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 § 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)(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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 9, 10, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Intel Corporation, "Group signalling for network energy saving techniques," 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #119bis Electronic, R2-2209735, 19 September 2022, herein Intel.
Claim 1, Intel discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (Section 2.2.1, UE), comprising:
at least one memory (Section 2.2.1, Step 1, the UE is pre-configured with multiple configurations, each identified by a configuration id, and applies one only upon a later trigger; thus a memory); and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to (Pg. 4, the UE applies the configurations corresponding to the profile index indicated in the group common indication; since the UE is performing acts of decoding indications and applying stored configurations, thus a processor and memory):
receive, as a radio resource configuration from a network equipment (NE), an indication of at least one of a network energy saving (NES) class or a NES configuration of the NES class (Section 2.2.1, Step 1, UEs are pre-configured with multiple configurations, each identified by a configuration id, over dedicated signaling; Step 2, the UEs are triggered to apply a particular configuration identified by the configuration id; Pg. 4, sent over dedicated RRC signaling); and configure the UE based on at least one of the NES configuration or the NES class (Pg. 4, the UE applies the configurations corresponding to the profile index indicated in the group common indication).
Claim 2, Intel discloses the UE according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive a mapping of a correspondence between the NES class and a NES profile, the NES profile including the NES configuration of the NES class and the NES class including an attainable quality of service (QoS) (Pg. 3, TABLE, each Configuration/Profile Index is mapped to a profile configuration; #0, C-DRX set to normal C-DRX configuration as per the QCI of the UE's radio bearers).
Claim 9, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1. Intel discloses a processor for wireless communication (Section 2.2.1, Processor), and comprising:
at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to (Pg. 4, the UE applies the configurations corresponding to the profile index indicated in the group common indication; since the UE is performing acts of decoding indications and applying stored configurations, thus a controller and memory).
Claim 10, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 2.
Claim 16, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1.
Claim 17, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 2.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 3, 7, 11, 14, 18 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over unpatentable over Intel in view of US 2019/0319840 A1 herein Cheng.
Claim 3, Intel discloses the UE according to claim 1, wherein the UE is configured in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode using RRC signaling (Section 1, the UE is in RRC Connected mode; Pg. 4, UE configuration is sent over dedicated RRC signaling). Intel may not explicitly disclose the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to report an expected quality of service (QoS) to the NE.
Cheng discloses the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to report an expected quality of service (QoS) to the NE (0094, the UE reports through a base station one or more parameters related to QoS, including the QoS requirements of the UE and a time period during which the parameters apply). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Intel to include reporting of quality of service parameters by the UE to the network, as taught by Cheng, so as to avoid the delay and consequent degradation of service that results where the configuration is set without such reporting (0089).
Claim 7, Intel discloses the UE according to claim 1. Intel may not explicitly disclose the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to report an estimated quality of service (QoS) to the NE based on at least one of periodic reporting or event-triggered reporting.
Cheng discloses the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to report an estimated quality of service (QoS) to the NE (0094, the UE reports through a base station one or more parameters related to QoS; 0095, analytics are applied to predict the proper QoS handling for the UE based on the reported parameters) based on at least one of periodic reporting or event-triggered reporting (0096, the configuration of the reporting indicates the frequency of the reporting, a trigger event or threshold to begin the reporting process). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Intel to include reporting of quality of service parameters by the UE to the network, as taught by Cheng, so as to avoid the delay and consequent degradation of service that results where the configuration is set without such reporting (0089).
Claim 11, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 3.
Claim 14, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 7.
Claim 18, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 3.
Claim 19, Intel discloses a network equipment (NE) for wireless communication (Section 2.2.1, NE), comprising:
at least one memory (Section 2.2.1, Step 1, the network provides each UE a set of configurations and later triggers one by its configuration id; thus a memory); and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the NE to (Pg. 4, the network spreads the configuration signaling over time and triggers the change for all UEs at the same instant; since the NE is performing acts of signaling configurations and triggering their application, thus a processor and memory):
transmit, as a radio resource configuration to the one or more UE, at least one of a NES class or the NES configuration of the NES class (Section 2.2.1, Step 1, the network pre-configures multiple configurations, each identified by a configuration id, over dedicated signaling; Step 2, a particular configuration is then triggered by that id; Pg. 4, sent over dedicated RRC signaling).
Intel may not explicitly disclose determine a network energy saving (NES) configuration based at least in part on an expected quality of service (QoS) as reported by one or more user equipment (UE).
Cheng discloses determine a network energy saving (NES) configuration based at least in part on an expected quality of service (QoS) as reported by one or more user equipment (UE) (0093, a first message reporting one or more parameters corresponding to QoS information is received from at least one UE, configuration information is determined based on the one or more parameters, and a second message indicating the configuration information is transmitted; 0094, multiple UEs report QoS related information, the UE reporting through a base station the QoS requirements of the UE). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Intel to include reporting of quality of service parameters by the UE to the network, as taught by Cheng, so as to avoid the delay and consequent degradation of service that results where the configuration is set without such reporting (0089).
Claim(s) 4 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Intel in view of ZTE Corporation, Sanechips, "Consideration on cell selection/reselection enhancements for NES," 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 #123, R2-2308281, 25 August 2023, herein ZTE.
