DETAILED ACTION
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)(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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable by Zhou et al. (US 2024/0340790, “Zhou”, Provisional 63/290,115, hereinafter “Prov’115”; The provisional shows the same Figs.1-40 and the related paragraphs of Zhou).
Regarding claim 1, Zhou discloses a method performed by a base station (BS) in a communication system, the method comprising:
- determining a switching from a first state to a second state (Zhou, See ¶.252, a base station may switch a BWP between configured BWPs by means of a DCI or a BWP inactivity timer. When the BWP inactivity timer is configured for a serving cell, the base station may switch an active BWP to a default BWP in response to an expiry of the BWP inactivity timer associated with the serving cell; ¶.366 and Fig.36, the base station may determine to transition to an energy saving state from the normal power state, e.g., when the base station receives UE assistant information of the energy saving state and/or the base station detects there is less traffic in the system; Prov’115, See ¶.233, a base station may switch a BWP between configured BWPs by means of a DCI or a BWP inactivity timer. When the BWP inactivity timer is configured for a serving cell, the base station may switch an active BWP to a default BWP in response to an expiry of the BWP inactivity timer associated with the serving cell; See ¶.347, the base station may determine to transition to an energy saving state from the normal power state, e.g., when the base station receives UE assistant information of the energy saving state and/or the base station detects there is less traffic in the system. The base station, before transitioning to the energy saving state, may transmit to a wireless device (or a plurality of wireless devices) a DCI (e.g., a group common DCI or a UE-specific DCI) comprising a base station energy saving indication indicating a time duration for the energy saving);
- transmitting first state switching information indicating the switching from the first state to the second state to a terminal (See ¶.366 and Fig.36, the base station, before transitioning to the energy saving state, may transmit to a wireless device (or a plurality of wireless devices) a DCI (e.g., a group common DCI or a UE-specific DCI) comprising a base station energy saving indication indicating a time duration for the energy saving);
- switching a state of the BS from the first state to the second state (See ¶.366, the base station may determine to transition to an energy saving state from the normal power state; ¶.252, a base station may switch a BWP between configured BWPs by means of a DCI or a BWP inactivity timer. When the BWP inactivity timer is configured for a serving cell, the base station may switch an active BWP to a default BWP in response to an expiry of the BWP inactivity timer associated with the serving cell); and
- performing communication with the terminal, based on the second state (See Fig.39, the BS communicates with wireless device WD1 and WD2 according to the switched power and/or energy state).
Regarding claim 2, Zhou discloses “wherein a plurality of modes related to the second state and a parameter configuration corresponding to each mode are configured in the terminal (See ¶.366, the base station may determine to transition to an energy saving state from the normal power state, e.g., when the base station receives UE assistant information of the energy saving state and/or the base station detects there is less traffic in the system. The base station, before transitioning to the energy saving state, may transmit to a wireless device (or a plurality of wireless devices) a DCI (e.g., a group common DCI or a UE-specific DCI) comprising a base station energy saving indication indicating a time duration for the energy saving), and the parameter configuration comprises configuration values for one or more BS operation-related parameters, and the first state switching information indicates one of the plurality of modes (See Fig.36 and Fig.39 and ¶.366).”
Regarding claim 3, Zhou discloses “wherein a candidate value for each of the one or more BS operation-related parameters is configured in the terminal, and the first state switching information indicates one of candidate values for each of the one or more BS operation-related parameters (See ¶.186, The base station may broadcast or multicast the one or more RRC messages to one or more UEs. The one or more RRC messages may be UE-specific (e.g., dedicated RRC messages transmitted to a UE in an RRC_CONNECTED state and/or in an RRC_INACTIVE state). The UE may determine, based on the one or more RACH parameters, a time-frequency resource and/or an uplink transmit power for transmission of the Msg 1 and/or the Msg 3. Based on the one or more RACH parameters, the UE may determine a reception timing and a downlink channel for receiving the Msg 2 1312 and the Msg 4 1314; See ¶.214, the UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates according to configuration parameters of a search space set; See Fig.28 and ¶.281; See further ¶.343, based on the values of K0, S, and L; See ¶.344, a base station indicating a number of symbols/slots for a time duration for the energy saving state; See further ¶.262-263 for a set of PDCCH candidate values; See further ¶.265).”
Regarding claim 4, Zhou discloses “in case that a response to the first state switching information is indicated to the terminal, receiving the response to the first state switching information from the terminal (See Fig.22, Fig.30B, Fig.31, Fig.32B, and Fig.39, uplink response from the terminal).”
Regarding claim 5, Zhou discloses “wherein, in case that the first state switching information comprises information on state switching timing, switching the state of the BS from the first state to the second state after the state switching timing from a time point at which the first state switching information is transmitted to the terminal (See Figs.36-39 and the related paragraphs for starting time point and switch time point between states).”
Regarding claim 6, Zhou discloses “wherein the first state switching information is transmitted through a system information block (SIB) scheduled by downlink control information (DCI) scrambled by a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) related to system information or transmitted through DCI scrambled by a RNTI related to a BS state switching (See Fig.25, SIB1 message; See ¶.272, A SIB1 message may be implemented based on the example embodiment of FIG. 25. The wireless device may receive the DCI with CRC scrambled with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI) dedicated for receiving the SIB1; Prov’115, See ¶.253).”
Regarding claim 7, Zhou discloses “determining a switching from the second state to the first state; transmitting second state switching information indicating the switching from the second state to the first state to the terminal; switching the state of the BS from the second state to the first state; and performing communication with the terminal, based on the first state (See Fig.37A-B; See Fig.38; See Fig.39, full power state -> ES state -> resume full power state).
Regarding claim 8, it is a method claim performed by a terminal corresponding to the method claim performed by a BS and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
Regarding claims 9-13, they are claims corresponding to claims 2-6, respectively and are therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claims.
Regarding claim 14, it is a BS claim corresponding to the method claim 1, except the limitations “a transceiver and a controller (See Fig.15 and ¶.226, Tx/Rx and one or more controllers)” and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
Regarding claim 15, it is a terminal claim corresponding to the method claim 8, except the limitations “a transceiver and a controller (See Fig.15 and ¶.226, Tx/Rx and one or more controllers)” and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jung H Park whose telephone number is 571-272-8565. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 7:00 AM-3:00 PM.
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/JUNG H PARK/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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