DETAILED ACTION
This application has been examined. Claims 1-20 are pending.
In order to facilitate communication with the Examiner and expedite the prosecution of the instant application the Applicant is requested to submit written authorization to authorize the USPTO to communicate via electronic mail. The written authorization must be compliant with the language from MPEP § 502.03.
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 .
Priority
This application claims benefits of priority from Non-Provisional Application 17/654268 filed March 10, 2022.
The effective date of the claims described in this application is March 10, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/11/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1,11,15 of U.S. Patent No. 12219392.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the scope of the claims have substantial overlap and the difference in the scope of the claims would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the networking art as obvious variations of the same invention.
Claim 1,11,15 of U.S. Patent No. 12219392 disclosed (re. Claim 1,14,19 of the instance application) determining, by a system comprising a processor, a characteristic associated with an operation of a device that is associated with network equipment of a communication network, based on an analysis of information relating to the operation of the device; and
based on the characteristic associated with the operation of the device, controlling, by the system, switching between a first bandwidth part of a channel bandwidth associated with the device and a second bandwidth part of the channel bandwidth associated with the device.
Claims 2-13 are rejected based on claim dependency on Claim 1.
Claims 15-18 are rejected based on claim dependency on Claim 14.
Claims 20 is rejected based on claim dependency on Claim 19.
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.
Claim(s) 1,10-11,14,17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Guan (USPGPUB 2021/0067234)
Regarding Claim 1
Guan Paragraph 167 disclosed wherein a bandwidth represents a segment of consecutive frequency domain resources. The bandwidth may be a bandwidth part (BWP), and the BWP may be understood as a segment of consecutive frequency bands. Different bandwidth parts may correspond to different system parameters.
Guan Figure 4 Paragraph 186 disclosed wherein a terminal device performs corresponding switching processing when the terminal device determines that an operating bandwidth needs to be switched from a first bandwidth to a second bandwidth in a process of beam failure recovery.
Guan disclosed (re. Claim 1) method comprising: determining, by a system comprising a processor, a characteristic associated with an operation of a device that is associated with network equipment of a communication network, (Guan-Figure 2,Paragraph 169, a network device (for example, a base station) is allowed to configure a BWP (for example, BWP 1 in FIG. 1) of the terminal device (for example, UE) by using a radio resource control (RRC) message. Then, a media access control control element (MAC CE) or downlink control information (DCI) is used to control the terminal device to activate some frequency resources (for example, BWP 1′ ) , Paragraph 167, wherein different bandwidth parts may correspond to different system parameters.) for communication, based on an analysis of information relating to the operation of the device; (Guan-Paragraph 30, after detecting one beam failure instance (BFI) in the first bandwidth, Paragraph 175, a beam failure instance condition (that is, beam quality is lower than a given beam failure threshold, Paragraph 193, operating bandwidth needs to be switched from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth in the process of beam failure recovery in the first bandwidth.)
