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)(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, 2-4, 6, 21, 22, 27, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by LI et al. (US 2016/0037426, “LI”).
Regarding claim 1, LI discloses a method for sending a signal, performed by a first wireless communication node, comprising:
- sending first indication information to a second wireless communication node in a first state (See 510 Fig.5, the first base station (BS) sends a wake-up instruction to the second base station; See 604 Fig.6 and ¶.139, the first base station sends a trigger instruction to the second base station according to the first information), wherein the first state is one of a deactivated state, a closed state, or an incommunicable state (See ¶.77, the second BS enters a sleep state), and
- the first indication information is configured to instruct the second wireless communication node to send a first signal (See 512 Fig.5, perform startup after receiving the wake-up instruction, then perform a handover the UE to the second BS; See ¶.71, after the second BS receives the wake-up instruction sent by the first BS, the second BS starts up, that is, the second BS is in an activated state; See ¶.126, step 513: when the second BS does not receive the wake-up instruction within a second predetermined time, stop sending the RRM-RS signal; See ¶.166, after waiting the second predetermined time, when the second BS still does not receive the wake-up instruction sent by the first BS, the second BS enters the sleep state again, that is, the second BS sends only the DRS (Discovery Reference Signal) signal and stops sending the RRM-RS signal; See ¶.13, performing, by the UE, measurement on the second BS according to the RRM-RS signal to obtain a measurement result; ¶.93, Optionally, the second BS starts to send the RRM-RS signal according to a trigger instruction sent by a first BS, where the trigger instruction is used to trigger the second BS to send the RRM-RS signal; ¶.141, the second base station receives the trigger instruction and then starts to send an RRM-RS signal).
Regarding claim 2, LI discloses “sending the first indication information to the second wireless communication node in the first state according to first reference information; wherein the first reference information comprises at least one of following: location information of a terminal device connected to the first wireless communication node; a first result of signal measurement of the terminal device; grade indication information corresponding to the first result; or switching probability indication information of the terminal device (See ¶.69, the first base station may analyze the measurement result by using a handover decision algorithm to determine whether the first base station needs to start the handover operation. For example, when a value of the RSRP in the measurement result is greater than or equal to a threshold CH1, and when a value of the RSRQ is greater than or equal to a threshold CH2, the first base station determines to start the handover operation. On the contrary, when the value of the RSRP in the measurement result is less than the threshold CH1, and/or when the value of the RSRQ is less than the threshold CH2, the first base station determines not to start the handover operation; See ¶.79, Optionally, before the second base station sends the RRM-RS signal, when the UE can receive the DRS signal, it indicates that the UE has entered the coverage scope of the second base station, or the UE is already at an edge of the coverage scope of the second base station; See ¶.100, When the UE can detect the DRS signal, it indicates that the UE has entered the coverage scope of the second base station, or the UE is already at an edge of the coverage scope of the second base station; See ¶.129, When the UE enters a coverage scope of the first base station, a handover operation is directly performed between the second base station and the first base station; or when the UE enters a coverage scope of another micro base station, the second base station, the UE, and the micro base station continue to perform a procedure of step 501 to step 513).”
Regarding claim 3, LI discloses “in a case where the first reference information comprises the first result, the method further comprises at least one of: receiving the first result, wherein the first result is obtained by measuring a second signal sent by the first wireless communication node; or obtaining the first result by measuring an uplink signal sent by the terminal device (See ¶.14, sending, by the UE, the measurement result to a first base station, so that the first base station instructs, according to the measurement result, the second base station to start up, and hands over the UE to the second base station; See ¶.65, The first base station receives a measurement result for a second base station and sent by UE, where the first base station provides a service for the UE; See ¶.69, The first base station may analyze the measurement result by using a handover decision algorithm to determine whether the first base station needs to start the handover operation. For example, when a value of the RSRP in the measurement result is greater than or equal to a threshold CH1, and when a value of the RSRQ is greater than or equal to a threshold CH2, the first base station determines to start the handover operation. On the contrary, when the value of the RSRP in the measurement result is less than the threshold CH1, and/or when the value of the RSRQ is less than the threshold CH2, the first base station determines not to start the handover operation).”
Regarding claim 4, LI discloses “sending a first threshold to the terminal device; wherein in response to determining that the first result is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device sends the first result to the first wireless communication node; or, in response to determining that the first result is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device sends the first result to the first wireless communication node (See ¶.69, The first base station may analyze the measurement result by using a handover decision algorithm to determine whether the first base station needs to start the handover operation. For example, when a value of the RSRP in the measurement result is greater than or equal to a threshold CH1, and when a value of the RSRQ is greater than or equal to a threshold CH2, the first base station determines to start the handover operation. On the contrary, when the value of the RSRP in the measurement result is less than the threshold CH1, and/or when the value of the RSRQ is less than the threshold CH2, the first base station determines not to start the handover operation).”
