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 .
Election/Restrictions
Restriction to one of the following inventions is required under 35 U.S.C. 121:
I. Claims 1-12 and 15-19, drawn to a terminal performing a handover, classified in H04W36/362.
II. Claims 13, 14, and 20, drawn to a network side device sending information to a terminal, classified in H04W36/00837.
The inventions are independent or distinct, each from the other because: Inventions I and II are directed to related processes. The related inventions are distinct if: (1) the inventions as claimed are either not capable of use together or can have a materially different design, mode of operation, function, or effect; (2) the inventions do not overlap in scope, i.e., are mutually exclusive; and (3) the inventions as claimed are not obvious variants. See MPEP § 806.05(j). In the instant case, the inventions as claimed can have materially different design, mode of operation, function, or effect as group I performs, by a terminal, a first handover to the first target cell, the first target cell being a candidate cell when a condition is met; while group II sends, by a network side device, configuration information to a terminal, the configuration information comprising layer 1 conditional reconfiguration information, the layer 1 conditional reconfiguration information being used for determining, by the terminal, a first target cell from candidate cells, and the first target cell being a target cell. Furthermore, the inventions as claimed do not encompass overlapping subject matter and there is nothing of record to show them to be obvious variants.
Restriction for examination purposes as indicated is proper because all the inventions listed in this action are independent or distinct for the reasons given above and there would be a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required because one or more of the following reasons apply:
a) The inventions have acquired a separate status in the art in view of their different classification; and
b) The inventions require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search strategies or search queries).
Applicant is advised that the reply to this requirement to be complete must include (i) an election of an invention to be examined even though the requirement may be traversed (37 CFR 1.143) and (ii) identification of the claims encompassing the elected invention.
The election of an invention may be made with or without traverse. To reserve a right to petition, the election must be made with traverse. If the reply does not distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election shall be treated as an election without traverse. Traversal must be presented at the time of election in order to be considered timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are added after the election, Applicant must indicate which of these claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should Applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, Applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the Examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
During a telephone conversation with Emma J. Leider on 7/28/2026 a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of group I, claims 1-12 and 15-19. Affirmation of this election must be made by Applicant in replying to this Office Action. Claims 13, 14, and 20 are withdrawn from further consideration by the Examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 1/30/2026 has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the lines, numbers, and letters are not durable, clean, black, sufficiently dense, and dark, and uniformly thick and well-defined in Figures 1-8. Figures 1-8 are all in grayscale which cause the lines, numbers, and letters to not be durable, clean, black, sufficiently dense, and dark, and uniformly thick and well-defined. Additionally, drawings must be black and white (monochrome) except when another form (grayscale or color) is the only practicable medium for illustrating the claimed invention. For Figures 1-8, black and white drawings are sufficient to illustrate the claimed invention. Black and white drawings should be created and filed in monochrome, black only, without any gray. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office Action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the Examiner, the Applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office Action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claims 1-8 and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by You (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0334273 A1) (hereinafter You).
Regarding claim 1, You discloses a cell handover method (You 2024/0334273 - Figure 6 and paragraph 0132 disclose in step 608, when there is a candidate cell satisfying the first condition, the terminal device uses the candidate cell as a target cell, releases a connection to the source cell, and performs synchronization with the target cell applying a corresponding configuration of the target cell, to complete the first handover), comprising:
in a case that a layer 1 measurement result of a first target cell satisfies a first handover condition, performing, by a terminal, a first handover to the first target cell, the first target cell being a candidate cell (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128-0132 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device based on the handover request acknowledgment message, and the first handover configuration may be carried in an RRC reconfiguration message. Optionally, the first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover. The terminal device may evaluate, based on the first condition, the one or more candidate cells transmitted by the source cell, and determine whether the candidate cell satisfies the first condition. The first condition is based on layer-1 measurement. In step 608, when there is a candidate cell satisfying the first condition, the terminal device uses the candidate cell as a target cell, releases a connection to the source cell, and performs synchronization with the target cell applying a corresponding configuration of the target cell, to complete the first handover).
Regarding claim 2, as applied to claim 1 above, You further discloses wherein before the performing, by a terminal, a first handover to the first target cell, the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal, first configuration information sent by a network side device, the first configuration information comprising layer 1 conditional reconfiguration information, the layer 1 conditional reconfiguration information comprising N candidate cell configuration information, the N candidate cell configuration information comprising configuration information of N candidate cells or configuration information of N candidate reference signals, wherein each candidate reference signal is associated with a candidate cell different from a physical cell identifier (PCI) of a current serving cell or different from a frequency point of the current serving cell, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1 (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device. The first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover).
