DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Cross Reference to Related Applications
2. This application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/CN2022/090783, filed on April 29, 2022, which is incorporated by reference in its entireties for all purposes.
Claims status
3. This office action is a response to an application filed on October 29, 2024 in which claims 1-17 and 31-32 are pending for examination.
Based on the Preliminary Amendment filed on October 29, 2024, the listing of claims replace all prior versions, and listings, of claims in the application.
Drawings
4. The Examiner contends that the drawings submitted on October 29, 2024 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. The Examiner has considered the reference(s) listed on the Information Disclosure Statements submitted on October 29, 2024 and July 08, 2026.
Claim Objection (minor informality)
6. Claim 32 is objected to because of the following informality:
Regarding claim 32, the claim recites “…to implement the method according to claim 9”. For clarity and consistency, it is suggested to incorporate steps/processes recited in claim 9 into claim 32.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
7. 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.
(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.
8. A rejection on this statutory basis (35 U.S.C. 102(g) as in force on March 15, 2013) is appropriate in an application or patent that is examined under the first to file provisions of the AIA if it also contains or contained at any time (1) a claim to an invention having an effective filing date as defined in 35 U.S.C. 100(i) that is before March 16, 2013 or (2) a specific reference under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) to any patent or application that contains or contained at any time such a claim.
9. 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 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.
10. Claims 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 31 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yan et al. (US 2022/0167234 A1), hereinafter “Yan”.
Regarding claim 1, Yan discloses a configuration management method, being performed by a network-side device (Figs.1, 4, schematic flowchart of a handover method according to conditional handover reliability, and ensure system performance) and comprising:
configuring one or more candidate cells or cell groups for a terminal device (Fig. 4, S410-S430, paragraphs [0080]-[0081], [0142]-[0143], conditional handover configuration information of one or more candidate cells or cell groups); and
determining a configuration mode corresponding to configuration information (Fig. 4, S410-S430, paragraphs [0100], [0102], [0149], [0153], delta configuration information of the first CHO or CHO full configuration) of at least part of candidate cell or part of candidate cell group among the one or more candidate cells or cell groups (Fig. 4, S410-S430, paragraphs [0100], [0102], [0149], [0153], second CHO configuration information may be used to add a new candidate cell, and/or to modify a configuration parameter of the configured candidate cell (for example, the candidate cell configured by using the first CHO configuration information).
Regarding claim 2, Yan discloses the configuration mode comprises at least one of a full configuration mode or a delta configuration mode (paragraphs [0100], [0101], delta configuration information of the first CHO or CHO full configuration).
Regarding claim 8, Yan discloses determining the configuration mode corresponding to the configuration information of the at least part of candidate cell or part of candidate cell group among the one or more candidate cells or cell groups comprises: indicating that the configuration mode corresponding to the configuration information of the at least part of candidate cell or part of candidate cell group among the one or more candidate cells or cell groups is the full configuration mode or the delta configuration mode; or indicating that the configuration mode corresponding to the configuration information of the at least part of candidate cell or part of candidate cell group among the one or more candidate cells or cell groups is not the full configuration mode or is not the delta configuration mode (paragraphs [0102], [0103], the first indication information may be a binary value; for example, “0” indicates that the second CHO configuration information is not the full configuration information, and “1” indicates that the second CHO configuration information is the full configuration information; alternatively, the indication information may be a Boolean value; for example, “FALSE” indicates that the second CHO configuration information is not the full configuration information, and “TRUE” indicates that the second CHO configuration information is the full configuration information).
Regarding claim 9, the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 1 from the perspective of terminal device.
Regarding claim 10, the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 2 from the perspective of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 16, Yan discloses storing the configuration information of the one or more candidate cells or cell groups according to the configuration mode (paragraphs [0030], [0034], [0100], [0101], storing CHO configuration information).
Regarding claim 17, Yan discloses storing, in response to the configuration mode being a full configuration mode, the configuration information of the one or more candidate cells or cell groups; and merging, in response to the configuration mode being a delta configuration mode, reference configuration information and the configuration information of the one or more candidate cells or cell groups for storage (paragraphs [0030], [0034], [0100], [0101], the terminal device updates CHO configuration information based on the first CHO configuration information and the second CHO configuration information, and may store the updated CHO configuration information; the second CHO configuration information is delta configuration information of the first CHO configuration information, and the second CHO configuration information and the first CHO configuration information may have an association relationship).
Regarding claim 31, the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 32, the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 9.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
11. 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.
12. Claims 3 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US 2022/0167234 A1), hereinafter “Yan” in view of Zhang et al. (US 2024/0406811 A1), hereinafter “Zhang”.
Regarding claim 3, Yan discloses the method according to claim 2.
