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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 2/12/2025 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Note all citations have been considered, except where lined through. The citation for NPL document 6 does not provide a full application number (the number provided is missing a number), as such that specific document is of issue.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 9-12 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mukherjee (herein after Muk)(US Pub 20210250900, see IDS) in view of Koskinen (herein after Kos)(US Pub 20210377865, see IDS).
Re claim 1, Muk discloses a method for monitoring paging occasions, the method being performed by a user equipment in idle state or inactive state and comprising:
receiving a paging repetition indication field (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190) in a message associated with a paging message of a paging occasion (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190);
in response to determining that the paging message does not comprise a page for the user equipment (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), skipping monitoring of a number of subsequent paging occasions (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190) based on the paging repetition indication field (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190 – what and how long to skip denoting known repetition that is not relevant to the UE); and
in response to determining that the number of subsequent paging occasions has been reached (Fig 4 el 451; Par 131-133, 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), resuming monitoring a next paging occasion (Fig 4 el 451; Par 131-133, 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190); however Muk fails to explicitly disclose wherein determining that the paging message does not comprise a page for the user equipment comprises (1) determining that the paging message does not comprise a paging record for the user equipment.
Regarding item (1) above, this design is however disclosed by Kos. Kos discloses determining that the paging message does not comprise a paging record for the user equipment (Fig 1 el 113/115/117/119; Par 14-16, 68 – paging is not addressed to the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Muk in order to incorporate the paging record considerations of Kos based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance it would be obvious to incorporate triggers or conditions to clearly articulate to a system that is capable of pausing or skipping monitoring when a paging transmission and correlated repetitions can be ignored as the given device is not an intended target for the given paging iteration to work towards reducing processing errors in the pausing determinations while improving performance and power consumption of the system by allowing for continued inactive or paused processing states.
Re claim 9, Muk discloses a user equipment for monitoring paging occasions comprising:
at least one memory (Par 55, 57-59); and at least one processor (Par 55, 57-59); wherein the at least one processor (Par 55, 57-59) is configured to, when the user equipment is in idle state (Par 3, 235) or inactive state (Par 3, 235):
receive a paging repetition indication field (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190) in a message associated with a paging message of a paging occasion (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190);
in response to determining that the paging message does not comprise a page for the user equipment (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), skipping monitoring of a number of subsequent paging occasions (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190) based on the paging repetition indication field (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190 – what and how long to skip denoting known repetition that is not relevant to the UE); and
in response to determining that the number of subsequent paging occasions has been reached (Fig 4 el 451; Par 131-133, 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), resuming monitoring a next paging occasion (Fig 4 el 451; Par 131-133, 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190); however Muk fails to explicitly disclose wherein determining that the paging message does not comprise a page for the user equipment comprises (1) determining that the paging message does not comprise a paging record for the user equipment.
Regarding item (1) above, this design is however disclosed by Kos. Kos discloses determining that the paging message does not comprise a paging record for the user equipment (Fig 1 el 113/115/117/119; Par 14-16, 68 – paging is not addressed to the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Muk in order to incorporate the paging record considerations of Kos based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance it would be obvious to incorporate triggers or conditions to clearly articulate to a system that is capable of pausing or skipping monitoring when a paging transmission and correlated repetitions can be ignored as the given device is not an intended target for the given paging iteration to work towards reducing processing errors in the pausing determinations while improving performance and power consumption of the system by allowing for continued inactive or paused processing states.
Re claim 2, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the method of claim 1, Muk further discloses wherein the message associated with the paging message is the paging message itself (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), a downlink control information indicating the paging message (Par 167-170, 172-173), or a low-power wake-up signal message corresponding to the paging occasion.
Re claim 10, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the user equipment of claim 9, Muk further discloses wherein the message associated with the paging message is the paging message itself (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), a downlink control information indicating the paging message (Par 167-170, 172-173), or a low-power wake-up signal message corresponding to the paging occasion.
Re claim 3, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the method of claim 1, Muk further discloses wherein the number of subsequent paging occasions is identified in the paging repetition indication field (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190).
Re claim 11, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the user equipment of claim 9, Muk further discloses wherein the number of subsequent paging occasions is identified in the paging repetition indication field (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190).
Re claim 4, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the method of claim 1, Muk further discloses wherein the paging repetition indication field is a flag and the number of subsequent paging occasions is one (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190 – specifics of the 451 field).
