken-up);
generate a category wake-up signal, C-WUS, that is indicative of the category of UEs to be woken-up (see Fig.11-Fig.13, para. 0179-0213, AP generating a category wake-up signal, C-WUS); and
broadcast the C-WUS (see Fig.11, para. 0179-0213, AP transmitting/ broadcasting the C-WUS).
Although Shan disclose A radio node comprising: processing circuitry;
Shan however does not explicitly disclose A radio node comprising: one or more transmitters; one or more receivers; and processing circuitry associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers;
Balasubramanian however disclose A radio node (see Fig.11, a device 1105) comprising: one or more transmitters (see Fig.11, a transceiver 1120); one or more receivers (see Fig.11, a transceiver 1120); and processing circuitry (see Fig.11, a processor 1140) associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers (see Fig. 11, the processor 1140 and a transceiver 1120 in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1145)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of a radio node comprising: one or more transmitters; one or more receivers; and processing circuitry associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers, as taught by Balasubramanian, in the system of Sham, so as to improve a wakeup procedure, see Balasubramanian, paragraphs 0004-0006.
As per claim 55 Shan disclose A User Equipment, UE (Fig.2, Terminal Device, Fig.4, a communication device), comprising: processing circuitry (see Fig.4, Processor 401), the processing circuitry configured to cause the UE to:
while in a deep sleep state, detect a category wake-up signal, C-WUS (see Fig.2, para. 0094-0110, detecting a category wake-up signal, C-WUS while in a deep sleep state based on a configuration of a plurality of wake-up signals), from a radio node (see Fig.2, Network Device, Core Network Device), the C-WUS being indicative of a category of UEs in which the UE is included (see Fig.2, para. 0094-0110, S204: the terminal device determines the to-be-monitored wake up signal in the plurality of wake up signals based on the first category and the mapping relationship between category information and a wake up signal); and
perform one or more actions responsive to detecting the C-WUS (see para. 0110-0120, S208: the terminal device monitors the to-be-monitored wake up signal and performs one or more actions responsive to detecting the C-WUS).
Although Shan disclose A User Equipment, UE comprising: processing circuitry;
Shan however does not explicitly disclose A User Equipment, UE, comprising: one or more transmitters; one or more receivers; and processing circuitry associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers.
Balasubramanian however disclose A User Equipment, UE, (see Fig.11, UE 115) comprising: one or more transmitters (see Fig.11, a transceiver 1120); one or more receivers (see Fig.11, a transceiver 1120); and processing circuitry (see Fig.11, a processor 1140) associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers (see Fig. 11, the processor 1140 and a transceiver 1120 in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1145)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of a User Equipment, UE, comprising: one or more transmitters; one or more receivers; and processing circuitry associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers, as taught by Balasubramanian, in the system of Sham, so as to improve a wakeup procedure, see Balasubramanian, paragraphs 0004-0006.
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Second Rejection:
Claim(s) ) 1, 30, 32 and 55 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US Pub. No.: 2020/0178176).
As per claim 1, Kim disclose A method performed by a radio node (see Fig.11-Fig.13, Fig.5, AP/eNB1510 ), comprising:
determining a category of User Equipments, UEs, to be woken-up, the category of UEs being one of a plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs (see Fig.11-Fig.13, para. 0179-0213, AP determining a category of UEs, to be woken-up);
generating a category wake-up signal, C-WUS, that is indicative of the category of UEs to be woken-up (see Fig.11-Fig.13, para. 0179-0213, AP generating a category wake-up signal, C-WUS); and
broadcasting the C-WUS (see Fig.11, para. 0179-0213, AP transmitting/ broadcasting the C-WUS).
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Third Rejection:
Claim(s) 1, 30, 32 and 55 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Balasubramanian et al. (US Pub. No.: 2021/0306949).
As per claim 1, Balasubramanian disclose A method performed by a radio node, comprising:
determining a category of User Equipments, UEs, to be woken-up, the category of UEs being one of a plurality of predefined or preconfigured categories of UEs (see Fig. 6, para. 0095-0099, a network device determining a category of User Equipments, UEs, to be woken-up);
generating a category wake-up signal, C-WUS, that is indicative of the category of UEs to be woken-up (see Fig. 6, para. 0095-0099, at 605, the network device generate/generating and transmit, to pedestrian UE 115-d, a signal (e.g., a SWUS or some other wakeup or paging signaling) indicating a wakeup opportunity associated with receiving one or more messages from an application); and
broadcasting the C-WUS (see Fig. 6, para. 0095-0099, the network device broadcasting the wake-up signal).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 21 is 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lin (WO2021138789A1) – para. 0098-0100, “In one embodiment, to support wake-up signal in a sidelink relay scenario, DE-specific or group-specific wake-up signal configuration may be broadcasted/groupcasted/delivered by the relay UE(periodically or on demand) rather than by each remote UE itself. When a remote UE wants to communicate with another remote UE or with the relay UE, he can base on the delivered wake-up signal related configuration to know when the relay UE or another remote UE will monitor the wake-up signaL and therefore can wake him up for communication. Besides, since each remote UE follow wake-up signal related configuration from the relay UE, the relay UE can wake up a remote UE by the wake-up signal when needed, e.g. when DL data for this remote UE already arrives to the relay UE waiting for relaying via sidelink.
Guo (EP 3 522 613 A1) – see para. 0102, “… in an embodiment, the target WUR group indicated by the WUR identifier field in the first wake-up frame includes n WURs, where the n WURs may also be n WURs whose identifiers are discontinuous, but the n WURs in the target WUR group belong to a same group, that is, the WUR identifier field is used to indicate a WUR group identifier. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the WUR identifier field may be a WUR group identifier field, that is, the WUR group identifier field is used to indicate an identifier of the target WUR group. Specifically, the transmitting device may group the WURs of the at least one receiving device in the communications system according to a preset condition of the receiving device, and allocate a group identifier to each WUR group. The preset condition may include at least one of a power consumption requirement, a traffic latency requirement, and a traffic type of each of the at least one receiving device”.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR whose telephone number is (571)272-1335. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7 am - 4 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian Moore can be reached on 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
Prosecution Insights