DETAILED ACTION
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 .
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, 4-5, 21-22, 25-26 and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tao (US 2025/0056282).
Tao discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 1, a method, comprising:
providing wireless device capability information indicating measurement gap handling capability for a wireless device (see Fig. 6, a terminal reports the terminal capability to a base station in step 601, wherein the terminal capability information indicates a maximum number of measurement gaps supported by the terminal); and
receiving measurement gap configuration information from a cellular base station, wherein the measurement gap configuration information configures one or more measurement gaps for the wireless device (see base station in Fig. 6; and see step 603, wherein the terminal receives measurement gap configuration information from the base station).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the wireless device capability information indicating measurement gap handling capability for the wireless device indicates a supported maximum number of active measurement gaps for the wireless device (see Fig. 6, a terminal reports the terminal capability to a base station in step 601, wherein the terminal capability information indicates a maximum number of measurement gaps supported by the terminal).
Regarding claim 4, wherein the measurement gap configuration information indicates gap functionality associated with the one or more measurement gaps configured for the wireless device (see “At step 302, receiving pieces of measurement gap configuration information corresponding to measurement objects sent by the base station” recited in paragraph [0042]; and see “At step 303, the corresponding measurement object is measured based on a measurement gap indicated by the measurement gap configuration information” recited in paragraph [0044], wherein the measurement gap configuration information indicates the measurement gap for measuring corresponding measurement object).
Regarding claim 5, providing wireless device capability information to the cellular base station indicating that the wireless device supports associating gap functionality with measurement gaps (see “terminal capability information is reported to a base station. The terminal capability information is configured to indicate a maximum number of measurement gaps supported by the terminal” recited in paragraph [0040], wherein the terminal indicates support of measurement gaps, thereby indicating the support of gap functionality with measurement gaps).
Regarding claim 21, a method, comprising:
receiving wireless device capability information indicating gap handling capability for a wireless device (see Fig. 6, a terminal reports the terminal capability to a base station in step 601, wherein the terminal capability information indicates a maximum number of measurement gaps supported by the terminal), wherein the wireless device capability information indicates one or more of:
a supported maximum number of active gaps for the wireless device (see Fig. 6, a terminal reports the terminal capability to a base station in step 601, wherein the terminal capability information indicates a maximum number of measurement gaps supported by the terminal); or
a preferred maximum gap length overhead for the wireless device; and
providing gap configuration information to the wireless device, wherein the gap configuration information configures one or more gaps for the wireless device (see base station in Fig. 6; and see step 603, wherein the terminal receives measurement gap configuration information from the base station).
Regarding claim 22, wherein the method further comprises: receiving wireless device capability information from the wireless device indicating that the wireless device supports associating functionality with gaps, wherein the gap configuration information indicates functionality associated with the one or more gaps configured for the wireless device (see “At step 302, receiving pieces of measurement gap configuration information corresponding to measurement objects sent by the base station” recited in paragraph [0042]; and see “At step 303, the corresponding measurement object is measured based on a measurement gap indicated by the measurement gap configuration information” recited in paragraph [0044], wherein the measurement gap configuration information indicates the measurement gap for measuring corresponding measurement object).
Regarding claim 25, an apparatus (terminal in Fig. 6), comprising:
a processor configured to, when executing instructions stored in a memory (see processor 920 and memory 904 in Fig. 9), perform operations comprising:
providing wireless device capability information indicating measurement gap handling capability for a wireless device (see Fig. 6, a terminal reports the terminal capability to a base station in step 601, wherein the terminal capability information indicates a maximum number of measurement gaps supported by the terminal); and
receiving measurement gap configuration information from a cellular base station, wherein the measurement gap configuration information configures one or more measurement gaps for the wireless device (see base station in Fig. 6; and see step 603, wherein the terminal receives measurement gap configuration information from the base station).
Regarding claim 26, wherein the wireless device capability information indicating measurement gap handling capability for the wireless device indicates a supported maximum number of active measurement gaps for the wireless device (see Fig. 6, a terminal reports the terminal capability to a base station in step 601, wherein the terminal capability information indicates a maximum number of measurement gaps supported by the terminal).
Regarding claim 28, a radio operably coupled to the processor (see communication component 918 in Fig. 9).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 3 and 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tao as applied to claims 1 and 21 above, and further in view of Manolakos (US 2021/0337377).
Tao discloses the features as shown above.
Tao does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 3, wherein the wireless device capability information indicating measurement gap handling capability for the wireless device indicates a preferred maximum measurement gap length overhead of active measurement gaps for the wireless device; regarding claim 27, wherein the wireless capability information indicating measurement gap handling capability for the wireless device indicates a preferred maximum measurement gap length overhead of active measurement gaps for the wireless device.