and based on the characteristic associated with the operation of the device, (Guan-Paragraph 175, a beam failure instance condition (that is, beam quality is lower than a given beam failure threshold, Paragraph 193, operating bandwidth needs to be switched from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth in the process of beam failure recovery in the first bandwidth.) controlling, by the system, switching between a first bandwidth part of a channel bandwidth associated with the device and a second bandwidth part of the channel bandwidth associated with the device.( Guan-Figure 4 Paragraph 186,a terminal device performs corresponding switching processing when the terminal device determines that an operating bandwidth needs to be switched from a first bandwidth to a second bandwidth in a process of beam failure recovery)
Regarding Claim 14
Claim 14 (re. system) disclosed substantially similar limitations as Claim 1. Claim 14 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 19
Claim 19 (re. non-transitory machine-readable medium) disclosed substantially similar limitations as Claim 1. Claim 19 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 10,17
Guan disclosed (re. Claim 10,17) determining, by the system, a device capability relating to bandwidth part switching of the device, (Guan-Paragraph 30, after detecting one beam failure instance (BFI) in the first bandwidth, Paragraph 175, a beam failure instance condition (that is, beam quality is lower than a given beam failure threshold, Paragraph 193, operating bandwidth needs to be switched from the first bandwidth to the second bandwidth in the process of beam failure recovery in the first bandwidth.) wherein the device capability relates to a first group of bandwidth part types supported by the device and a first number of bandwidth parts supported by the device; (Guan-Paragraph 167, the bandwidth may be a bandwidth part (BWP), and the BWP may be understood as a segment of consecutive frequency bands. The frequency band includes at least one consecutive sub-band )
and determining, by the system, a network configuration relating to bandwidth parts that is associated with the communication network, (Guan-Paragraph 171, network device may send configuration information of a BWP to the terminal device in advance. The configuration information of the BWP may include: numerology information such as frequency location information of each BWP or a subcarrier spacing of each BWP, an association relationship between uplink and downlink BWPs (for example, a BWP pair in the following), a configuration of a control channel of each BWP, a configuration of a reference signal of each BWP, a configuration of a beam indication of each BWP)
wherein the network configuration indicates a second group of bandwidth part types supported by the communication network and a second number of bandwidth parts supported by the communication network, wherein the first group is same as or different from the second group, and wherein the first number is same as or different from the second number.(Guan-Figure 2,Paragraph 169, BWP 1, BWP 2 )
Regarding Claim 11,18
Guan disclosed (re. Claim 11,18) wherein, in a frequency domain,( (Guan-Paragraph 171, network device may send configuration information of a BWP to the terminal device in advance. The configuration information of the BWP may include numerology information such as frequency location information of each BWP or a subcarrier spacing of each BWP) the second bandwidth part is a larger amount of bandwidth than the first bandwidth part.(Guan-Figure 2,Paragraph 169, BWP 1, BWP 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.
Claim(s) 2-4,15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan (USPGPUB 2021/0067234) further in view of Lin (USPGPUB 2023/0122075)
Regarding Claim 2,15
Guan disclosed (re. Claim 2,15) determining, by the system, a value associated with the characteristic or a target value associated with the characteristic (Guan-Paragraph 175, If the BFD RS satisfies a beam failure instance condition (that is, beam quality is lower than a given beam failure threshold) , Paragraph 167, wherein different bandwidth parts may correspond to different system parameters)
determining, by the system, whether the value or the target value satisfies a defined threshold value relating to the characteristic; (Guan-Paragraph 175, If the BFD RS satisfies a beam failure instance condition (that is, beam quality is lower than a given beam failure threshold) ) and
determining, by the system, whether to switch from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part based on a result of the determining of whether the value or the target value satisfies the defined threshold value.(Guan-Paragraph 267, the available beam in the second bandwidth is obtained by the terminal device through measurement in the second bandwidth. Specifically, after switching to BWP #y, the terminal device needs to measure a reference signal of a candidate beam in BWP #y in an existing manner )
While Guan substantially disclosed the claimed invention Guan does not disclose (re. Claim 2,15) wherein the characteristic is based on analyzing service-related information relating to a service utilized by the device and traffic-related information relating to data traffic being communicated between the device and the network equipment, wherein the service is related to an application determined to be utilized by the device.
Lin Paragraph 80 disclosed wherein the UE may select multiple beams for multiple transmissions based on the received signal powers and the transmit power limits. Beams may be selected for certain types of transmissions based on a priority of a communication being transmitted and/or based on resources required to support such communication. A beam with a highest uplink SNR may be selected for high quality video or low latency communications (e.g., URLLC), whereas a beam with lower SNR may be selected for data relating to email or messaging traffic.
