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 office action is in response to the Preliminary amendment filed 03/12/2025.
Claims 41-48, 49-55, 56-60 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/23/2024, 03/12/2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57-60 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI et al. ( US 20240349175, hereinafter, LI’s 175 ) in view of Lovlekar et al. ( US 20230180218, hereinafter, Lovlekar’s 218 ).
Regarding to the claim 41, LI’s 175 teaches an apparatus for a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry, wherein to configure the UE (the wireless device, wireless UE ) for Multi-Universal Subscriber Identity Module (MUSIM) operation in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) network, the processing circuitry is to:
first radio resource control (RRC) signaling for transmission to a base station (the network device) , the first RRC signaling comprising UE capability information indicating the UE supports MUSIM capability restrictions [see Paragraphs 033 & 0034]
( [0033] In the upcoming Release 18 a work item description (WID) on the MUSIM enhancement was proposed with the below description:
[0034] MUSIM UE's hardware capabilities are shared by the SIMs, and to use the hardware efficiently and economically, the related capabilities need to be dynamically split between the two SIMs. This can lead to a temporary hardware conflict for the UE, which may require UE to release some resources (e.g., SCell/secondary cell group SCG) from one SIM. For example, when the UE's SIM A is in radio resource control (RRC) connected state in Network A while the UE's SIM B is in RRC Idle or RRC Inactive in Network B, the two RF chains will be occupied by the SIM A for the communication in Network A. Once the UE's SIM B enters into RRC connected state, one of the RF chains needs to be switched to SIM B. In this case, if the Network A is not aware of the UE's reduced capability change in RF chain, there may be data loss due to demodulation failure and wasting radio resources in Network A. To avoid this, assistance from UE to network A on these temporary UE (capability) restrictions can be beneficial ); [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ];
second RRC signaling received from the base station, the second RRC signaling to reconfigure the UE for a MUSIM operation in the 5G NR network based on the UE capability information [see Paragraphs 0126 – 0127 ] ( [0126] When send the UE temporary capability restriction removal indication, the network can reconfigure the UE or send an indication to indicate the UE that it has received the removal indication with a RRC message or a MAC CE.
[0127] The UE indicate UE temporary capability restriction removal with a MAC CE. the network can reconfigure the UE or send an indication to indicate the UE that it has received the removal indication with a RRC message or a MAC CE ) [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ];
third RRC signaling for transmission to the base station, the third RRC signaling comprising UE assistance information, the UE assistance information indicating at least one MUSIM capability restriction of the MUSIM capability restrictions [see Paragraph 0061] ( [0061] These temporary UE capability restrictions can be included in the RRC message, e.g. a UE assistance information message ) [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ] ; and
perform a MUSIM procedure based on the at least one MUSIM capability restriction; and a memory coupled to the processing circuitry and configured to store the UE assistance information[see Paragraphs 0105 & 0107] ( [0105] Option 1: UE report several temporary UE capability sets with an index when registration, then in the UAI or the MAC CE, the UE indicate the preferred Index.
[0107] Option 3: UE report some critical UE capability parameters (the max MIMO layer, max CC numbers as the power saving/overheating) in the UAI (UE assistance information)).
However, LI’s 175 does not explicitly teach encoding radio resource control (RRC); decoding RRC signaling.
Lovlekar’s 218, from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches encode first radio resource control (RRC) signaling for transmission to a base station, the first RRC signaling comprising UE information indicating the UE supports MUSIM [see Figure 3 and Figure 4 and Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0036 & 0038 & 0042 ];
decode second RRC signaling received from the base station, the second RRC signaling to reconfigure the UE for a MUSIM operation in the 5G NR network based on the UE information [see Figure 3 and Figure 4 and Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0036 & 0038 & 0042 ] ;
encode third RRC signaling for transmission to the base station [see Figure 3 and Figure 4 and Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0036 & 0038 & 0042 ].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the system of LI’s 175 in view of Lovlekar’s 218 because Lovlekar’s 218 suggests that efforts are currently underway to define next generation wireless communication networks that provide greater deployment flexibility, support for a multitude of devices and services and different technologies for efficient bandwidth utilization.