Manolakos discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 3, wherein the wireless device capability information indicating measurement gap handling capability for the wireless device indicates a preferred maximum measurement gap length overhead of active measurement gaps for the wireless device (see “For the UE DL-PRS processing capability, it has been proposed that a UE report one combination of (N, T) values per band, where ‘N’ is a duration of DL-PRS symbols in milliseconds that the UE can process every ‘T’ ms for a given maximum bandwidth ‘B’ in MHz supported by the UE” recited in paragraph [0127], which shows the UE’s capability for a preferred maximum DL-PRS processing length; and see “Yet another proposal is that the UE capability for DL-PRS processing (e.g., ‘N,’ ‘T’) be defined assuming that the UE is configured with measurement gaps…” recited in paragraph [0130], which shows that the DL-PRS processing being based on measurement gaps, wherein the DL-PRS may be considered as measurement overhead; that is, the reported capability (N,T), as applied in the measurement gap configuration, may be considered as the preferred maximum measurement gap length overhead of active measurement gaps for the UE of the claimed invention).
Regarding claim 27, wherein the wireless capability information indicating measurement gap handling capability for the wireless device indicates a preferred maximum measurement gap length overhead of active measurement gaps for the wireless device (see “For the UE DL-PRS processing capability, it has been proposed that a UE report one combination of (N, T) values per band, where ‘N’ is a duration of DL-PRS symbols in milliseconds that the UE can process every ‘T’ ms for a given maximum bandwidth ‘B’ in MHz supported by the UE” recited in paragraph [0127], which shows the UE’s capability for a preferred maximum DL-PRS processing length; and see “Yet another proposal is that the UE capability for DL-PRS processing (e.g., ‘N,’ ‘T’) be defined assuming that the UE is configured with measurement gaps…” recited in paragraph [0130], which shows that the DL-PRS processing being based on measurement gaps, wherein the DL-PRS may be considered as measurement overhead; that is, the reported capability (N,T), as applied in the measurement gap configuration, may be considered as the preferred maximum measurement gap length overhead of active measurement gaps for the UE of the claimed invention).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Tao using features, as taught by Manolakos, in order to indicate the UE’s buffering and processing capability for reference signal measurement (see paragraph [0124] of Manolakos).
Claim(s) 6-8 and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tao as applied to claims 1 and 21 above, and further in view of Islam (US 2025/0234220).
Tao discloses the features as shown above.
Tao does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 6, providing wireless device capability information to the cellular base station indicating one or more types of gap functionality that the wireless device supports associating with measurement gaps; regarding claim 7, wherein the measurement gap configuration information associates a gap functionality with a measurement gap pattern for the wireless device; regarding claim 8, wherein the measurement gap configuration information associates a gap functionality with multiple measurement gap patterns for the wireless device; regarding claim 23, wherein the gap configuration information associates one or more of: multiple gap functionalities with a gap pattern; or a gap functionality with multiple gap patterns.
Islam discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 6, providing wireless device capability information to the cellular base station indicating one or more types of gap functionality that the wireless device supports associating with measurement gaps (see “At 405, the UE 115-b may transmit an indication of a UE capability of performing reference signal measurements outside an active bandwidth part for the UE 115-b and according to one or more measurement gap configurations. The UE capability may correspond to the reference signal measurements associated with one or more beam mobility or tracking procedures (e.g., L1 measurement capabilities). In some cases, the indication may specify whether the UE supports a single measurement gap configuration for reference signal measurements associated with the one or more beam mobility or tracking procedures and reference signal measurements associated with one or more radio resource management procedures (e.g., L3 measurements)” recited in paragraph [0151], wherein L1 measurement and L3 measurement may be considered different types of gap functionality)
Regarding claim 7, wherein the measurement gap configuration information associates a gap functionality with a measurement gap pattern for the wireless device (see “At 410, the UE 115-b may receive signaling identifying a first measurement gap configuration defining a first pattern of measurement occasions for reference signal measurements outside an active bandwidth part for the UE and associated with one or more radio resource management procedures (e.g., L3 measurements)” recited in paragraph [0153]).
Regarding claim 8, wherein the measurement gap configuration information associates a gap functionality with multiple measurement gap patterns for the wireless device (see Fig. 4 and paragraphs [0153]-[0154], wherein two measurement gap pattern are configured for the UE 115-b).
Regarding claim 23, wherein the gap configuration information associates one or more of: multiple gap functionalities with a gap pattern; or a gap functionality with multiple gap patterns (see Fig. 4 and paragraphs [0153]-[0154], wherein two measurement gap pattern are configured for the UE 115-b).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Tao using features, as taught by Islam, in order to indicate the UE supports of different measurement gap configurations and procedures (see paragraph [0151] of Islam).
Claim(s) 9-11 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tao as applied to claim 1 and 21 above, and further in view of Wei (US 2024/0098546).
Tao discloses the features as shown above.