Re claim 12, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the user equipment of claim 9, Muk further discloses wherein the paging repetition indication field is a flag and the number of subsequent paging occasions is one (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190 – specifics of the 451 field).
Re claim 17, Muk discloses a base station for supporting monitoring of paging occasions comprising:
at least one memory (Par 55, 57-59); and at least one processor (Par 55, 57-59); wherein the at least one processor (Par 55, 57-59) is configured to:
transmit a paging repetition indication field (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190) in a message associated with a paging message of a paging occasion (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190);
wherein the paging repetition indication field indicates (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190) that a user equipment in idle state (Par 3, 235) or inactive state (Par 3, 235) is allowed to skip monitoring (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), in response to determining that the paging message does not comprise a page for the user equipment (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), of a number of subsequent paging occasions based on the paging repetition indication field (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190 – what and how long to skip denoting known repetition that is not relevant to the UE) and, in response to determining that the number of subsequent paging occasions has been reached (Fig 4 el 451; Par 131-133, 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), to resume monitoring a next paging occasion (Fig 4 el 451; Par 131-133, 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190); however Muk fails to explicitly disclose wherein determining that the paging message does not comprise a page for the user equipment comprises (1) determining that the paging message does not comprise a paging record for the user equipment.
Regarding item (1) above, this design is however disclosed by Kos. Kos discloses determining that the paging message does not comprise a paging record for the user equipment (Fig 1 el 113/115/117/119; Par 14-16, 68 – paging is not addressed to the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Muk in order to incorporate the paging record considerations of Kos based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance it would be obvious to incorporate triggers or conditions to clearly articulate to a system that is capable of pausing or skipping monitoring when a paging transmission and correlated repetitions can be ignored as the given device is not an intended target for the given paging iteration to work towards reducing processing errors in the pausing determinations while improving performance and power consumption of the system by allowing for continued inactive or paused processing states.
Re claim 18, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the base station of claim 17, Muk further discloses wherein the message associated with the paging message is the paging message itself (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190), a downlink control information indicating the paging message (Par 167-170, 172-173), or a low-power wake-up signal message corresponding to the paging occasion.
Re claim 19, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the base station of claim 17, Muk further discloses wherein the number of subsequent paging occasions is identified in the paging repetition indication field (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190).
Re claim 20, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the base station of claim 17, Muk further discloses wherein the paging repetition indication field is a flag and the number of subsequent paging occasions is one (Fig 4 el 451; Par 167-170, 172-173, 181-185, 190 – specifics of the 451 field).
Claims 5-7, 13-15 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muk and Kos as applied to claims 1, 9 and 17 above, and further in view of Bala (US Pub 20230189147).
Re claim 21, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole disclose the base station of claim 17, but fail however to explicitly disclose wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit paging repetition configuration enabling receiving and processing the paging repetition indication field by the user equipment, wherein the paging repetition configuration is transmitted via a radio resource control message, via a system information message, or predefined.
This design is however disclosed by Bala. Bala discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit paging repetition (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187) configuration enabling receiving and processing the paging repetition indication field (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187) by the user equipment, wherein the paging repetition configuration is transmitted via a radio resource control message (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187), via a system information message (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187), or predefined.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Muk in order to incorporate the paging configuration design of Bala based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance it would be obvious to use conventional signaling designs with known functionality to incorporate and communicate the paging configurations allowing for improve efficiency in both the reception of desired paging occasion and the improved resource management for the devices when the paging occasion can be skipped or ignored for a given period.
Re claim 22, the combined disclosure of Muk, Kos and Bala as a whole discloses the base station of claim 21, Bala further discloses wherein the paging repetition configuration further comprises a number of configured repetitions of a paging message (Fig 5; Par 83, 124, 187).
Re claim 5, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the method of claim 1, but fails however to explicitly disclose further comprising receiving a paging repetition configuration enabling receiving and processing the paging repetition indication field by the user equipment, wherein the paging repetition configuration is received via a radio resource control message, via a system information message, or predefined.
This design is however disclosed by Bala. Bala discloses wherein receiving a paging repetition configuration enabling receiving and processing the paging repetition indication field by the user equipment (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187), wherein the paging repetition configuration is received via a radio resource control message (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187), via a system information message (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187), or predefined.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Muk in order to incorporate the paging configuration design of Bala based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance it would be obvious to use conventional signaling designs with known functionality to incorporate and communicate the paging configurations allowing for improve efficiency in both the reception of desired paging occasion and the improved resource management for the devices when the paging occasion can be skipped or ignored for a given period.