Lin disclosed (re. Claim 2,15) wherein the characteristic is based on analyzing service-related information relating to a service utilized by the device and traffic-related information relating to data traffic being communicated between the device and the network equipment, wherein the service is related to an application determined to be utilized by the device.(Lin-Paragraph 80, the UE may select multiple beams for multiple transmissions based on the received signal powers and the transmit power limits. Beams may be selected for certain types of transmissions based on a priority of a communication being transmitted and/or based on resources required to support such communication. A beam with a highest uplink SNR may be selected for high quality video or low latency communications (e.g., URLLC), whereas a beam with lower SNR may be selected for data relating to email or messaging traffic.)
Guan and Lin are analogous art because they present concepts and practices regarding selection of beams and switching bandwidth parts. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Lin into Guan. The motivation for the said combination would have been to provide desirable uplink communication performance (e.g., higher uplink throughput, reduced latencies, and/or desirable cell coverage) in compliance with RF exposure limits.(Lin-Paragraph 34)
Regarding Claim 3,15
Guan-Lin disclosed (re. Claim 3,15) wherein the characteristic relates to a service type of the service or a communication rate or a data traffic type of the data traffic, wherein the service type is indicative of the communication rate, (Lin-Paragraph 78, the UE may measure a received signal power (e.g., an RSRP) or other beam-specific characteristic (e.g., data or bit error rate, path loss, throughput, some other indicator of signal quality ) wherein the service type or the data traffic type is indicative of a defined threshold communication rate applicable in connection with the service, wherein the value corresponds to the communication rate, wherein the defined threshold value is the defined threshold communication rate, and wherein the determining of whether the value associated with the characteristic satisfies the defined threshold value comprises: determining whether the communication rate satisfies the defined threshold communication rate based on analyzing the service type or the communication rate. (Guan-Paragraph 175, If the BFD RS satisfies a beam failure instance condition (that is, beam quality is lower than a given beam failure threshold) )
Regarding Claim 4
Guan-Lin disclosed (re. Claim 4) wherein the characteristic relates to a quality of service level associated with the service, wherein a service type of the service or a data traffic type of the data traffic associated with the service is indicative of the quality of service level (Lin-Paragraph 78, the UE may measure a received signal power (e.g., an RSRP) or other beam-specific characteristic (e.g., data or bit error rate, path loss, throughput, some other indicator of signal quality ) or a defined threshold quality of service level applicable in connection with the service, wherein the data traffic type relates to the data traffic being communicated between the device and the network equipment in connection with utilizing the application, wherein the value corresponds to the quality of service level, (Guan-Paragraph 175, If the BFD RS satisfies a beam failure instance condition (that is, beam quality is lower than a given beam failure threshold) ) wherein the defined threshold value is the defined threshold quality of service level, and wherein the determining of whether the value associated with the characteristic satisfies the defined threshold value comprises: determining whether the quality of service level satisfies the defined threshold quality of service level based on analyzing the service type or the quality of service level. (Guan-Paragraph 175, If the BFD RS satisfies a beam failure instance condition (that is, beam quality is lower than a given beam failure threshold) )
Claim(s) 5-6,8-9,16,20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan (USPGPUB 2021/0067234) further in view of Lin (USPGPUB 2023/0122075) further in view of Vankayala (USPBPUB 20230319805)
Regarding Claim 5,16,20
Guan-Lin disclosed (re. Claim 5,16,20) wherein the characteristic is a first characteristic that relates to a communication rate or a quality of service level associated with the data traffic (Lin-Paragraph 78, the UE may measure a received signal power (e.g., an RSRP) or other beam-specific characteristic (e.g., data or bit error rate, path loss, throughput, some other indicator of signal quality )
While Guan-Lin substantially disclosed the claimed invention Guan-Lin does not disclose (re. Claim 5,16,20)
wherein a second characteristic relates to a power saving mode, wherein the result is a first result, and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the system, whether the device is set to the power saving mode; and determining, by the system, whether to switch from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part based on the first result of the determining of whether the value or the target value satisfies the defined threshold value, a second result of determining whether switching from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part will result in an increase of the value associated with the first characteristic, a third result of the determining of whether the device is set to the power saving mode.