Regarding claim 6, LI discloses “sending the first indication information to the second wireless communication mode in response to at least one of following being met: a first result corresponding to at least one terminal device being less than or equal to a second threshold, or, a number of terminal devices whose first results are less than or equal to the second threshold being greater than or equal to a first number (See ¶.69, ¶.116, and ¶.245 for greater than or equal to a threshold and less than the threshold).”
Regarding claim 21, it is a method claim performed by a second wireless communication node corresponding to the claim 1 and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
Regarding claim 22, it is a claim corresponding to the claim 2 and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
Regarding claim 27, it is a method claim performed by a terminal device communication node corresponding to the claim 1 and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
Regarding claim 28, it is a claim corresponding to the claim 2 and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI in view of HU (US 2016/0135138, “HU”).
Regarding claim 7, LI discloses “wherein in a case where the first reference information comprises the location information (LI, ¶.69, the first base station may analyze the measurement result by using a handover decision algorithm to determine whether the first base station needs to start the handover operation. For example, when a value of the RSRP in the measurement result is greater than or equal to a threshold CH1, and when a value of the RSRQ is greater than or equal to a threshold CH2, the first base station determines to start the handover operation. On the contrary, when the value of the RSRP in the measurement result is less than the threshold CH1, and/or when the value of the RSRQ is less than the threshold CH2, the first base station determines not to start the handover operation; See ¶.79, Optionally, before the second base station sends the RRM-RS signal, when the UE can receive the DRS signal, it indicates that the UE has entered the coverage scope of the second base station, or the UE is already at an edge of the coverage scope of the second base station; See ¶.100, When the UE can detect the DRS signal, it indicates that the UE has entered the coverage scope of the second base station, or the UE is already at an edge of the coverage scope of the second base station; See ¶.129, When the UE enters a coverage scope of the first base station, a handover operation is directly performed between the second base station and the first base station; or when the UE enters a coverage scope of another micro base station, the second base station, the UE, and the micro base station continue to perform a procedure of step 501 to step 513), but does not explicitly disclose what HU discloses “the method further comprises at least one of: determining the location information of the terminal device by positioning the terminal device; receiving the location information sent by the terminal device; or receiving the location information sent by a network element for positioning the terminal device (HU, See ¶.120, UE location based on signal measurement such as RSRP or SINR).”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method comprises “at least one of: determining the location information of the terminal device by positioning the terminal device; receiving the location information sent by the terminal device; or receiving the location information sent by a network element for positioning the terminal device” as taught by HU into the system of LI, so that it provides a way for a base station to consider UE’s location/position in the area of coverage (HU, See ¶.120).
Claim 8, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI in view of Yang (US 2023/0232370, “Yang”).
Regarding claim 8, LI does not explicitly disclose what Yang discloses the method of discloses “wherein the location information comprises following: coordinate information of the terminal device; relative coordinate information of the terminal device with respect to a first reference point; distance information of the terminal device with respect to the first reference point; or direction information of the terminal device with respect to the first reference point; wherein the first reference point is at least one of a reference terminal device, a reference wireless communication node or the first wireless communication node (Yang, See Fig. 6 and ¶.86, measuring the relative position between the first terminal and the second terminal based on the downlink RS signal strength; See ¶.116, calculating the relative distance; See ¶.60, relative positioning to the base station; See ¶.47, calculating a relative angle by measuring an Angle of Arrival (AOA) of the ranging signal, i.e. the direction).”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method of “wherein the location information comprises following: coordinate information of the terminal device; relative coordinate information of the terminal device with respect to a first reference point; distance information of the terminal device with respect to the first reference point; or direction information of the terminal device with respect to the first reference point; wherein the first reference point is at least one of a reference terminal device, a reference wireless communication node or the first wireless communication node” as taught by Yang into the system of LI, so that it provides a way of calculating a relative angle by measuring an AOA (Yang, See ¶.47).