Regarding claim 3, as applied to claim 2 above, You further discloses wherein the layer 1 conditional reconfiguration information comprises a first handover condition identifier or the first handover condition, the first handover condition identifier being used for indicating the first handover condition, and the first handover condition being associated with the N candidate cells (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device. The first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover).
Regarding claim 4, as applied to claim 2 above, You further discloses wherein each of the candidate cell configuration information comprises at least one of the following: a reconfiguration identifier; radio resource control (RRC) configuration information of a candidate cell; a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) allocated to the terminal; one or more handover condition identifiers, the one or more handover condition identifiers being used for indicating one or more handover conditions; or one or more handover conditions (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device. The first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover).
Regarding claim 5, as applied to claim 1 above, You further discloses wherein the first handover condition comprises at least one of the following: M first enter conditions, M being an integer greater than or equal to 1; a trigger time length; or P first leave conditions, P being an integer greater than or equal to 1 (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device. The first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover).
Regarding claim 6, as applied to claim 5 above, You further discloses wherein the first enter condition comprises at least one of the following: layer 1 measurement results of all or part of reference signals (RS) associated with a candidate cell are higher than a layer 1 measurement result of an RS associated with a serving cell; layer 1 measurement results of all or part of RSs associated with a candidate cell are higher than a first threshold, and layer 1 measurement results of all or part of RSs associated with a serving cell are lower than a second threshold; or layer 1 measurement results of all or part of RSs associated with a candidate cell are higher than a third threshold; and/or, the first leave condition comprises at least one of the following: layer 1 measurement results of all or part of RSs associated with a candidate cell are lower than a layer 1 measurement result of an RS associated with a serving cell; layer 1 measurement results of all or part of RSs associated with a candidate cell are lower than the first threshold, and layer 1 measurement results of all or part of RSs associated with a serving cell are higher than the second threshold; or layer 1 measurement results of all or part of RSs associated with a candidate cell are lower than the third threshold, wherein at least one of the first threshold, the second threshold or the third threshold is configured by a network side device or agreed in a protocol or pre-configured (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device. The first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover. Paragraphs 0084-0089 disclose it should be noted that, in some embodiments, the first condition may be shared by one or more candidate cells. To be specific, when there are a plurality of candidate cells, the plurality of candidate cells may correspond to the same first condition. In some embodiments, the first condition may alternatively be at a cell level. To be specific, when there are a plurality of candidate cells, the plurality of candidate cells may have corresponding first conditions respectively. The first condition may include at least one of following conditions. (1) At least one beam in a first beam set satisfies a first threshold (also referred to as a first threshold value, where all thresholds mentioned below may be referred to as threshold values). It should be noted that the first beam set may be a beam set of the source cell. For example, this may mean that at least N beams in the beam set of the source cell are less than the first threshold, where N is a positive integer. The first beam set may alternatively be a beam set of the target cell. For example, this may mean that at least N beams in the beam set of the target cell are greater than the first threshold. (2) A BLER of the source cell exceeds a second threshold for N consecutive times, where N is a positive integer. A higher BLER of the source cell and a more frequent BLER occurrence indicate poorer signal quality of the source cell. (3) A measurement value of at least one beam in a first beam set within a time T is less than/greater than a third threshold, where T>0. It should be noted that the measurement value of the at least one beam may be a measurement value of the source cell. For example, this may mean that a measurement value of a CSI-RS of the source cell is less than the third threshold. The measurement value of the at least one beam may alternatively be a measurement value of the target cell. For example, this may mean that a measurement value of a CSI-RS of the target cell is greater than the third threshold. (4) A difference between a measurement value of the source cell and a measurement value of the target cell is greater than a fourth threshold. The measurement values of the source cell and the measurement value of the target cell are not specifically limited in this application, and may be, for example, measurement values of a BLER, a CSI-RS/SSB, or a pathloss).