Tao does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 9, wherein the measurement gap configuration information configures at least a first measurement gap pattern associated with a first gap functionality and a second measurement gap functionality, wherein the first measurement gap pattern and the second measurement gap pattern are at least partially overlapping, wherein the method further comprises: determining whether to prioritize the first gap functionality or the second gap functionality during occasions when a measurement gap in the first measurement gap pattern and a measurement gap in the second measurement gap pattern are at least partially overlapping; regarding claim 10, receiving measurement gap functionality priority information from the cellular base station, wherein whether to prioritize the first gap functionality or the second gap functionality during occasions when a measurement gap in the first measurement gap and a second measurement gap in the second measurement gap pattern are at least partially overlapping is based at least in part on the measurement gap functionality priority information received from the cellular base station; regarding claim 11, receiving measurement gap functionality sharing factor information from the cellular base station, wherein whether to prioritize the first gap functionality or the second gap functionality during occasions when a measurement gap in the first measurement gap pattern and a measurement gap in the second measurement gap pattern are at least partially overlapping is based at least in part on the measurement gap functionality sharing factor information received from the cellular base station; regarding claim 24, providing gap functionality priority information to the wireless device, wherein the gap functionality priority information is configured for use for determining a gap functionality to perform during a gap that is shared between multiple gap functionalities.
Wei discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 9, wherein the measurement gap configuration information configures at least a first measurement gap pattern associated with a first gap functionality and a second measurement gap functionality (see “the network side device may configure a higher priority for a measurement gap pattern used for measuring one or more MOs with special attributes, and configure a lower priority for a measurement gap pattern used for measuring other MOs” recited in paragraph [0047], wherein different gap patterns are associated with Mos of different attributes, or different gap functionalities), wherein the first measurement gap pattern and the second measurement gap pattern are at least partially overlapping (see overlapping measurement gap patterns shown in Fig. 2B or Fig. 2C;), wherein the method further comprises:
determining whether to prioritize the first gap functionality or the second gap functionality during occasions when a measurement gap in the first measurement gap pattern and a measurement gap in the second measurement gap pattern are at least partially overlapping (see “the system (for example, a network side device) may configure priorities of different measurement gap patterns” recited in paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claim 10, receiving measurement gap functionality priority information from the cellular base station (see step S410 in Fig. 4, wherein a network side device, such as a base station, sends indication information to the terminal; and see paragraphs [0045]-[0046], which shows that the indication information include priority of the measurement gap pattern),
wherein whether to prioritize the first gap functionality or the second gap functionality during occasions when a measurement gap in the first measurement gap and a second measurement gap in the second measurement gap pattern are at least partially overlapping is based at least in part on the measurement gap functionality priority information received from the cellular base station (see “In this possible implementation, in S312, according to the priority indicated by the priority configuration information, the terminal may determine to use the first target measurement gap corresponding to the first measurement gap pattern and/or drop the second target measurement gap corresponding to the second measurement gap pattern” recited in paragraph [0048]).
Regarding claim 11, receiving measurement gap functionality sharing factor information from the cellular base station (see “Ratio Configuration information” recited in paragraph [0051], which may be included in the indication disclosed in step S410 of Fig. 4 and paragraph [0045], wherein the Ratio Configuration information specifies “the percentages of different gap patterns”, which is considered to be equivalent to be the claimed sharing factor),
wherein whether to prioritize the first gap functionality or the second gap functionality during occasions when a measurement gap in the first measurement gap pattern and a measurement gap in the second measurement gap pattern are at least partially overlapping is based at least in part on the measurement gap functionality sharing factor information received from the cellular base station (see “In this possible implementation, in S312, in a case of ensuring the ratio of each of the measurement gap patterns indicated by the ratio configuration information, the terminal determines to use the first target measurement gap corresponding to the first measurement gap pattern and/or drop the second target measurement gap corresponding to the second measurement gap pattern” recited in paragraph [0053]).
Regarding claim 24, providing gap functionality priority information to the wireless device, wherein the gap functionality priority information is configured for use for determining a gap functionality to perform during a gap that is shared between multiple gap functionalities (see step S410 in Fig. 4, wherein the network side device sends indication of multiple measurement gap patterns to a terminal, and see Fig. 2A-2C, wherein gaps may be shared between different measurement gap patterns).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Tao using features, as taught by Wei, in order to resolve conflicting measurement gap patterns (see paragraph [0042]-[0043] of Wei).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tao as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wei and Islam.
Tao discloses the features as shown above.
Tao does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 12, determining that a layer one operation conflicts with a measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration information; and determining whether to prioritize the layer one operation or the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration information.
Wei and Islam disclose the following features.
Regarding claim 12, determining that a layer one operation conflicts with a measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration information; and determining whether to prioritize the layer one operation or the measurement gap configured by the measurement gap configuration information (Wei shows two overlapping measurement gap patterns and prioritizing of one pattern over the other as shown above in Fig. 2B, Figs. 3-4 and paragraph [0048]; Islam shows that the measurement gap patterns may be an L1 measurement (step 415 in Fig. 4) and an L3 measurement (step 410 in Fig. 4); therefore, when the L1 and L3 measurement gap configuration in Islam are prioritized as taught by Wei, the terminal determines the prioritization between a layer one measurement gap configuration and a layer three measurement gap configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Tao using features, as taught by Wei and Islam, in order to resolve conflicting measurement gap patterns (see paragraph [0042]-[0043] of Wei) and provide support of different measurement gap configurations and procedures (see paragraph [0151] of Islam).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUTAI KAO whose telephone number is (571)272-9719. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-17:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang Yao can be reached at (571)272-3182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUTAI KAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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