Regarding claim 9, LI does not explicitly disclose what Yang discloses “further comprising one of: sending location information of the first reference point to the terminal device; wherein the location information of the first reference point is configured to indicate a location where the first reference point is located, and/or, a second location range covered by the first reference point; or sending a first location range to the terminal device; wherein the first location range is a first coordinate range, wherein the location information is sent to the first wireless communication node in response to determining that a coordinate of the terminal device is within or outside the first coordinate range; or the first location range is a first relative coordinate range, wherein the location information is sent to the first wireless communication node in response to determining that a relative coordinate of the terminal device with respect to the first reference point is within or outside the first relative coordinate range; or the first location range is first distance, wherein the location information is sent to the first wireless communication node in response to determining that a distance of the terminal device with respect to the first reference point is less than or equal to the first distance; or the first location range is a first distance, wherein the location information is sent to the first wireless communication node in response to determining that the distance of the terminal device with respect to the first reference point is greater than or equal to the first distance (See Fig.3 and ¶.47, for a relative positioning calculation based on distance and angle; See further ¶.54, ¶.56, ¶.84-96 for details of relative position and/or distance).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 8.
Regarding claim 11, LI does not explicitly disclose what Yang discloses wherein sending the first indication information to the second wireless communication node in the first state according to the first reference information, comprises at least one of: sending the first indication information to the second wireless communication node in response to determining, according to the location information of the terminal device, that at least one of following is met: a distance between at least one terminal device and the first wireless communication node is greater than or equal to a distance threshold according to the location information of the terminal device, or a number of terminal devices whose distances to the first wireless communication node are greater than or equal to the distance threshold is greater than or equal to a second number, or sending the first indication information to the second wireless communication mode in response to determining, according to the location information of the terminal device, that at least one of following is met: at least one terminal device is not within a second location range, or a number of terminal devices that are not within the second location range is greater than a third number (Yang, See ¶.85, comparing the measurement configuration information with a threshold being greater than the first threshold value or the signal strength of the RS for the sidelink communication between the first terminal and the third terminal being greater than the second threshold value; See further ¶.86, ¶.89-90, ¶.93-94, and ¶.159 for comparing the signal strength with the threshold value; See ¶.32, However, for those skilled in the art, it can be understood that the term “greater than” covers the meaning of “greater than or equal to” and the term “less than” covers the meaning of “less than or equal to”).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 8.
Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI in view of Chae et al. (US 2023/0239799, “Chae”).
Regarding claim 12, LI discloses the method of determining small and/or wide coverage scope (LI, See ¶.66, ¶.77 and ¶.243), but does not explicitly disclose what Chae discloses “wherein in a case where the first reference information comprises the grade indication information, the method further comprises one of: determining the grade indication information according to at least one of a result range corresponding to the first result of the terminal device, or a distance range corresponding to a distance between the terminal device and the first wireless communication node; or receiving the grade indication information sent by the terminal device; wherein the grade indication information is determined according to at least one of the result range corresponding to the first result of the terminal device or the distance range corresponding to the distance between the terminal device and the first wireless communication node (Chae, See Fig.19 and ¶.250-251, the minimum size or granularity of the location indication by the zone ID is 10 meters; See ¶.254, a very small or large granularity of location indication …100 meters communication range).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method of “wherein in a case where the first reference information comprises the grade indication information, the method further comprises one of: determining the grade indication information according to at least one of a result range corresponding to the first result of the terminal device, or a distance range corresponding to a distance between the terminal device and the first wireless communication node; or receiving the grade indication information sent by the terminal device; wherein the grade indication information is determined according to at least one of the result range corresponding to the first result of the terminal device or the distance range corresponding to the distance between the terminal device and the first wireless communication node” as taught by Chae into the system of LI, so that it provides a way for a base station to transmit one or more configuration messages indicating an association between zone size and communication rage (Chae, See ¶.254).
Regarding claim 13, LI does not explicitly disclose what Chae discloses “sending a first grade threshold to the terminal device; wherein the first grade threshold is used for the terminal device to send the grade indication information to the first wireless communication node in a case where the grade indication information is less than or equal to the first grade threshold; or the first grade threshold is used for the terminal device to send the grade indication information to the first wireless communication node in a case where the grade indication information is greater than or equal to the first grade threshold (Chae, See Fig.19-31 for sending the zone size indication information for communication range).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 12.
Regarding claim 14, LI does not explicitly disclose what Chae discloses “wherein in a case where the first reference information comprises the grade indication information of the terminal device, and sending the first indication information to the second wireless communication node in the first state according to the first reference information, comprises: sending the first indication information to the second wireless communication mode in the first state in response to at least one of following being met: a grade corresponding to the first result of at least one terminal device being less than or equal to a second grade threshold, or a number of terminal devices whose grades are less than or equal to the second grade threshold being greater than a fourth number (Chae, See Figs.21-22, Fig.27, See ¶.271, comparing zone size with greater and/or less than a threshold; See further ¶.274 and ¶.291; See ¶.268 and ¶.270 for comparing less than the threshold).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 12.
Claims 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI in view of YOU et al. (US 2023/0371064, “YOU”).
