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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites "a variation value between the first difference and the second difference" in the third alternative, while the first and second alternatives recite "a difference value between the first difference and the second difference." Both terms are recited with respect to the same two quantities. The claim does not define a variation value, does not state how a variation value differs from a difference value, and provides no antecedent basis for the term. If the two terms denote the same quantity, the third alternative is equivalent with the first; if they denote different quantities, the claim does not identify what the variation value is. The metes and bounds of the third alternative therefore cannot be determined.
Claim 3 further recites, in the first alternative, that the difference value is greater than or equal to a first threshold, and in the second alternative, that the difference value is less than or equal to a second threshold. The claim places no constraint on the relative magnitudes of the first threshold and the second threshold, and the alternatives are joined disjunctively such that satisfaction of any one alternative satisfies the claim. Every possible value of the difference value is either greater than or equal to some first threshold or less than or equal to some second threshold. As drafted, the recited condition therefore imposes no ascertainable limitation on when the first event is satisfied.
Claim 14 recites the same subject matter in device form and is rejected for the same reasons.
For purposes of applying prior art below, the Examiner construes the first difference as the delay difference of claim 1 determined at a current time, and the second difference as the delay difference of claim 1 as most recently reported
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 20230199680 A1 herein Leng.
Claim 1, Leng discloses a communication method (Title, Method), comprising:
sending, by a terminal, first indication information to a first network device in response to satisfaction of a first event (0117; FIG. 11, UE sends assistance information to the gNB, "periodically, or triggered by events"; 0118; TABLE 3, trigger events configured in RRC IE ReportConfigNR based on propagation delay difference since the last report);
wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a delay difference (0118, assistance information includes "neighbor cell propagation delay differences"; 0120, reported via MAC-CE);
the delay difference is a difference between a first propagation delay and a second propagation delay (0102, "UE can calculate the propagation delay difference between the serving cell and a neighbor cell as as-an based on service link delay solely");
the first propagation delay is a propagation delay between the terminal and a second network device to which a first cell belongs (0101, as is "the propagation delay between the UE and the serving satellite"; 0075, "a serving cell and neighbor cells may belong to different satellites, e.g., a serving satellite and a neighbor satellite"); and
the second propagation delay is a propagation delay between the terminal and a third network device to which a second cell belongs (0101, an is the propagation delay between the UE and the neighbor satellite; 0075, neighbor cell belongs to the neighbor satellite).
Claim 2, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein: the first cell is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell; and/or the second cell is an NTN cell (0074, NTN is supported as a vertical functionality by 5G NR and refers to a network using RF resources on board a satellite; 0075, "a serving cell and neighbor cells may belong to different satellites, e.g., a serving satellite and a neighbor satellite"; 0132, the NTN payload may be GSO or NGSO).
Claim 3, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein a first difference is a current delay difference, a second difference is a last reported delay difference, and the first event comprises that:
a difference value between the first difference and the second difference is greater than or equal to a first threshold (0118; TABLE 3, event trigger eventDelay1 configured with delay1-Threshold, hysteresis, and timeToTrigger, based on propagation delay difference since the last report; 0094, UE calculates the difference between the current propagation delay and the stored propagationdelay and determines whether that difference is larger than the offset threshold associated with the SMTC);
a difference value between the first difference and the second difference is less than or equal to a second threshold; or a variation value between the first difference and the second difference is greater than or equal to a third threshold.
Claim 4, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein: the first event is configured by using first information (0118, trigger events for UE assistance information reporting are introduced in RRC IE ReportConfigNR; TABLE 3, EventTriggerConfig specifying eventld, threshold, hysteresis, and timeToTrigger; 0092, UE sets up an adjustment periodicity and/or an offset threshold for each SMTC "based on the assistance information provided by the network").
Claim 5, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 4, wherein: the first information is transmitted by using radio resource control (RRC) signalling (0118, trigger events configured in RRC IE ReportConfigNR; 0091, assistance information including offset thresholds acquired "by pre-configuration in uSIM and/or NAS/5IB/RRC signaling").
