DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 40-54 have been examined are pending (amended claim set 9/30/2025).
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/29/2024 and 8/03/2026 have been found to be in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
5. The drawings were received on accepted. These drawings are accepted.
Specification
6. The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Claims 41-43, 45-48, and 50-53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by United States Patent Application Publication 2022/0095228 A1 to Sahin et al. (hereinafter “Sahin”).
Regarding Claim 40, Sahin discloses a method performed by a network device, the method comprising:
transmitting, to a terminal device, a configuration indicating a number of on-off keying (OOK) symbols in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol (Sahin: [0135-0142] – corresponds to a WTRU receiving a configuration including sequence(s) for ON/OFF (OOK) bits that correspond to an OFDM symbol. See also Figure 12, “Detect OOK Synch Signal which suggests the OOK is transmitted.) [for a low power signal] (Examiner respectfully notes the bracketed limitation is interpreted as an intended use of the OFDM, since the limitation would not impose limits on the broadest, reasonable interpretation of the OFDM. Examiner respectfully suggests amending the bracketed limitation to positively recite features in order for said limitation to be given patentable distinction.);
generating a first sequence, wherein the length of the first sequence is determined based on the configuration and a number of subcarriers (Sahin: [0070], [0100], [0120] – the length of one or more sequences is based on a number of OFDM symbols and a subcarrier spacing(s).) [used for the low power signal] (Examiner respectfully notes the bracketed limitation is interpreted as an intended use of the OFDM, since the limitation would not impose limits on the broadest, reasonable interpretation of the OFDM. Examiner respectfully suggests amending the bracketed limitation to positively recite features in order for said limitation to be given patentable distinction.); and
generating the low power signal based on the first sequence (Sahin: [0103-0110], [0119], [0122] – corresponds to generating a power-saving signal based on the OOK sequence and OFDM symbols.).
Regarding Claim 41, Sahin discloses the method of claim 40, wherein the first sequence is a Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence (Sahin: [0119] – the OOK symbols and OFDM signals (sequence) includes a Zadoff-Chu sequence for easy detection by the WTRU.).
Regarding Claim 42, Sahin discloses the method of claim 40, further comprising:
determining an OOK sequence based on the configuration (Sahin: [0135-0142] – corresponds to a WTRU receiving a configuration including sequence(s) for ON/OFF (OOK) bits that correspond to an OFDM symbol.); and
generating the low power signal based on the OOK sequence (Sahin: [0103-0110], [0119], [0122] – corresponds to generating a power-saving signal based on the OOK sequence and OFDM symbols.).
Regarding Claim 43, Sahin discloses the method of claim 42, wherein at least one OOK-ON symbol in the OOK sequence is reused in a normal downlink (DL) transmission (Sahin: [0142-0143] – corresponds to WTRU receiving (downlink) the OOK sequence that may be repeated in an OFDM structure. See also [0133-0135].).
Regarding Claim 45, Sahin discloses a method performed by a terminal device, the method comprising:
receiving, from a network device, a configuration indicating a number of on-off keying (OOK) symbols in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol (Sahin: [0135-0142] – corresponds to a WTRU receiving a configuration including sequence(s) for ON/OFF (OOK) bits that correspond to an OFDM symbol. See also Figure 12, “Detect OOK Synch Signal which suggests the OOK is transmitted.) [for a low power signal] (Examiner respectfully notes the bracketed limitation is interpreted as an intended use of the OFDM, since the limitation would not impose limits on the broadest, reasonable interpretation of the OFDM. Examiner respectfully suggests amending the bracketed limitation to positively recite features in order for said limitation to be given patentable distinction.);
receiving, from the network device, the low power signal based on a first sequence (Sahin: [0103-0110], [0119], [0122] – corresponds to generating a power-saving signal based on the OOK sequence and OFDM symbols.), wherein the length of the first sequence is determined based on the configuration and a number of subcarriers (Sahin: [0070], [0100], [0120] – the length of one or more sequences is based on a number of OFDM symbols and a subcarrier spacing(s).) [used for the low power signal] (Examiner respectfully notes the bracketed limitation is interpreted as an intended use of the OFDM, since the limitation would not impose limits on the broadest, reasonable interpretation of the OFDM. Examiner respectfully suggests amending the bracketed limitation to positively recite features in order for said limitation to be given patentable distinction.).
Claims 46-48, dependent upon claim 45, recite similar features as claims 42-44, respectively, and are therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claims 41-43. Please see above rejections of claims 41-43.
Claims 50-53, directed to an apparatus embodiment of claims 40-43, recite similar features as claims 40-43, respectively, and are therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claims 40-43. Please see above rejections of claims 40-43. Sahin further discloses the apparatus as a network device in at least 1C, wherein one or more devices in the Radio Access Network (RAN) necessarily require a processor.
Allowable Subject Matter
10. Claims 44, 49, and 54 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
11. Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV whose telephone number is (571)270-7163. The examiner can normally be reached M, T, R, F 5:00 AM-5:00 PM, W 5:00 AM-3:00 PM (EDT).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached at (571) 272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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BENJAMIN H. ELLIOTT IV
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 September 2, 2026
Prosecution Insights