Regarding to the claim 42, LI’s 175 further teaches wherein the at least one MUSIM capability restriction is a temporary component carrier (CC) restriction on one or more CCs configured for use during the MUSIM procedure [see Paragraphs 0051 & 0052 & 0053 & 0061].
Regarding to the claim 43, LI’s 175 further teaches wherein the at least one MUSIM capability restriction is a temporary secondary cell (SCell) restriction on at least one SCell configured for use during the MUSIM procedure [see Paragraphs 0051 & 0052 & 0053 & 0061].
Regarding to the claim 44, LI’s 175 further teaches wherein the at least one MUSIM capability restriction is a temporary bandwidth restriction on one or more bands configured for use during the MUSIM procedure [see Paragraphs 0051 & 0052 & 0053 & 0061].
Regarding to the claim 45, LI’s 175 further teaches wherein the at least one MUSIM capability restriction is a temporary multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) restriction on at least one MIMO layer configured for use during the MUSIM procedure ( [0043] In the step 2 as above, the reconfiguration message can indicate SCG release/Deactivate, Scell release/Deactivate, reduced MIMO layers and other PHY/RF parameters configuration, an accept indication or any combination of them. An accept indication may be used to indicate the UE that the network has received or accept the temporary capability restriction. The network can also indicate reject/accept the temporary capability restriction in the reconfiguration message or in other RRC message. The network can also release the connection as in the step 2b ).
Regarding to the claim 48, LI’s 175 further teaches transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry [see Paragraphs 0051 & 0052 & 0053 & 0061] [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ].
Regarding to the claim 49, LI’s 175 teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), the instructions to configure the UE for Multi-Universal Subscriber Identity Module (MUSIM) operation in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) network, and to cause the UE to perform operations comprising:
first radio resource control (RRC) signaling for transmission to a base station (the network device) , the first RRC signaling comprising UE capability information indicating the UE supports MUSIM capability restrictions [see Paragraphs 033 & 0034]
( [0033] In the upcoming Release 18 a work item description (WID) on the MUSIM enhancement was proposed with the below description:
[0034] MUSIM UE's hardware capabilities are shared by the SIMs, and to use the hardware efficiently and economically, the related capabilities need to be dynamically split between the two SIMs. This can lead to a temporary hardware conflict for the UE, which may require UE to release some resources (e.g., SCell/secondary cell group SCG) from one SIM. For example, when the UE's SIM A is in radio resource control (RRC) connected state in Network A while the UE's SIM B is in RRC Idle or RRC Inactive in Network B, the two RF chains will be occupied by the SIM A for the communication in Network A. Once the UE's SIM B enters into RRC connected state, one of the RF chains needs to be switched to SIM B. In this case, if the Network A is not aware of the UE's reduced capability change in RF chain, there may be data loss due to demodulation failure and wasting radio resources in Network A. To avoid this, assistance from UE to network A on these temporary UE (capability) restrictions can be beneficial ); [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ];
second RRC signaling received from the base station, the second RRC signaling to reconfigure the UE for a MUSIM operation in the 5G NR network based on the UE capability information [see Paragraphs 0126 – 0127 ] ( [0126] When send the UE temporary capability restriction removal indication, the network can reconfigure the UE or send an indication to indicate the UE that it has received the removal indication with a RRC message or a MAC CE.
[0127] The UE indicate UE temporary capability restriction removal with a MAC CE. the network can reconfigure the UE or send an indication to indicate the UE that it has received the removal indication with a RRC message or a MAC CE ) [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ];
third RRC signaling for transmission to the base station, the third RRC signaling comprising UE assistance information, the UE assistance information indicating at least one MUSIM capability restriction of the MUSIM capability restrictions [see Paragraph 0061] ( [0061] These temporary UE capability restrictions can be included in the RRC message, e.g. a UE assistance information message ) [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ] ; and
perform a MUSIM procedure based on the at least one MUSIM capability restriction [see Paragraphs 0105 & 0107] ( [0105] Option 1: UE report several temporary UE capability sets with an index when registration, then in the UAI or the MAC CE, the UE indicate the preferred Index.
