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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is response to Application 18/849,824 filed on 09/23/2024 in which claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to for the following: “the DCI” has no antecedent basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 9 ,10, 13, 17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et. al. (US 2022/0078650 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a method, comprising:
receiving, by a processor of an apparatus, a measurement gap configuration associated with at least one measurement gap from a network node (Lee, Paragraphs [0282] to [0286] measurement gap configuration);
determining, by the processor, whether at least one condition is met (Lee, Paragraphs [0282] to [0286] skip measurement gap when cell quality is above the threshold); and
performing, by the processor, data reception or data transmission within the at least one measurement gap in an event that the at least one condition is met (Lee, Paragraphs [0282] to [0288] skip measurement gap when cell quality is above the threshold; UE transmits URLLC data, and or receives URLLC data, or monitors PDCCH).
3. Regarding claim 9, Lee teaches an apparatus (Fig. 2 and 3), comprising:
a transceiver which, during operation, wirelessly communicates with a network node; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver such that, during operation, the
processor performs operations comprising:
receiving, via the transceiver, a measurement gap configuration associated with at least one measurement gap from a network node (Lee, Paragraphs [0282] to [0286] measurement gap configuration);
determining whether at least one condition is met (Lee, Paragraphs [0282] to [0286] skip measurement gap when cell quality is above the threshold); and
performing, via the transceiver, data reception or data transmission within the at least one measurement gap in an event that the at least one condition is met (Lee, Paragraphs [0282] to [0288] skip measurement gap when cell quality is above the threshold; UE transmits URLLC data, and or receives URLLC data, or monitors PDCCH).
4. Regarding claim 17, Lee teaches a method (Paragraphs [0106] and [0282] to [0288]), comprising:
transmitting, by a processor of a network node, a measurement gap configuration
associated with at least one measurement gap to a user equipment (UE) (Lee, Paragraphs [0282] to [0286] measurement gap configuration);
determining, by the processor, whether at least one condition is met (Lee, Paragraphs [0282] to [0286] skip measurement gap when cell quality is above the threshold); and
determining, by the processor, whether to schedule data within the at least one
measurement gap according to the at least one condition (Lee, Paragraphs [0282] to [0288] skip measurement gap when cell quality is above the threshold; UE transmits URLLC data, and or receives URLLC data, or monitors PDCCH).
5. Regarding claims 2 and 10, Lee teaches further comprising:
transmitting, by the processor, a measurement report to the network node to inform that the network node is able to schedule data within the at least one measurement gap (Lee, Paragraphs [0289] to [0293] measurement reporting procedure).
6. Regarding claims 5 and 13, Lee teaches wherein the at least one condition comprises:
determining, by the processor, that a channel quality is larger than a threshold (Lee, Paragraphs [0272], [0273] and [0282] to [0286] skip measurement gap when cell quality is above the threshold).
7. Regarding claim 18, Lee teaches further comprising:
receiving, by the processor, a measurement report or other information from the UE;
determining, by the processor, whether the at least one condition is met according to the measurement report or the other information; and
scheduling, by the processor, data within the at least one measurement gap in an event that the at least one condition is met (Lee, Paragraphs [0289] to [0293] measurement reporting procedure).
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.
Claims 3, 4, 6, 11, 12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et. al. (US 2022/0078650 A1) in view of Yi et al. (US 2020/0359247 A1).
8. Regarding claims 3 and 11, Lee does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one condition comprises: receiving, by the processor, at least one power saving configuration from the network node; and determining, by the processor, whether the at least one condition is met according to the at least one power saving configuration.
Yi teaches wherein the at least one condition comprises: receiving, by the processor, at least one power saving configuration from the network node; and determining, by the processor, whether the at least one condition is met according to the at least one power saving configuration (Paragraph [0327] configuration based on power state).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the at least one condition comprises: receiving, by the processor, at least one power saving configuration from the network node; and determining, by the processor, whether the at least one condition is met according to the at least one power saving configuration as taught by Yi in the system of Lee for reducing power consumption see Paragraph [0327] of Yi.
9. Regarding claims 4 and 12, Lee in view of Yi teaches wherein the at least one power saving configuration comprises lowMobilityEvaluation and cellEdgeEvaluation (Yi, Paragraph [0305], [0306] and [0323] set of events; cell edge evaluation and mobility).
10. Regarding claims 6 and 14, Lee does not explicitly disclose, further comprising:
determining, by the processor, not to perform measurements on non-serving cells, inter-
frequency non-serving cells, or inter-band non-serving cells within the at least one measurement gap which is used to schedule data.
Yi teaches , further comprising: determining, by the processor, not to perform measurements on non-serving cells, inter-frequency non-serving cells, or inter-band non-serving cells within the at least one measurement gap which is used to schedule data (Paragraph [0364] determine whether to perform measurements on non-serving cell frequency measurement objects based on s-Measure).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide further comprising: determining, by the processor, not to perform measurements on non-serving cells, inter-frequency non-serving cells, or inter-band non-serving cells within the at least one measurement gap which is used to schedule data as taught by Yi in the system of Lee for conditional radio resource management measurements see title and abstract of Yi.
Claims 7, 8, 15, 16, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et. al. (US 2022/0078650 A1) in view of Yerramalli et al. (WO 2022/006185 A2).
11. Regarding claims 7, 15, and 19, Lee does not explicitly disclose, further comprising:
receiving, by the processor, a downlink control information (DCI) or medium access
control-control element (MAC-CE) for activating or deactivating the at least one measurement gap from the network node; and
determining, by the processor, whether to perform data reception or data transmission
within the at least one measurement gap based on the DCI or MAC-CE.
Yerramalli teaches further comprising: receiving, by the processor, a downlink control information (DCI) or medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) for activating or deactivating the at least one measurement gap from the network node; and
determining, by the processor, whether to perform data reception or data transmission
within the at least one measurement gap based on the DCI or MAC-CE (Paragraphs [0151] – [0152] activate measurement gap pattern with MAC-CE or DCI).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide receiving, by the processor, a downlink control information (DCI) or medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) for activating or deactivating the at least one measurement gap from the network node; and determining, by the processor, whether to perform data reception or data transmission within the at least one measurement gap based on the DCI or MAC-CE as taught by Yerramalli in the system of Lee for dynamically updating a measurement gap configuration see Paragraph [0151] of Yerramalli.
12. Regarding claims 8 and 16, Lee in view of Yerramalli teaches wherein the DCI or MAC-CE indicates a bit map or apattern for the at least one measurement gap which is used to schedule data (Yerramalli, Paragraphs [0151] – [0152] activate measurement gap pattern with MAC-CE or DCI).
13. Regarding claim 20, Lee does not explicitly disclose, wherein the DCI or MAC-CE indicates a bit map or apattern for the at least one measurement gap which is used to schedule data.
Yerramalli teaches further comprising: wherein the DCI or MAC-CE indicates a bit map or a pattern for the at least one measurement gap which is used to schedule data (Paragraphs [0151] – [0152] activate measurement gap pattern with MAC-CE or DCI).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the DCI or MAC-CE indicates a bit map or a pattern for the at least one measurement gap which is used to schedule data as taught by Yerramalli in the system of Lee for dynamically updating a measurement gap configuration see Paragraph [0151] of Yerramalli.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Rao et al. (US 2024/0179583 A1)
Wu et al. (US 2017/0086110 A1)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 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, Faruk Hamza can be reached at (571)272-7969. 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.
/DIANE L LO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466