Vankayala Paragraph 71 disclosed wherein a UE battery level and various activation functions can be used as an input to the NN model.
Vankayala disclosed (re. Claim 5,16,20) wherein a second characteristic relates to a power saving mode, wherein the result is a first result, and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the system, whether the device is set to the power saving mode; (Vankayala-Paragraph 52, resource controller 110 is configured to detect a change in at least one mobility parameter from the plurality of mobility parameters…a power saving mode, an application/service(s), a latency requirements ) and
determining, by the system, whether to switch from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part based on the first result of the determining of whether the value or the target value satisfies the defined threshold value, a second result of determining whether switching from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part will result in an increase of the value associated with the first characteristic, (Vankayala-Paragraph 22,Paragraph 43, determining, by the BS, whether a change in the at least one mobility parameter meets a QoS/QCI criteria ) a third result of the determining of whether the device is set to the power saving mode. (Vankayala-Paragraph 52, resource controller 110 is configured to detect a change in at least one mobility parameter from the plurality of mobility parameters…a power saving mode, an application/service(s), a latency requirements )
Guan and Vankayala are analogous art because they present concepts and practices regarding selection of beams and switching bandwidth parts. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Vankayala into Guan. The motivation for the said combination would have been to optimize the resource allocation at the UE, providing a better quality of experience (QoE) to a user.(Vankayala-Paragraph 44)
Regarding Claim 6
Guan-Lin-Vankayala disclosed (re. Claim 6) wherein the characteristic is a first characteristic that relates to a communication rate or a quality of service level associated with the data traffic, (Lin-Paragraph 78, the UE may measure a received signal power (e.g., an RSRP) or other beam-specific characteristic (e.g., data or bit error rate, path loss, throughput, some other indicator of signal quality )
wherein a second characteristic relates to a battery power level of a battery, (Vankayala-Paragraph 52, resource controller 110 is configured to detect a change in at least one mobility parameter from the plurality of mobility parameters…a power saving mode, an application/service(s), a latency requirements ) wherein the result is a first result, and wherein the method further comprises:
determining, by the system, whether the battery power level of the battery of the device is below a defined threshold battery power level; (Vankayala-Paragraph 71,a UE battery level and various activation functions can be used as an input to the NN model.)
and determining, by the system, whether to switch from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part based on the first result of the determining of whether the value or the target value satisfies the defined threshold value, (Vankayala-Paragraph 22,Paragraph 43, determining, by the BS, whether a change in the at least one mobility parameter meets a QoS/QCI criteria ) a second result of determining whether switching from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part will result in an increase of the value associated with the first characteristic, (Vankayala-Paragraph 22,Paragraph 43, determining, by the BS, whether a change in the at least one mobility parameter meets a QoS/QCI criteria ) a third result of the determining of whether the battery power level is below the defined threshold battery power level.(Vankayala-Paragraph 45,provides a higher throughput at the UE and also reduces a battery drainage of the UE.)
