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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicants’ communication filed on 02/06/2025. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-15 are currently pending in the instant application.
Drawings
Fig. 7 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because Fig. 7 fail to show to show at (730) that the terminal device measures the first measurement target in the first time window based on the first offset as described in the specification (see par. 0173). Otherwise, Fig. 7 has no purpose for determining first offset as it is not used subsequently. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). 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 Objections
Claims 1-2 are objected to because of the following informalities. Please spell out and introduce SMTC as synchronization signal block measurement timing configuration (SMTC). Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 2 recite determining an assumed and real propagation delay difference. However, it is not defined what the delay difference is between. The term “difference” requires a difference between two objects and the objects are not defined rending the claim indefinite.
Claims 3-15 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites “…determining, by the terminal device, a first offset of the first time window, wherein the first offset is a time domain position of the first time window based on a timing reference of a first serving cell; and measuring, by the terminal device, the first measurement target in the first time window.” (Emphasis added). The claims are indefinite as the first offset of the first time window is not used in any subsequent steps.
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 3-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Roy et al. (US 2022/0225132 A1).
Regarding Claim 3 Roy teaches the limitations "A communication method, comprising:
receiving, by a terminal device, configuration information of a first measurement target, wherein the configuration information of the first measurement target is usable to indicate a first time window, and the first time window is associated with one or more target cells; (see par. 0005, “the method can include receiving a measurement configuration from a serving cell of a user equipment (UE) in a non-terrestrial network (NTN). The NTN provides mobile communication service based on satellites belonging to the NTN. The satellites can be low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites, geostationary Earth orbiting (GEO) sate, and the like. The measurement configuration indicates a first synchronization signal block (SSB) based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) and a second SMTC. The first SMTC specifies first SMTC windows aligning with SSB signals from the serving cell of the UE. The second SMTC specifies second SMTC windows aligning with SSB signals from a first neighbor cell of the UE.”);
determining, by the terminal device, a first offset of the first time window, wherein the first offset is a time domain position of the first time window based on a timing reference of a first serving cell; and (see par. 0008 “ An SMTC offset can be determined based on the position of the second neighbor cell. The SMTC offset is based on a timing of the serving cell. The SMTC offset can be one of a time offset with respect to the first SMTC, a time offset with respect to the second SMTC, or a time offset indicating a starting position of an SMTC window within a periodicity of the second SMTC. The SMTC offset can be transmitted to the serving cell.”);
measuring, by the terminal device, the first measurement target in the first time window." (see par. 0017, “the method can further include performing measurement based on the SSB signals of the second neighbor cell, wherein the SSB signals of the second neighbor cell include a sequence of periodically transmitted first SSB bursts, and for each first SSB burst overlapping with the measurement gaps of the first measurement gap configuration, a second SSB burst that is adjacent to the respective first SSB burst in time domain.”).
Regarding Claim 4 Roy teaches the limitations "The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining, by the terminal device, a first offset of the first time window includes: determining, by the terminal device, the first offset based on locations of synchronization signal blocks SSBs of the one or more target cells associated with the first time window” (see par. 0012 “the method can further include transmitting information indicating a location of the UE to the serving cell, and receiving an update indicating an SMTC offset corresponding to one of the first, second, and third neighbor cells and a measurement gap offset corresponding to one of the second and third neighbor cells.” Also see par. 0015 “the method can further include transmitting an SMTC offset and a measurement gap offset in response to one of an SSB signal moving out of the measurement gaps specified by one of the first and second measurement gap configurations, a request from the serving cell, a propagation delay of one of the first, second, and third neighbor cells changing by an amount equal to a threshold, expiry of a timer, and a location change of the UE by a certain margin.”).
Regarding Claim 5 Roy teaches the limitations "The method according to claim 4, wherein the determining by the terminal device the first offset does not including receiving the first offset from a network device” (see par. 0068 “Alternatively, in an embodiment, the UE 101 may shift the SMTC and measurement gap configuration by itself and report the time offset to the network. Optionally, the UE 101 receives a confirmation from the network.”).
Regarding Claim 6 Roy teaches the limitations "The method according to claim 4, wherein the determining, by the terminal device, the first offset based on locations of synchronization signal blocks SSBs of the one or more target cells associated with the first time window includes:
determining, by the terminal device, a first cell from the one or more target cells associated with the first time window; and determining, by the terminal device, the first offset based on a location of an SSB of the first cell” (see par. 0061 “The network can periodically provide the location information (e.g., position, velocity, and time (PVT) information, orbit ephemeris parameters, or the like) of neighbor cells and optionally feeder link delays of the neighbor cells to the UE 101. The UE 101 can update the SMTC and measurement gap configuration regularly and inform the network about the updated configurations by sending a report.”).
Regarding Claim 7 Roy teaches the limitations "The method according to claim 6, further comprising: receiving, by the terminal device, first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates an identifier of the first cell” (see par. 0013 “the method can further include receiving periodically an update of an ephemeris, PVT information, and/or a feeder link delay of the second satellite associated with the first neighbor cell from the serving cell through one or a combination of a system information block (SIB), a radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and a MAC control element (CE).” Here, SIB includes cell ID).
Regarding Claim 8 Roy teaches the limitations "The method according to claim 6, further comprising:
receiving, by the terminal device, second indication information, wherein the second indication information indicates an identifier of a first ephemeris; and determining, by the terminal device based on the identifier of the first ephemeris, an identifier of the first cell corresponding to the first ephemeris” (see par. 0013 “the method can further include receiving periodically an update of an ephemeris, PVT information, and/or a feeder link delay of the second satellite associated with the first neighbor cell from the serving cell through one or a combination of a system information block (SIB), a radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and a MAC control element (CE).”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2 would be allowed once the indefinite rejections as described above are overcome.
Claims 9-15 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 as well as overcoming the 112 rejections to claim 3.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID BILODEAU whose telephone number is (571)270-3192. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:00am-4:00pm Eastern Standard 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, Wesley Kim can be reached at (571) 272-7867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/David Bilodeau/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648
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