[0107] Option 3: UE report some critical UE capability parameters (the max MIMO layer, max CC numbers as the power saving/overheating) in the UAI (UE assistance information)).
However, LI’s 175 does not explicitly teach encoding radio resource control (RRC); decoding RRC signaling.
Lovlekar’s 218, from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches encode first radio resource control (RRC) signaling for transmission to a base station, the first RRC signaling comprising UE information indicating the UE supports MUSIM [see Figure 3 and Figure 4 and Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0036 & 0038 & 0042 ];
decode second RRC signaling received from the base station, the second RRC signaling to reconfigure the UE for a MUSIM operation in the 5G NR network based on the UE information [see Figure 3 and Figure 4 and Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0036 & 0038 & 0042 ] ;
encode third RRC signaling for transmission to the base station [see Figure 3 and Figure 4 and Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0036 & 0038 & 0042 ].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the system of LI’s 175 in view of Lovlekar’s 218 because Lovlekar’s 218 suggests that efforts are currently underway to define next generation wireless communication networks that provide greater deployment flexibility, support for a multitude of devices and services and different technologies for efficient bandwidth utilization.
Regarding to the claim 50, claim 50 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 42, because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Regarding to the claim 51, claim 51 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 43, because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Regarding to the claim 52, claim 52 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 44, because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Regarding to the claim 53, claim 53 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 45, because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Regarding to the claim 56, LI’s 175 teaches a user equipment (UE) configured for Multi-Universal Subscriber Identity Module (MUSIM) operation in a Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) network, the UE comprising:
front-end circuitry coupled to one or more antennas;
processing circuitry coupled to the front-end circuitry, the processing circuitry is to:
first radio resource control (RRC) signaling for transmission to a base station (the network device) , the first RRC signaling comprising UE capability information indicating the UE supports MUSIM capability restrictions [see Paragraphs 033 & 0034]
( [0033] In the upcoming Release 18 a work item description (WID) on the MUSIM enhancement was proposed with the below description:
[0034] MUSIM UE's hardware capabilities are shared by the SIMs, and to use the hardware efficiently and economically, the related capabilities need to be dynamically split between the two SIMs. This can lead to a temporary hardware conflict for the UE, which may require UE to release some resources (e.g., SCell/secondary cell group SCG) from one SIM. For example, when the UE's SIM A is in radio resource control (RRC) connected state in Network A while the UE's SIM B is in RRC Idle or RRC Inactive in Network B, the two RF chains will be occupied by the SIM A for the communication in Network A. Once the UE's SIM B enters into RRC connected state, one of the RF chains needs to be switched to SIM B. In this case, if the Network A is not aware of the UE's reduced capability change in RF chain, there may be data loss due to demodulation failure and wasting radio resources in Network A. To avoid this, assistance from UE to network A on these temporary UE (capability) restrictions can be beneficial ); [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ];
second RRC signaling received from the base station, the second RRC signaling to reconfigure the UE for a MUSIM operation in the 5G NR network based on the UE capability information [see Paragraphs 0126 – 0127 ] ( [0126] When send the UE temporary capability restriction removal indication, the network can reconfigure the UE or send an indication to indicate the UE that it has received the removal indication with a RRC message or a MAC CE.
[0127] The UE indicate UE temporary capability restriction removal with a MAC CE. the network can reconfigure the UE or send an indication to indicate the UE that it has received the removal indication with a RRC message or a MAC CE ) [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ];
third RRC signaling for transmission to the base station, the third RRC signaling comprising UE assistance information, the UE assistance information indicating at least one MUSIM capability restriction of the MUSIM capability restrictions [see Paragraph 0061] ( [0061] These temporary UE capability restrictions can be included in the RRC message, e.g. a UE assistance information message ) [also see the paragraphs 0006 & 0008 & 0039 & 0040 & 0040 & 0043 & 0061 & 0103 & 0126 & 0127 & 0188 & 0208 ] ; and
perform a MUSIM procedure based on the at least one MUSIM capability restriction [see Paragraphs 0105 & 0107] ( [0105] Option 1: UE report several temporary UE capability sets with an index when registration, then in the UAI or the MAC CE, the UE indicate the preferred Index.
