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 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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (CN113784286A, hereinafter Yang) in view of ABEDINI et al. (US 20230232367, hereinafter US ABEDINI).
Claims 1, 9. Yang discloses a paging method, comprising:
obtaining first information, wherein the first information indicates a moving trajectory of a terminal device, the moving trajectory of the terminal device comprises N1 historical locations of the terminal device before a first moment and/or N2 predicted locations of the terminal device after the first moment, N1 and N2 are positive integers, (see Yang, page 1, abstract; fig. 2; page 9, step 203, acquires historical position info and predict cells in which the user terminal is possibly positioned at the current time);
determining a predicted location of the terminal device at a second moment based on the first information, wherein the second moment is later than the first moment (see Yang, page 1, abstract; page 9, step 203, acquires historical position info and predict cells in which the user terminal is possibly positioned at the current time); and
sending, at the second moment, a paging message to an access network device to which a target cell belongs, wherein the paging message comprises information indicating the target cell, and the predicted location of the terminal device at the second moment is in the target cell (see Yang, page 9, last paragraph – page 10, first paragraph, page the user terminal based on the cells).
Yang discloses the first moment at which terminal is at a connected state, but does not specifically disclose the first moment is a moment at which the terminal device changes from a connected state to a non-connected state or an inactive state.
However, in a similar endeavor, ABEDINI discloses the first moment is a moment at which the terminal device changes from a connected state to a non-connected state or an inactive state (see ABEDINI [0116] “…the location/direction may be indicated by one or more TRPs, SSB indices, and/or SSB beams used to communicate with the UE before the UE entered the idle/inactive mode.”).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of Yang, to specifically address the scenario when the UE state is changed from connected state to idle state, and to capture the location information of the UE right before UE entered the idle mode.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to increase the likelihood of obtaining more accurate position of the UE, thus providing an enhanced method to pinpoint where the UE is located for more targeted paging.
Claims 2, 10. Yang in view of ABEDINI discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining first information comprises: obtaining, before the first moment, a context release message of the terminal device from an access network device that provides a service for the terminal device, wherein the context release message comprises the first information (see ABEDINI, [0085]). Motivation is the same as stated in claim 1.
Claims 3, 11. Yang in view of ABEDINI discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining first information comprises: receiving the first information from the terminal device before the first moment (see Yang, abstract and Figs. 2 and 3).
Claims 4, 12. Yang in view of ABEDINI discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining a predicted location of the terminal device at a second moment based on the first information comprises: when the moving trajectory of the terminal device comprises the N1 historical locations, determining the predicted location of the terminal device at the second moment based on the N1 historical locations of the terminal device before the first moment; or when the moving trajectory of the terminal device comprises the N2 predicted locations, determining the predicted location of the terminal device at the second moment from the N2 predicted locations (see Yang, abstract).
Claims 5, 13, 17. Yang in view of ABEDINI discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the predicted location of the terminal device at the second moment is in a coverage range of a target beam in the target cell, and the paging message comprises information indicating the target beam (see ABEDINI, [0117]). Motivation is the same as stated in claim 1.
Claims 6, 14, 18. Yang in view of ABEDINI discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: sending, at the second moment, second information to the access network device to which the target cell belongs, wherein the second information indicates the N2 predicted locations of the terminal device after the first moment, the second information is used to determine a target beam in the target cell, and the predicted location of the terminal device at the second moment is in a coverage range of the target beam (see ABEDINI, [0117]). Motivation is the same as stated in claim 1.
Claims 7, 15, 20. Yang in view of ABEDINI discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a first paging response message from the access network device to which the target cell belongs, wherein the first paging response message indicates that the terminal device is successfully paged, the first paging response message comprises third information, and the third information indicates one or more of the following: a beam over which the terminal device accesses the target cell; location information of the terminal device when the paging succeeds; or location information of the terminal device before the paging succeeds (see ABEDINI, [0126][0138]). Motivation is the same as stated in claim 1.
Claims 8. Yang in view of ABEDINI discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises: predicting, based on the third information, a location of the terminal device after the paging succeeds (see ABEDINI, [0138]). Motivation is the same as stated in claim 1.
Claim 16. Yang discloses an apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor, and a memory storing instructions for execution by the at least one processor (see Yang, page 17, paragraph 3);
wherein, when executed, the instructions cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising:
obtaining a paging message, wherein the paging message comprises information indicating a target cell, the target cell is determined based on a moving trajectory of a terminal device, the moving trajectory of the terminal device comprises N1 historical locations of the terminal device before a first moment and/or N2 predicted locations of the terminal device after the first moment, N1 and N2 are positive integers, a predicted location of the terminal device at a second moment is in the target cell, and the second moment is later than the first moment (see Yang, page 1, abstract; fig. 2; page 9, step 203, acquires historical position info and predict cells in which the user terminal is possibly positioned at the current time); and
paging the terminal device in the target cell based on the paging message (see Yang, page 9, last paragraph – page 10, first paragraph, page the user terminal based on the cells).
Yang discloses the first moment at which terminal is at a connected state, but does not specifically disclose the first moment is a moment at which the terminal device changes from a connected state to a non-connected state or an inactive state.
However, in a similar endeavor, ABEDINI discloses the first moment is a moment at which the terminal device changes from a connected state to a non-connected state or an inactive state (see ABEDINI [0116] “…the location/direction may be indicated by one or more TRPs, SSB indices, and/or SSB beams used to communicate with the UE before the UE entered the idle/inactive mode.”).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of Yang, to specifically address the scenario when the UE state is changed from connected state to idle state, and to capture the location of the UE right before UE entered the idle mode.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to increase the likelihood of obtaining more accurate position of the UE, thus providing an enhanced method to pinpoint where the UE is located for more targeted paging.
Claim 19. Yang in view of ABEDINI discloses the apparatus according to claim 16, wherein, when executed, the paging the terminal device in the target cell comprises: paging the terminal device in the coverage range of the target beam in the target cell (see Yang, page 9, last paragraph – page 10, first paragraph, page the user terminal based on the cells; see ABEDINI, [0117]). Motivation is the same as stated in claim 16.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20150215742 A1 – Ikeda discloses a location registration area and a paging area are determined by performing movement prediction and location estimation of a target mobile station in accordance with the moving state of the mobile station including its moving speed and moving direction.
US 20150289229 A1 – Ahluwalia discloses HeNB GW may define paging areas based on a prediction of the UE's current or future location, the prediction being made based on the obtained UE location information and additional information as described above, in particular information relating to the movement of the UE between cells.
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/KATHY W WANG-HURST/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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