Claim 4, Intel discloses the UE according to claim 1. Intel may not explicitly disclose wherein: the UE is configured in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode, and the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to at least one of prioritize or down-prioritize a cell (re)selection of a particular cell based at least in part on the indication of one of the NES class or the NES configuration.
ZTE discloses wherein: the UE is configured in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode (Section 2, Observation 5, the UE in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state cannot be aware of the network load), and the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to at least one of prioritize or down-prioritize a cell (re)selection of a particular cell based at least in part on the indication of one of the NES class (Section 2, Qoffsetne, is applied to the NES cell or NES frequency for the NES-capable UE where the UE supports NES features such as cell specific DTX/DRX and Qoffsetne. is configured for that cell or frequency, and is otherwise not applied; Proposal 2, whether to prioritize a NES cell or NES frequency for NES-capable UE cell re-selection depends on whether Qoffsetne. is configured for the cell or frequency; Alt 2, a cellBarredCellDRX indicator in SIB1, the legacy cellBarred indicator set to Barred, and the UE supporting cell DRX deciding whether the cell is barred based on the cellBarredCellDRX) or the NES configuration. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Intel to include an offset applied to a cell adopting the energy saving configuration on which the UE bases its cell re-selection, as taught by ZTE, so as to distribute the NES-capable UEs to the NES cells for load balance while allowing the network to control that distribution (Section 2, Observation 5).
Claim 12, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 4.
Claim(s) 5 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Intel in view of US 2022/0386233 A1 herein Akl.
Claim 5, Intel discloses the UE according to claim 1. Intel may not explicitly disclose wherein: the NES class indicates an attainable quality of service (QoS) at the UE for a configured NES mode.
Akl discloses wherein: the NES class indicates an attainable quality of service (QoS) at the UE for a configured NES mode (0111; 0132; 0144, the energy-saving configuration is specific to at least one of a traffic flow or a quality of service class; 0094, a path availability may be defined in connection with a traffic type, such that a path is unavailable for some traffic and available for other traffic). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Intel to include an energy-saving configuration specific to a quality of service class, as taught by Akl, so as to reduce the amount of traffic handled on the path, improve network performance and reduce energy usage (0082).
Claim 13, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 5.
Claim(s) 6, 8 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Intel in view of US 2022/0046504 A1 herein Shrestha.
Claim 6, Intel discloses the UE according to claim 1. Intel may not explicitly disclose wherein: the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to derive an active time remaining for a cell from at least one of the NES class or the NES configuration.
Shrestha discloses wherein: the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to derive an active time remaining for a cell from at least one of the NES class or the NES configuration (0095, the expiry time is the time when the satellite will no longer serve a particular cell, corresponding to the duration for which that cell is served; 0096, the UE receives information indicating the expiry time, such as satellite position, movement speed and movement direction, and calculates the expiry time of each satellite). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Intel to include a remaining time for which a cell will continue to be served, as taught by Shrestha, so as to reduce handovers and extend the amount of time the UE remains connected, reducing power, latency and failures (0069).
Claim 8, Intel discloses the UE according to claim 1. Intel may not explicitly disclose wherein: the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to prioritize cell (re)selection of a particular cell based at least in part on an active time remaining for the particular cell.
Shrestha discloses wherein: the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to prioritize cell (re)selection of a particular cell based at least in part on an active time remaining for the particular cell (0096, each cell broadcasts a corresponding expiry time and the UE compares the expiry times and selects the latest time or longest duration; 0097, where two best cells belong to different satellites, the cell having the longer expiry time is selected). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Intel to include a remaining time for which a cell will continue to be served, as taught by Shrestha, so as to reduce handovers and extend the amount of time the UE remains connected, reducing power, latency and failures (0069).
Claim 15, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 8.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over over Intel in view of Cheng and further in view of Akl.
Claim 20, Intel in view of Cheng discloses the NE according to claim 19. Intel in view of Cheng may not explicitly disclose wherein: the at least one processor is configured to cause the NE to receive an indication of the NES class from a neighboring NE, and determine the NES configuration based at least in part on the NES class or the NES configuration received from the neighboring NE.
Akl discloses wherein: the at least one processor is configured to cause the NE to receive an indication of the NES class from a neighboring NE, and determine the NES configuration based at least in part on the NES class or the NES configuration received from the neighboring NE (0086, the donor unit receives an energy saving indication when a wireless node transitions to an energy saving mode and triggers re-routing of traffic away from that node; 0087, a wireless node provides the energy saving indication to another wireless node upon satisfaction of an energy saving condition). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify a network node receiving an energy saving indication from another network node and determining its own configuration from that indication, as taught by Akl, so as to reduce the amount of traffic handled on the path, improve network performance and reduce energy usage (0082).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20260181438 A1 – The present disclosure relates to reporting channel state information (CSI) based on a cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) operation in a wireless communication system, and a method performed by a terminal may include receiving first configuration information on a CSI resource, receiving second configuration information for a CSI report configuration, receiving third configuration information on cell DTX, and transmitting or dropping a CSI report corresponding to the CSI report configuration based on the cell DTX.
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.
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/Mehmood B. Khan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
MEHMOOD B. KHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2463
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