Regarding claim 15, LI does not explicitly disclose what YOU discloses “the method further comprises one of: determining the switching probability indication information according to at least one of the first result of the terminal device, the location information of the terminal device, or the grade indication information of the terminal device; or receiving the switching probability indication information sent by the terminal device; wherein the switching probability indication information is determined according to at least one of the first result of the terminal device, the location information of the terminal device, or the grade indication information of the terminal device (YOU, See ¶.158, when the RSRP of the first receive beam is less than the first threshold, or the N consecutive RSRPs of the first receive beam are less than the first threshold, it indicates that beam failure occurs on the first receive beam (that is, signal received quality of the first receive beam is poor), and the first receive beam cannot continue to be used. After the timer expires, it indicates that there is a high probability that signal received quality of the first receive beam is already poor, and the first receive beam cannot continue to be used. Therefore, based on this possible implementation, when beam failure occurs on the first receive beam or there is a high probability that signal received quality of the first receive beam is already poor, monitoring for the PDCCH corresponding to the C-RNTI can be stopped in a timely manner, to reduce power consumption of the terminal device; See further ¶.160 and ¶.233).”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method of “determining the switching probability indication information according to at least one of the first result of the terminal device, the location information of the terminal device, or the grade indication information of the terminal device; or receiving the switching probability indication information sent by the terminal device; wherein the switching probability indication information is determined according to at least one of the first result of the terminal device, the location information of the terminal device, or the grade indication information of the terminal device” as taught by YOU into the system of LI, so that it provides a way of reducing power consumption of the terminal device (YOU, See ¶.158).
Regarding claim 16, LI does not explicitly disclose what YOU discloses “sending a first probability threshold to the terminal device; wherein the first probability threshold is used for the terminal device to send the switching probability indication information to the first wireless communication node in response to determining that a switching probability of the terminal device is greater than or equal to the first probability threshold; or the first probability threshold is used for the terminal device to send the switching probability indication information to the first wireless communication node in response to determining that the switching probability is less than or equal to the first probability threshold (YOU, See ¶.158, ¶.160, ¶.233, a high probability that signal received and comparing signal strength according to threshold comparison).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 15.
Regarding claim 17, LI does not explicitly disclose what YOU discloses “wherein in a case where the first reference information comprises the switching probability indication information of the terminal device, sending the first indication information to the second wireless communication node in the first state according to the first reference information, comprises: in response to a switching probability of at least one terminal device being greater than or equal to a second probability threshold, or, a number of terminal devices whose switching probabilities are greater than or equal to the second probability threshold being greater than or equal a fifth number, sending the first indication information to the second wireless communication node in the first state (YOU, See ¶.233, greater than or equal).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 15.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI in view of HU, Yang, and Chae, and further in view of YOU.
Regarding claim 18, LI, HU, Yang, Chae, and YOU discloses at least one of “further comprising at least one of: sending first resource configuration information of the first signal to the second wireless communication node and the terminal device; wherein the first resource configuration information is used for determining a resource occupied by the first signal; or receiving second resource configuration information of the first signal sent by the second wireless communication node; and sending the second resource configuration information of the first signal to the terminal device, wherein the second resource configuration information is used for determining a resource occupied by the first signal; or sending second indication information to the second wireless communication node according to second reference information, wherein the second indication information is configured to indicate that the second wireless communication node is in a second state, and the second state is one of the activated state, an open state and a communicative state; wherein the second reference information comprises at least one of following: a first result of signal measurement of the terminal device; grade indication information corresponding to the first result; a second result obtained by measuring the first signal by the terminal device; grade indication information corresponding to the second result; switching probability indication information indicating a switching probability of the terminal device switching to the second wireless communication node; or location information of the terminal device (LI, See ¶.24, receiving a radio resource management pilot RRM-RS signal; See further ¶.29, ¶.36, and ¶.42; HU, See ¶.238, configuration for perform downlink and/or uplink resource scheduling; Yang, See ¶.45, receiving a position resource configuration; See further ¶.58, ¶.62, ¶.118, and ¶.129; Chae, See ¶.123, a downlink BWP in a set of configured downlink BWPs; See ¶.151, the base station configures the UE with one or more CSI-RS resource set; See ¶.152, the base station may command the UE to measure a configured CSI-RS resource and provide a CSI report relating to the measurements; See further ¶.161, ¶.162, and ¶.165 for CSI-RS resource configuration; See ¶.167, for measuring a RSRP of configured CSI-RS resources; See further ¶.205; YOU, See ¶.206, configured grant resource by using RRC signal; See further ¶.390).” Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claims 7, 8, 12, and/or 15.
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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