Re claim 6, the combined disclosure of Muk, Kos and Bala as a whole discloses the method of claim 5, Bala further discloses wherein the paging repetition configuration further comprises a number of configured repetitions of a paging message (Fig 5; Par 83, 124, 187).
Re claim 7, the combined disclosure of Muk, Kos and Bala as a whole discloses the method of claim 6, Bala further discloses wherein further comprising determining a current paging occasion position index in a current paging frame (Fig 5 – PO elements; Par 82-87, 97, 100-102, 124, 141-142, 187) and determining the number of subsequent paging occasions based on the number of repeated paging occasions and the current paging occasion position index (Fig 5 – PO elements; Par 82-87, 97, 100-102, 124, 141-142, 187).
Re claim 13, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole discloses the user equipment of claim 9, but fails however to explicitly disclose wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a paging repetition configuration enabling receiving and processing the paging repetition indication field by the user equipment, wherein the paging repetition configuration is received via a radio resource control message, via a system information message, or predefined.
This design is however disclosed by Bala. Bala discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a paging repetition configuration enabling receiving and processing the paging repetition indication field by the user equipment (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187), wherein the paging repetition configuration is received via a radio resource control message (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187), via a system information message (Fig 5 – SIB; Par 83, 124, 187), or predefined.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Muk in order to incorporate the paging configuration design of Bala based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance it would be obvious to use conventional signaling designs with known functionality to incorporate and communicate the paging configurations allowing for improve efficiency in both the reception of desired paging occasion and the improved resource management for the devices when the paging occasion can be skipped or ignored for a given period.
Re claim 14, the combined disclosure of Muk, Kos and Bala as a whole discloses the user equipment of claim 13, Bala further discloses wherein the paging repetition configuration further comprises a number of configured repetitions of a paging message (Fig 5; Par 83, 124, 187).
Re claim 15, the combined disclosure of Muk, Kos and Bala as a whole discloses the user equipment of claim 14, Bala further discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a current paging occasion position index in a current paging frame (Fig 5 – PO elements; Par 82-87, 97, 100-102, 124, 141-142, 187) and determine the number of subsequent paging occasions based on the number of repeated paging occasions (Fig 5 – PO elements; Par 82-87, 97, 100-102, 124, 141-142, 187) and the current paging occasion position index (Fig 5 – PO elements; Par 82-87, 97, 100-102, 124, 141-142, 187).
Claims 8 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muk and Kos as applied to claims 1 and 9 above, and further in view of Hwang (US Pub 20220330201).
Re claim 8, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole disclose the method of claim 1 but fails however to explicitly disclose further comprising skipping monitoring of one or more low-power wake-up signal messages corresponding to the subsequent paging occasions and/or one or more paging early indication messages corresponding to the subsequent paging occasions.
This design is however disclosed by Hwang. Hwang discloses further comprising skipping monitoring of one or more low-power wake-up signal messages corresponding to the subsequent paging occasions and/or one or more paging early indication messages corresponding to the subsequent paging occasions (Par 6-8, 155-156, 164).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Muk in order to incorporate the skipping processing of Hwang based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance to use conventional paging configuration techniques with known functionality to incorporate and communicate monitoring specifications for the paging to improve efficiency in both the reception quality of desired paging occasions and the improved resource management for the devices when the paging occasion can be skipped or ignored for a given period.
Re claim 16, the combined disclosure of Muk and Kos as a whole disclose the user equipment of claim 9, but fails however to explicitly disclose wherein the at least one processor is further configured to skip monitoring of one or more low-power wake-up signal messages corresponding to the subsequent paging occasions and/or one or more paging early indication messages corresponding to the subsequent paging occasions.
This design is however disclosed by Hwang. Hwang discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to skip monitoring of one or more low-power wake-up signal messages corresponding to the subsequent paging occasions and/or one or more paging early indication messages corresponding to the subsequent paging occasions (Par 6-8, 155-156, 164).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosure of Muk in order to incorporate the skipping processing of Hwang based on the rationale of the use of a known technique to improve similar designs in the same way, in this instance to use conventional paging configuration techniques with known functionality to incorporate and communicate monitoring specifications for the paging to improve efficiency in both the reception quality of desired paging occasions and the improved resource management for the devices when the paging occasion can be skipped or ignored for a given period.
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL R NEFF/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
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