Claim 6, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein the second network device is a satellite, and the communication method further comprises:
receiving, by the terminal, second information sent by the first network device (0117; FIG. 11, UE receives from the gNB "system information including ephemeris and/or feeder link delay if applicable for serving cell and neighbor cells");
wherein the second information comprises information about the satellite (0075, the serving cell belongs to a serving satellite; 0117; FIG. 11, the system information received from the gNB includes ephemeris for the serving cell).
Claim 7, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 6, wherein: the information about the satellite comprises one or more of following information: ephemeris information of the satellite, an identity of the satellite, or an identity of ephemeris information of the satellite (0117; FIG. 11, system information including ephemeris; 0162, UE identifies from the assistance information "ephemeris information, a validity of duration, and an epoch time for a serving cell and one or more neighboring cells").
Claim 8, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 6, wherein: the second information is transmitted by using RRC signalling (0086, assistance information including satellite ephemeris information acquired "by pre-configuration in uSIM and/or NAS/5IB/RRC signaling"; 0079, measurement configuration contained in system information or an RRC release message).
Claim 9, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 1, wherein: the delay difference is used by the first network device to determine measurement configuration information (0115, the network determines the adjustments of SMTC window and corresponding measurement gaps "based on the assistance information reported by UE"; 0121; FIG. 11, "network adjusts SMTC(s) based on UE assistance information and sends the adjusted SMTC(s) to UE").
Claim 10, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 9, wherein: the measurement configuration information comprises synchronization signal block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) information and/or measurement gap configuration information (0121, the adjustment "can include any changes in SMTC periodicity and/or duration and/or offset and/or number of different SMTCs and/or associated PCls to measure"; 0115, adjustments of SMTC(s) window and corresponding measurement gap(s)).
Claim 11, Leng discloses the communication method according to claim 1. wherein: the first cell is a serving cell, and the second cell is a neighboring cell; or the first cell is a neighboring cell, and the second cell is a serving cell (0101, as is the propagation delay between the UE and the serving satellite and an is the propagation delay between the UE and the neighbor satellite; 0102, the UE calculates "the propagation delay difference between the serving cell and a neighbor cell").
Claim 12, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. Leng discloses a network device, the network device being a first network device (Title, Apparatus), and comprising: a processor and a memory (0047; FIG. 2, the gNB includes a controller/processor, a memory, and a backhaul or network interface; 0053, the memory is coupled to the controller/processor); wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the first network device to perform (0051, the controller/processor "is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory"; 0016, functions "implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium").
Claim 13, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 2.
Claim 14, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 3.
Claim 15, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 4.
Claim 16, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 5.
Claim 17, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 6. Leng discloses the network device according to claim 12, wherein the second network device is a satellite, and the processor is further configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the first network device to perform:
sending second information to the terminal (0051, the controller/processor executes programs and other processes resident in the memory; 0117; FIG. 11, the gNB sends the system information to the UE).
Claim 18, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 7.
Claim 19, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 8.
Claim 20, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. Leng discloses a terminal (Title, Apparatus), comprising: a processor and a memory (0056; FIG. 3, the UE includes a processor and a memory, the memory including an operating system and one or more applications; 0062, the memory is coupled to the processor); wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the terminal to perform (0060, the processor "is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory" and is configured to execute the applications based on the operating system or in response to signals received from gNBs; 0016, functions "implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium").
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20220369249 A1 – A measurement method including determining, by a terminal device, a first adjustment parameter of a to-be-measured neighboring cell, determining, based on the first adjustment parameter, a first synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window corresponding to the to-be-measured neighboring cell, and measuring the to-be-measured neighboring cell based on the first SMTC window.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mehmood B. Khan whose telephone number is (571)272-9277. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am-6:30 pm.
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, Asad Nawaz can be reached at (571) 272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Mehmood B. Khan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
MEHMOOD B. KHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2463
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