[0107] Option 3: UE report some critical UE capability parameters (the max MIMO layer, max CC numbers as the power saving/overheating) in the UAI (UE assistance information)).
However, LI’s 175 does not explicitly teach encoding radio resource control (RRC); decoding RRC signaling.
Lovlekar’s 218, from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches encode first radio resource control (RRC) signaling for transmission to a base station, the first RRC signaling comprising UE information indicating the UE supports MUSIM [see Figure 3 and Figure 4 and Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0036 & 0038 & 0042 ];
decode second RRC signaling received from the base station, the second RRC signaling to reconfigure the UE for a MUSIM operation in the 5G NR network based on the UE information [see Figure 3 and Figure 4 and Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0036 & 0038 & 0042 ] ;
encode third RRC signaling for transmission to the base station [see Figure 3 and Figure 4 and Figure 5 and Paragraphs 0036 & 0038 & 0042 ].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the system of LI’s 175 in view of Lovlekar’s 218 because Lovlekar’s 218 suggests that efforts are currently underway to define next generation wireless communication networks that provide greater deployment flexibility, support for a multitude of devices and services and different technologies for efficient bandwidth utilization.
Regarding to the claim 57, claim 57 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 42, because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Regarding to the claim 58, claim 58 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 43, because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Regarding to the claim 59, claim 59 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 44, because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Regarding to the claim 60, claim 60 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 45, because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Claim(s) 46, 47, 54, 55 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI et al. ( US 20240349175, hereinafter, LI’s 175 ) in view of Lovlekar et al. ( US 20230180218, hereinafter, Lovlekar’s 218 ), and further in view of Kung et al. ( US 20230180148, Provisional Application No. 63285553, Provisional Application No. 62285557 ).
Regarding to the claim 46, LI’s 175 and Lovlekar’s 218 teach the limitations of the claim 41 above.
However, LI’s 175 does not explicitly teach decode an RRC Resume message received from the base station; and encode an RRC Resume Complete message responsive to the RRC Resume message, the RRC Resume Complete message including an indication of the at least one MUSIM capability restriction.
( US 20230180148, Provisional Application No. 63285553, Provisional Application No. 62285557 ), from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches decode an RRC Resume message received from the base station; and encode an RRC Resume Complete message responsive to the RRC Resume message, the RRC Resume Complete message including an indication of the at least one MUSIM capability restriction [see Paragraphs 0058 & 0059 & 0277 and Figure 5 and Figure 6].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combined system ( LI’s 175 and Lovlekar’s 218), and further in view of US 20230180148 because the US 20230180148 suggests that this disclosure generally relates to wireless communication networks, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for power headroom reporting for multi-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) in a wireless communication system.
Regarding to the claim 47, LI’s 175 and Lovlekar’s 218 teach the limitations of the claim 41 above.
However, LI’s 175 does not explicitly teach decode an RRC Setup message received from the base station; and encode an RRC Setup Complete message responsive to the RRC Setup message, the RRC Setup Complete message including an indication of the at least one MUSIM capability restriction.
( US 20230180148, Provisional Application No. 63285553, Provisional Application No. 62285557 ), from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches decode an RRC Setup message received from the base station; and encode an RRC Setup Complete message responsive to the RRC Setup message, the RRC Setup Complete message including an indication of the at least one MUSIM capability restriction [see Paragraphs 0058 & 0059 & 0277 and Figure 5 and Figure 6].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combined system ( LI’s 175 and Lovlekar’s 218), and further in view of US 20230180148 because the US 20230180148 suggests that this disclosure generally relates to wireless communication networks, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for power headroom reporting for multi-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) in a wireless communication system.
Regarding to the claim 54, claim 54 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 46 because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Regarding to the claim 55, claim 55 is rejected in the same ground, or for the same reason as claim 47 because both claims have the same claim limitations.
Conclusion
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/CHUONG T HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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