Regarding Claim 8
Guan-Lin-Vankayala disclosed (re. Claim 8) in response to determining that the device is set to the power saving mode, (Vankayala-Paragraph 52, resource controller 110 is configured to detect a change in at least one mobility parameter from the plurality of mobility parameters…a power saving mode, an application/service(s), a latency requirements ) determining, by the system, that a bandwidth part associated with the device is to remain at the first bandwidth part and is not to be switched to the second bandwidth part; (Vankayala-Paragraph 22,Paragraph 43, determining, by the BS, whether a change in the at least one mobility parameter meets a QoS/QCI criteria ) or in response to determining that the device is not set to the power saving mode, determining, by the system, whether to switch from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part based on the result of the determining of whether the value or the target value satisfies the defined threshold value (Vankayala-Paragraph 45,provides a higher throughput at the UE and also reduces a battery drainage of the UE.) and based on whether switching from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part will result in an increase of the value associated with the first characteristic. (Vankayala-Paragraph 22,Paragraph 43, determining, by the BS, whether a change in the at least one mobility parameter meets a QoS/QCI criteria )
Regarding Claim 9
Guan-Lin-Vankayala disclosed (re. Claim 9) in response to determining that the battery power level is below the defined threshold battery power level, (Vankayala-Paragraph 71,a UE battery level and various activation functions can be used as an input to the NN model.) determining, by the system, that a bandwidth part associated with the device is to remain at the first bandwidth part and is not to be switched to the second bandwidth part; or in response to determining that the battery power level is at or above the defined threshold battery power level, determining, by the system, whether to switch from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part based on the result of the determining of whether the value or the target value satisfies the defined threshold value (Vankayala-Paragraph 45,provides a higher throughput at the UE and also reduces a battery drainage of the UE.) and based on whether switching from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part will result in an increase of the value associated with the first characteristic. (Vankayala-Paragraph 22,Paragraph 43, determining, by the BS, whether a change in the at least one mobility parameter meets a QoS/QCI criteria )
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan (USPGPUB 2021/0067234) further in view of Vargantwar (USPGPUB 20230199813)
Regarding Claim 12
While Guan substantially disclosed the claimed invention Guan does not disclose (re. Claim 12) wherein, in a time domain, the second bandwidth part relates to a fuller scan of the channel bandwidth, and the first bandwidth part relates to a sparse scan of the channel bandwidth by the device, and wherein the fuller scan of the channel bandwidth involves the device scanning or sampling more regions of the channel bandwidth than the sparse scan of the channel bandwidth.
Vargantwar Paragraph 13 disclosed configuring a UE to utilize a combination of the TDM approach and the FDM approach to enable optimal battery consumption while satisfying stringent latency requirements.
Vargantwar Figure 1D, Paragraph 15 disclosed wherein resources allocated to the different operating modes may be monitored to prevent any possible congestion regarding the resources. As a load associated with the resources (allocated for an operation mode) satisfies a threshold, one or more UEs assigned to the operation mode may be transitioned to another operating mode that is more suitable to the one or more UEs.
Vargantwar disclosed (re. Claim 12) wherein, in a time domain, the second bandwidth part relates to a fuller scan of the channel bandwidth, and the first bandwidth part relates to a sparse scan of the channel bandwidth by the device, and wherein the fuller scan of the channel bandwidth involves the device scanning or sampling more regions of the channel bandwidth than the sparse scan of the channel bandwidth.( Vargantwar-Figure 1D, Paragraph 15, transitioning between the different operating modes e.g. wideband BWP (e.g., 100 MHz) configured for sparse PDCCH monitoring or another BWP may be configured for full PDCCH monitoring )
Guan and Vargantwar are analogous art because they present concepts and practices regarding selection of beams and switching bandwidth parts. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Vargantwar into Guan. The motivation for the said combination would have been so that by configuring the UEs in this manner, base station 110 may be provided with a greater flexibility in serving a wide range of UEs.(Vargantwar-Paragraph 20)
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan (USPGPUB 2021/0067234) further in view of Abedini (USPGPUB 20230007672)
Regarding Claim 13
While Guan substantially disclosed the claimed invention Guan does not disclose (re. Claim 13) wherein a same bandwidth part is utilized for an uplink channel and a downlink channel associated with the device, and wherein the same bandwidth part comprises the first bandwidth part or the second bandwidth part; or wherein the same bandwidth part or a different bandwidth part is utilized for a supplemental uplink channel associated with the device, and wherein the different bandwidth part comprises the first bandwidth part, the second bandwidth part, or a third bandwidth part.
Abedini Paragraph 98 disclosed wherein the UE 115 may transmit UE capability information to the base station 105. The UE capability information may indicate that the UE supports multiple active downlink BWPs, multiple active uplink BWPs.