Regarding claim 7, as applied to claim 5 above, You further discloses wherein the case that the layer 1 measurement result of the first target cell satisfies the first handover condition comprises any one of the following: the layer 1 measurement result of the first target cell satisfies each first enter condition among the M first enter conditions; the layer 1 measurement result of the first target cell satisfies each first enter condition among the M first enter conditions within the trigger time length; the layer 1 measurement result of the first target cell satisfies each first enter condition among the M first enter conditions and does not satisfy any one first leave condition among the P first leave conditions; or the layer 1 measurement result of the first target cell satisfies each first enter condition among the M first enter conditions and does not satisfy any one first leave condition among the P first leave conditions within a trigger time length; wherein the case that the layer 1 measurement result of the first target cell satisfies each first enter condition among the M first enter conditions comprises: a difference of time at which the layer 1 measurement result of the first target cell satisfies the M first enter conditions is less than a first threshold, the first threshold being configured by a network side device or agreed in a protocol or pre-configured (Paragraphs 0084-0089 disclose it should be noted that, in some embodiments, the first condition may be shared by one or more candidate cells. To be specific, when there are a plurality of candidate cells, the plurality of candidate cells may correspond to the same first condition. In some embodiments, the first condition may alternatively be at a cell level. To be specific, when there are a plurality of candidate cells, the plurality of candidate cells may have corresponding first conditions respectively. The first condition may include at least one of following conditions. (1) At least one beam in a first beam set satisfies a first threshold (also referred to as a first threshold value, where all thresholds mentioned below may be referred to as threshold values). It should be noted that the first beam set may be a beam set of the source cell. For example, this may mean that at least N beams in the beam set of the source cell are less than the first threshold, where N is a positive integer. The first beam set may alternatively be a beam set of the target cell. For example, this may mean that at least N beams in the beam set of the target cell are greater than the first threshold. (2) A BLER of the source cell exceeds a second threshold for N consecutive times, where N is a positive integer. A higher BLER of the source cell and a more frequent BLER occurrence indicate poorer signal quality of the source cell. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the first condition may alternatively be that the BLER of the source cell is greater than the second threshold within a time T, where T>0. In an example, when the BLER of the source cell exceeds 3% within 2 seconds, the terminal device performs a handover from the source cell to the target cell. (3) A measurement value of at least one beam in a first beam set within a time T is less than/greater than a third threshold, where T>0. It should be noted that the measurement value of the at least one beam may be a measurement value of the source cell. For example, this may mean that a measurement value of a CSI-RS of the source cell is less than the third threshold. The measurement value of the at least one beam may alternatively be a measurement value of the target cell. For example, this may mean that a measurement value of a CSI-RS of the target cell is greater than the third threshold. (4) A difference between a measurement value of the source cell and a measurement value of the target cell is greater than a fourth threshold. The measurement values of the source cell and the measurement value of the target cell are not specifically limited in this application, and may be, for example, measurement values of a BLER, a CSI-RS/SSB, or a pathloss).
Regarding claim 8, as applied to claim 2 above, You further discloses wherein before the performing, by a terminal, a first handover to the first target cell, the method further comprises:
receiving, by the terminal, second configuration information sent by the network side device, the second configuration information comprising layer 1 measurement configuration information, the layer 1 measurement configuration information comprising measurement configuration information of N candidate cells (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device based on the handover request acknowledgment message, and the first handover configuration may be carried in an RRC reconfiguration message. Optionally, the first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells); and
performing, by the terminal, layer 1 measurement on the candidate cell according to the second configuration information (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0129-0131 disclose the first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover. The terminal device may evaluate, based on the first condition, the one or more candidate cells transmitted by the source cell, and determine whether the candidate cell satisfies the first condition. The first condition is based on layer-1 measurement).
Regarding claim 15 You discloses a terminal, comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing programs or instructions executable on the processor, wherein the programs or instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal to perform (Figure 12 and paragraphs 0208-0210 disclose the apparatus 1200 may be a terminal device. The apparatus 1200 may include one or more processors 1210. The processor 1210 may allow the apparatus 1200 to implement the methods described in the foregoing method embodiments. The apparatus 1200 may further include one or more memories 1220. The memory 1220 stores a program that may be executed by the processor 1210 to cause the processor 1210 to perform the methods described in the foregoing method embodiments):
in a case that a layer 1 measurement result of a first target cell satisfies a first handover condition, performing a first handover to the first target cell, the first target cell being a candidate cell (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128-0132 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device based on the handover request acknowledgment message, and the first handover configuration may be carried in an RRC reconfiguration message. Optionally, the first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover. The terminal device may evaluate, based on the first condition, the one or more candidate cells transmitted by the source cell, and determine whether the candidate cell satisfies the first condition. The first condition is based on layer-1 measurement. In step 608, when there is a candidate cell satisfying the first condition, the terminal device uses the candidate cell as a target cell, releases a connection to the source cell, and performs synchronization with the target cell applying a corresponding configuration of the target cell, to complete the first handover).
Regarding claim 16, as applied to claim 15 above, You further discloses receiving first configuration information sent by a network side device, the first configuration information comprising layer 1 conditional reconfiguration information, the layer 1 conditional reconfiguration information comprising N candidate cell configuration information, the N candidate cell configuration information comprising configuration information of N candidate cells or configuration information of N candidate reference signals, wherein each candidate reference signal is associated with a candidate cell different from a physical cell identifier (PCI) of a current serving cell or different from a frequency point of the current serving cell, N being an integer greater than or equal to 1 (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device. The first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover).