While Yan implicitly refers to “determining, in response to the configuration mode being the delta configuration mode, reference configuration information corresponding to the delta configuration mode, wherein the reference configuration information is configuration information of a specific cell or a specific cell group”, Zhang from the same or similar field of endeavor discloses determining, in response to the configuration mode being the delta configuration mode, reference configuration information corresponding to the delta configuration mode, wherein the reference configuration information is configuration information of a specific cell or a specific cell group (paragraph [0086], in one embodiment, one or more separate common set/template(s) are defined as a baseline for the candidate cell configuration, and configured candidate cell(s) based on the baseline configuration and delta configuration add to the baseline configuration; in another embodiment, one or more serving/candidate cell(s) are identified as reference cell(s) (e.g. including an reference ID for the current serving cell ID or other candidate cell ID) in the candidate cell configuration entry in the candidate cell list, and configured candidate cell(s) based on the configuration of the referenced cell and delta configuration to the referenced cell configuration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide “determining, in response to the configuration mode being the delta configuration mode, reference configuration information corresponding to the delta configuration mode, wherein the reference configuration information is configuration information of a specific cell or a specific cell group” as taught by Zhang, in the system of Yan, so that it would provide improved signaling for inter-cell mobility expected to provide high speed, low latency and ultra-reliable communication capabilities and fulfil the requirements from different industries and users (Zhang, paragraph [0003]).
Regarding claim 11, the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 3 from the perspective of the terminal device.
13. Claims 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US 2022/0167234 A1), hereinafter “Yan” in view of Zhang et al. (US 2024/0406811 A1), hereinafter “Zhang” in view of DA SILVA et al. (US 2023/0007499 A1), hereinafter “Da Silva”.
Regarding claim 4, Yan in view of Zhang discloses the method according to claim 3.
While Yan in view of Zhang implicitly refer to “the reference configuration information comprises any one of: configuration information of a designated cell or a designated cell group; configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation and being in a service state or an activated state; configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation, and being in a service state or an activated state when the candidate cell or cell group is activated; configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation, and being in a service state or an activated state when the candidate cell or cell group is activated for the first time; or configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation, and being in a service state or an activated state at a receiving timepoint or a sending timepoint of configuration information of the candidate cell or cell group”, Da Silva from the same or similar field of endeavor discloses the reference configuration information comprises any one of: configuration information of a designated cell or a designated cell group; configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation and being in a service state or an activated state; configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation, and being in a service state or an activated state when the candidate cell or cell group is activated; configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation, and being in a service state or an activated state when the candidate cell or cell group is activated for the first time; or configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation, and being in a service state or an activated state at a receiving timepoint or a sending timepoint of configuration information of the candidate cell or cell group (paragraphs [0165], [0249]-[0250], [0253], UE specific configurations and/or cell-specific configurations in current and additional SPCells).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide “the reference configuration information comprises any one of: configuration information of a designated cell or a designated cell group; configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation and being in a service state or an activated state; configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation, and being in a service state or an activated state when the candidate cell or cell group is activated; configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation, and being in a service state or an activated state when the candidate cell or cell group is activated for the first time; or configuration information of a cell or cell group having a same type as the candidate cell or cell group after activation, and being in a service state or an activated state at a receiving timepoint or a sending timepoint of configuration information of the candidate cell or cell group” as taught by Da Silva, in the combined system of Yan and Zhang, so that it would provide handling of SpCells in a wireless communications network to increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system (Da Silva, paragraph [0106]).
Regarding claim 5, Yan in view of Zhang in view of Da Silva disclose the method according to claim 4.
Da Silva further discloses a type of the candidate cell or cell group after activation is determined according to network configuration or protocol agreement (paragraphs [0196], [0249], [0253], TCI state of SPCell to be activated).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide “a type of the candidate cell or cell group after activation is determined according to network configuration or protocol agreement” as taught by Da Silva, in the combined system of Yan and Zhang, so that it would provide handling of SpCells in a wireless communications network to increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system (Da Silva, paragraph [0106]).
Regarding claim 6, Yan in view of Zhang in view of Da Silva disclose the method according to claim 4.
Da Silva further discloses the type of the candidate cell after activation is any one of a primary cell, a primary secondary cell, a special cell, a secondary cell, a secondary cell in a master cell group, or a secondary cell in a secondary cell group (paragraphs [0165], [0249]-[0250], [0253], UE specific configurations and/or cell-specific configurations in current and additional SPCells).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide “the type of the candidate cell after activation is any one of a primary cell, a primary secondary cell, a special cell, a secondary cell, a secondary cell in a master cell group, or a secondary cell in a secondary cell group” as taught by Da Silva, in the combined system of Yan and Zhang, so that it would provide handling of SpCells in a wireless communications network to increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system (Da Silva, paragraph [0106]).
Regarding claim 7, Yan in view of Zhang in view of Da Silva disclose the method according to claim 4.
Da Silva further discloses the type of the candidate cell group after activation is the master cell group or the secondary cell group (paragraphs [0165], [0249]-[0250], [0253], UE specific configurations and/or cell-specific configurations in current and additional SPCells).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide “the type of the candidate cell group after activation is the master cell group or the secondary cell group” as taught by Da Silva, in the combined system of Yan and Zhang, so that it would provide handling of SpCells in a wireless communications network to increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system (Da Silva, paragraph [0106]).
Regarding claim 12, the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 4 from the perspective of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 13, the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 5 from the perspective of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 14, the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 6 from the perspective of the terminal device.
Regarding claim 15, the claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 7 from the perspective of the terminal device.
Conclusion
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SITHU KO whose telephone number is 571-272-8647. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Friday 8:30am-5:00pmEST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached on 571-272-7884. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SITHU KO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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