Abedini disclosed (re. Claim 13) wherein a same bandwidth part is utilized for an uplink channel and a downlink channel associated with the device, and wherein the same bandwidth part comprises the first bandwidth part or the second bandwidth part; or wherein the same bandwidth part or a different bandwidth part is utilized for a supplemental uplink channel associated with the device, and wherein the different bandwidth part comprises the first bandwidth part, the second bandwidth part, or a third bandwidth part.( Abedini-Paragraph 98, The UE capability information may indicate that the UE supports multiple active downlink BWPs, multiple active uplink BWPs)
Guan and Abedini are analogous art because they present concepts and practices regarding selection of beams and switching bandwidth parts. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Abedini into Guan. The motivation for the said combination would have been to enable a single processing chain to communicate via multiple different BWPs in different beam directions instead of requiring wireless communication devices to include individual processing chains for each discrete directional communication beam and for each discrete BWP associated with a same direction as with conventional techniques. Reducing the number of processing chains included in wireless communication devices reduces complexity, cost and power consumption by the wireless communication devices.(Abedini-Paragraph 31)
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan (USPGPUB 2021/0067234) further in view of Lin (USPGPUB 2023/0122075) further in view of Kim (USPGPUB 20220116802)
Regarding Claim 7
Guan-Lin disclosed (re. Claim 7) wherein the characteristic is a first characteristic that relates to a communication rate or a quality of service level associated with the data traffic.
While Guan-Lin substantially disclosed the claimed invention Guan-Lin does not disclose (re. Claim 7) wherein a second characteristic relates to an external power source associated with the device, wherein the result is a first result, and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the system, whether the device is connected to the external power source.
Kim Paragraph 248 disclosed wherein the terminal may transmit control information indicating that an external power supply device is connected to the terminal or control information indicating that a low power consumption operation for the terminal is unnecessary. In this case, the terminal may deactivate (e.g., release) DRX operations and/or the above-described relaxed measurement operation in the RRC connected state. That is, the terminal may deactivate (e.g., release) the operations for reducing power consumption.
Kim disclosed (re. Claim 7) wherein a second characteristic relates to an external power source associated with the device, wherein the result is a first result, and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the system, whether the device is connected to the external power source. (Kim-Paragraph 248, the terminal may transmit control information indicating that an external power supply device is connected to the terminal or control information indicating that a low power consumption operation for the terminal is unnecessary.)
Guan and Kim are analogous art because they present concepts and practices regarding selection of beams and switching bandwidth parts. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Kim into Guan. The motivation for the said combination would have been to enable the terminal to perform the relaxed measurement operation, and may perform the normal measurement operation when normal measurement condition(s) are satisfied.(Kim-Paragraph 29)
Guan-Lin-Kim disclosed (re. Claim 7) determining, by the system, whether to switch from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part based on the first result of the determining of whether the value or the target value satisfies the defined threshold value, (Guan-Paragraph 267, the available beam in the second bandwidth is obtained by the terminal device through measurement in the second bandwidth. Specifically, after switching to BWP #y, the terminal device needs to measure a reference signal of a candidate beam in BWP #y in an existing manner ) a second result of determining whether switching from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part will result in an increase of the value associated with the first characteristic, (Lin-Paragraph 80, the UE may select multiple beams for multiple transmissions based on the received signal powers and the transmit power limits. Beams may be selected for certain types of transmissions based on a priority of a communication being transmitted and/or based on resources required to support such communication. A beam with a highest uplink SNR may be selected for high quality video or low latency communications (e.g., URLLC), whereas a beam with lower SNR may be selected for data relating to email or messaging traffic.) a third result of the determining of whether the device is connected to the external power source. (Kim-Paragraph 248, the terminal may transmit control information indicating that an external power supply device is connected to the terminal or control information indicating that a low power consumption operation for the terminal is unnecessary.)
Conclusion
Examiner’s Note: In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREG C BENGZON whose telephone number is (571)272-3944. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8 AM - 4:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Follansbee can be reached on (571) 272-3964. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREG C BENGZON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2444
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