Regarding claim 17, as applied to claim 16 above, You further discloses wherein each of the candidate cell configuration information comprises at least one of the following: a reconfiguration identifier; radio resource control (RRC) configuration information of a candidate cell; a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) allocated to the terminal; one or more handover condition identifiers, the one or more handover condition identifiers being used for indicating one or more handover conditions; or one or more handover conditions (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device. The first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover).
Regarding claim 18, as applied to claim 16 above, You further discloses wherein each of the candidate cell configuration information comprises at least one of the following: a reconfiguration identifier; radio resource control (RRC) configuration information of a candidate cell; a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) allocated to the terminal; one or more handover condition identifiers, the one or more handover condition identifiers being used for indicating one or more handover conditions; or one or more handover conditions (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device. The first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover).
Regarding claim 19, as applied to claim 15 above, You further discloses wherein the first handover condition comprises at least one of the following: M first enter conditions, M being an integer greater than or equal to 1; a trigger time length; or P first leave conditions, P being an integer greater than or equal to 1 (Figure 6 and paragraphs 0128 and 0129 disclose in step 606, if the source cell determines to perform a first handover, after receiving the handover request acknowledgment message from the candidate cell, the source cell may transmit a first handover configuration to the terminal device. The first handover configuration may include configuration information of the one or more candidate cells and a first condition corresponding to the one or more candidate cells. The first condition may be used by the terminal device to evaluate whether the candidate cell satisfies a condition for performing the handover).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Considering claim 9, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, You, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of wherein before the performing, by a terminal, a first handover to the first target cell, the method further comprises: performing, by the terminal, a second handover to a second target cell, the second target cell being a target handover cell indicated by a network side device; and the performing, by a terminal, a first handover to the first target cell in a case that a layer 1 measurement result of a first target cell satisfies a first handover condition comprises: performing, by the terminal, the first handover to the first target cell in a case that the second handover does not satisfy a first handover success condition and the layer 1 measurement result of the first target cell satisfies the first handover condition; wherein the second target cell is a candidate cell indicated by the network side device based on the layer 1 measurement result in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claim 9.
Considering claim 10, the best prior art found during the prosecution of the present application, You, fails to disclose, teach, or suggest the limitations of wherein after the performing, by a terminal, a first handover to the first target cell, the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal, a trigger cell based on a layer 1 measurement result of a candidate cell other than the first target cell in a case that the first handover does not satisfy a second handover success condition, the trigger cell being a candidate cell having a layer 1 measurement result satisfying the first handover condition; selecting a fourth target cell from the trigger cell; and performing, by the terminal, a fourth handover to the fourth target cell; wherein after the performing, by a terminal, a fourth handover to the fourth target cell, the method further comprises: performing, by the terminal, an RRC reestablishment procedure or a layer 1 measurement-based conditional handover in a case that the fourth handover does not satisfy the second handover condition in combination with and in the context of all of the other limitations in claim 10.
Claims 11 and 12 are also allowed by virtue of their dependency on claim 10.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
Deenoo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0154326 A1) discloses delayed handover execution in wireless networks based on a trigger condition;
Hong et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0187069 A1) discloses a method for performing terminal-based handover and device therefor;
Basu Mallick et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0314711 A1) discloses a method and apparatus for performing a handover procedure;
Deenoo et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0168678 A1) discloses methods for enhanced mobility in wireless systems;
Lovlekar et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0360495 A1) discloses conditional handovers and cell re-selections along known routes;
Cheng et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0030484 A1) discloses cell and beam selection for conditional handover procedure;
Damnjanovic et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0063931 A1) discloses mobility enhancements for conditional handovers;
Jeong (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0171665 A1) discloses a method and apparatus for L1 channel state based conditional handover;
Damnjanovic et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0189094 A1) discloses mobility enhancements: CHO execution condition;
Deng et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0064600 A1) discloses a handover processing method, terminal, and storage medium;
Lim et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0121689 A1) discloses an electronic device performing handover and operation method thereof;
Conceicao et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0259890 A1) discloses enhancement of conditional reconfiguration procedures;
Zheng et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0314667 A1) discloses a handover method, communication apparatus, and communication system; and
Gundogan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0406810 A1) discloses multi-panel user equipment.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to MARK G. PANNELL whose telephone number is (303) 297-4245. The Examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (Mountain Time).
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, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on (571) 272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866) 217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call (800) 786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or (571) 272-1000.
/Mark G. Pannell/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
Prosecution Insights