METHOD FOR NEIGHBORING CELL MEASUREMENT, DEVICE, AND CHIP

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 (IDS) submitted on 22 October 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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. Claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-10, 12, 14-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication No. 20220150806 (Tripathi et al). Regarding claim 1, Tripathi et al. discloses: “a method for neighboring cell measurement (FIG. 22: 2200; [0420]: “FIG. 22 illustrates a flowchart of a method 2200 for an efficient neighbor cell search in a wireless communication network”), applicable to a terminal device (FIG: 22: 2200; FIG. 1: 111-116; [0420]: “the method 2200 as may be performed by a UE such as 111-116”), the method comprising: starting or performing measurement on a neighboring cell in response to the terminal device satisfying a neighboring cell measurement start condition (FIG. 22: 2206; [0423]: “in step 2206, the UE determines, based on a comparison between a current absolute time and the time instance, whether to perform the measurements on the neighboring cells”); wherein the neighboring cell measurement start condition is related to at least one of first information or second information ([0427]: “starting time and an ending time”), the first information comprising information related to at least one of a distance or delay between the terminal device and a satellite ([0086]: “As illustrated in FIG. 6, specifically, the UE is attempting to estimate the UE's distance from the aerial/space-borne platform (e.g., a satellite) in NTN. Such distance estimate can then be used to do any timing pre-compensation at the UE. This knowledge can also be used to determine, report and use a suitable timing advance)”), and the second information comprising information related to a measurement start time” ([0427]: “the UE skips performing the measurements on the neighboring cells based on a determination that the current absolute time is between a starting time and an ending time”). With respect to claim 16, Tripathi et al. discloses: “a terminal device ([0058]: “FIG. 3 illustrates an example UE 116”), comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores at least one computer program, and the processor (FIG. 3: 340, 360; [0059]: “The UE 116 also includes a speaker 330, a processor 340, an input/output (I/O) interface (IF) 345, a touchscreen 350, a display 355, and a memory 360”), when loading and executing the at least one computer program (FIG. 3: 360, 361, 362; [0059]: “The memory 360 includes an operating system (OS) 361 and one or more applications 362”), is caused to perform: starting or performing measurement on a neighboring cell in response to the terminal device satisfying a neighboring cell measurement start condition (FIG. 22: 2206; [0423]: “in step 2206, the UE determines, based on a comparison between a current absolute time and the time instance, whether to perform the measurements on the neighboring cells”); wherein the neighboring cell measurement start condition is related to at least one of first information or second information ([0427]: “starting time and an ending time”), the first information comprising information related to at least one of a distance or delay between the terminal device and a satellite ([0086]: “As illustrated in FIG. 6, specifically, the UE is attempting to estimate the UE's distance from the aerial/space-borne platform (e.g., a satellite) in NTN. Such distance estimate can then be used to do any timing pre-compensation at the UE. This knowledge can also be used to determine, report and use a suitable timing advance)”), and the second information comprising information related to a measurement start time” ([0427]: “the UE skips performing the measurements on the neighboring cells based on a determination that the current absolute time is between a starting time and an ending time”). With respect to claims 2 and 17, Tripathi et al. discloses: “the first information comprises at least one of: an elevation angle between the terminal device and the satellite; a distance between the terminal device and the satellite ([0086]: “As illustrated in FIG. 6, specifically, the UE is attempting to estimate the UE's distance from the aerial/space-borne platform (e.g., a satellite) in NTN. Such distance estimate can then be used to do any timing pre-compensation at the UE. This knowledge can also be used to determine, report and use a suitable timing advance)”); a propagation delay from the terminal device to the satellite; or a timing advance (TA) of the terminal device”. Regarding claims 3 and 18, Tripathi et al. discloses: “the neighboring cell measurement start condition comprises at least one of: the elevation angle being less than or equal to a first threshold; the distance being greater than or equal to a second threshold ([0306]: ‘“UE-reference point distance” is the distance between the UE and the Reference Point (e.g., in km or m) and distanceThreshold is the distance threshold (e.g., in km or m)’); the propagation delay being greater than or equal to a third threshold; or the TA being greater than or equal to a fourth threshold”. Regarding claims 5, Tripathi et al. discloses: “the second information comprises at least one of: a start time of the measurement; or an end time of the measurement” ([0427]: “starting time and an ending time”; “a determination that the current absolute time is between a starting time and an ending time”). With respect to claim 6, Tripathi et al. discloses: “the neighboring cell measurement start condition comprises at least one of: a current time being greater than or equal to the start time of the measurement; or a current time being less than or equal to the end time of the measurement” ([0427]: “starting time and an ending time”; “a determination that the current absolute time is between a starting time and an ending time”). With respect to claim 8, Tripathi et al. discloses: “receiving configuration information transmitted by a serving cell, wherein the configuration information indicates a parameter ([Claim 11]: “the transceiver configured to transmit system information including the time instance information for measurements on neighboring cells”) related to the neighboring cell measurement start condition” ([Claim 15]: “the time instance information further includes a starting time and an ending time”). Regarding claim 9, Tripathi et al. discloses: “the configuration information is configured for each terminal device, or for each frequency point, or for each neighboring cell” ([Claim 11]: “the transceiver configured to transmit system information including the time instance information for measurements on neighboring cells”). With respect to claim 10, Tripathi et al. discloses: “the configuration information is transmitted over a system message, or over radio resource control (RRC) dedicated signaling” ([0154]: “the UE receives the configuration for the RA selection mechanism via system information broadcast or via dedicated RRC signaling (e.g., an RRC reconfiguration message)”). With respect to claim 12, Tripathi et al. discloses: “not starting or performing the measurement on the neighboring cell in response to the terminal device not satisfying the neighboring cell measurement start condition” ([Claim 6]: “ determining, based on a comparison between a current absolute time and the time instance, whether to perform the measurements on the neighboring cells; and skipping performing the measurements on the neighboring cells based on a determination that the current absolute time is before the time instance”). With respect to claim 14, Tripathi et al. discloses: “the terminal device and the satellite are in an Earth-moving cell scenario” (FIG. 18; [0284]: “The UE considers the factors such as the serving cell measurements (e.g., RSRP and RSRQ), distance from the center of the cell, time since last cell reselection or handover, beam type (e.g., earth-fixed, quasi-earth-fixed, or earth-moving)”; “The gNB considers the factors such as the size of the cell, the speeds of the UE and the platform (e.g., satellites)”). Regarding claim 15, Tripathi et al. discloses: “the terminal device is in an idle state, or an inactive state, or a connected state” ([0039]: “The following documents are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure as if fully set forth herein: 3GPP TS38.304 v.16.2.0, “User Equipment (UE) procedures in Idle mode and RRC Inactive state”; 3GPP TS36.304 v.16.2.0, “User Equipment (UE) procedures in idle mode”). With respect to claim 20, Tripathi et al. discloses: “a chip, comprising at least one of at least one programmable logic circuit or at least one program instruction ([0009]: “a controller may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and/or firmware”; [0046]: “circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof”), wherein the chip, when running, is caused to perform: starting or performing measurement on a neighboring cell in response to the terminal device satisfying a neighboring cell measurement start condition (FIG. 22: 2206; [0423]: “in step 2206, the UE determines, based on a comparison between a current absolute time and the time instance, whether to perform the measurements on the neighboring cells”); wherein the neighboring cell measurement start condition is related to at least one of first information or second information ([0427]: “starting time and an ending time”), the first information comprising information related to at least one of a distance or delay between the terminal device and a satellite ([0086]: “As illustrated in FIG. 6, specifically, the UE is attempting to estimate the UE's distance from the aerial/space-borne platform (e.g., a satellite) in NTN. Such distance estimate can then be used to do any timing pre-compensation at the UE. This knowledge can also be used to determine, report and use a suitable timing advance)”), and the second information comprising information related to a measurement start time” ([0427]: “the UE skips performing the measurements on the neighboring cells based on a determination that the current absolute time is between a starting time and an ending time”). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4, 7, 11, 13 and 19 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MYRON K WYCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-3390. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am - 3:30 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, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 571-270-5371. 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. /Myron Wyche/ 3 October 2026 Primary Examiner AU2644