Patent 9320041

Prior art

Earlier patents, publications, and products that may anticipate or render the claims unpatentable.

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Prior art

Earlier patents, publications, and products that may anticipate or render the claims unpatentable.

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To identify the most relevant prior art for US Patent 9,320,041, I will consult the patent's own citations. The USPTO provides tools for searching patent databases and their associated citations.

Please note that for a definitive anticipation analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 102, a full claim-by-claim comparison would be necessary, examining every limitation of the patent's claims against the disclosures of each prior art reference. The descriptions provided here are brief summaries of the prior art's relevance as indicated by their citation in US9320041B2.

Here's an analysis of the prior art cited in US Patent 9,320,041:

I. U.S. Patent Documents:

  • US 2011/0150036 A1

    • Full Citation: US 2011/0150036 A1 to K. Han et al.
    • Publication/Filing Date: Published June 23, 2011. (Filing date: December 21, 2010)
    • Brief Description: This patent application describes a method for operating a base station in a wireless communication system that supports carrier aggregation. It involves activating a secondary component carrier (SCC) for a user equipment (UE) based on traffic volume and deactivating it when the traffic volume decreases. This is highly relevant as it addresses dynamic carrier aggregation management based on traffic, similar to the core concept of US9320041B2.
    • Potentially Anticipates: Likely all claims (1-20), particularly those related to determining traffic state, activating/releasing SCCs one at a time, and using thresholds for activation/release (e.g., claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 20).

  • US 2011/0211516 A1

    • Full Citation: US 2011/0211516 A1 to Y. Kim et al.
    • Publication/Filing Date: Published September 1, 2011. (Filing date: February 25, 2011)
    • Brief Description: This patent application details a method and apparatus for managing component carriers in a mobile communication system, including activating and deactivating secondary component carriers. It focuses on procedures for efficient carrier aggregation, which is directly relevant to the mechanisms described in US9320041B2.
    • Potentially Anticipates: Claims related to the overall dynamic activation and release of carrier aggregation (e.g., claims 1, 8, 13, 20) and potentially specific steps within those processes.

  • US 2012/0063428 A1

    • Full Citation: US 2012/0063428 A1 to C. H. Cho et al.
    • Publication/Filing Date: Published March 15, 2012. (Filing date: September 7, 2011)
    • Brief Description: This patent application concerns a method for configuring component carriers in a carrier aggregation system, including activating or deactivating component carriers based on various criteria. This directly relates to the management of SCCs in US9320041B2.
    • Potentially Anticipates: Claims concerning the activation and release of SCCs (e.g., claims 1, 8, 13, 20) and the conditions triggering these actions.

  • US 2012/0099505 A1

    • Full Citation: US 2012/0099505 A1 to E. P. Sim et al.
    • Publication/Filing Date: Published April 26, 2012. (Filing date: October 26, 2011)
    • Brief Description: This patent application describes techniques for managing power consumption in a user equipment (UE) operating with carrier aggregation, including deactivating secondary component carriers when not needed. While focused on power saving, the mechanism of deactivating SCCs is relevant.
    • Potentially Anticipates: Claims related to the release of carrier aggregation, especially when based on reduced transmission needs (e.g., claims 8, 16).

  • US 2012/0134305 A1

    • Full Citation: US 2012/0134305 A1 to K. Han et al.
    • Publication/Filing Date: Published May 31, 2012. (Filing date: November 29, 2011)
    • Brief Description: This patent application describes a method and apparatus for efficiently operating a base station in a wireless communication system that supports carrier aggregation. It discusses activating and deactivating component carriers based on traffic and resource availability. This is highly relevant to the dynamic management scheme of US9320041B2.
    • Potentially Anticipates: All claims (1-20), particularly those related to determining traffic state, activating/releasing SCCs, and using thresholds for activation/release (e.g., claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 20).

  • US 2012/0218949 A1

    • Full Citation: US 2012/0218949 A1 to S. Kim et al.
    • Publication/Filing Date: Published August 30, 2012. (Filing date: February 27, 2012)
    • Brief Description: This patent application describes methods for efficiently managing a secondary cell (SCell) in a carrier aggregation system, including activating and deactivating the SCell based on various conditions. This directly relates to the dynamic management of SCCs.
    • Potentially Anticipates: Claims regarding the activation and release of secondary component carriers (e.g., claims 1, 8, 13, 20) and the conditions for these actions.

II. Foreign Patent Documents:

  • WO 2011/093717 A2
    • Full Citation: WO 2011/093717 A2 to LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    • Publication/Filing Date: Published August 4, 2011. (Filing date: January 25, 2011)
    • Brief Description: This international patent application describes methods and apparatus for controlling secondary cells in a wireless communication system supporting carrier aggregation. It involves activating/deactivating SCells based on control signaling and scheduling, which is directly relevant to US9320041B2's focus on dynamic CA management.
    • Potentially Anticipates: Claims relating to the dynamic activation and release of carrier aggregation (e.g., claims 1, 8, 13, 20) and methods of controlling SCCs.

III. Non-Patent Literature:

  • R1-102550, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #61, "Considerations on Activation/Deactivation of SCELL", CATT; May 10-14, 2010.

    • Full Citation: R1-102550, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #61, "Considerations on Activation/Deactivation of SCELL", CATT; May 10-14, 2010.
    • Publication/Filing Date: May 10-14, 2010.
    • Brief Description: This 3GPP technical document discusses considerations for the activation and deactivation of secondary cells (SCells) in carrier aggregation. This document represents discussions and proposals within the industry standard-setting body for LTE-Advanced, directly addressing the technical problem US9320041B2 seeks to solve.
    • Potentially Anticipates: All claims (1-20), as it addresses the fundamental concepts of SCell activation/deactivation in carrier aggregation systems. It's likely to lay foundational concepts for dynamic CA management.

  • R2-104928, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #71, "Remaining issues on CA operation-UE procedures", LG Electronics; Aug. 23-27, 2010.

    • Full Citation: R2-104928, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #71, "Remaining issues on CA operation-UE procedures", LG Electronics; Aug. 23-27, 2010.
    • Publication/Filing Date: August 23-27, 2010.
    • Brief Description: This 3GPP technical document focuses on remaining issues related to UE procedures in carrier aggregation operations. It likely discusses how user equipment interacts with the network regarding the activation and deactivation of component carriers, making it highly relevant to the methods and apparatuses described in US9320041B2.
    • Potentially Anticipates: Claims related to user equipment interactions and procedures for carrier aggregation (e.g., claims 1, 8, 13, 20), especially those involving determining resource needs and utilizing PCC and SCCs.

  • R2-110014, 3GPP TSG RAN2 Meeting #72, "Carrier Aggregation activation/deactivation behavior and related parameters", Ericsson, ST-Ericsson; Jan. 17-21, 2011.

    • Full Citation: R2-110014, 3GPP TSG RAN2 Meeting #72, "Carrier Aggregation activation/deactivation behavior and related parameters", Ericsson, ST-Ericsson; Jan. 17-21, 2011.
    • Publication/Filing Date: January 17-21, 2011.
    • Brief Description: This 3GPP technical document addresses the behavior of carrier aggregation activation/deactivation and related parameters. This directly pertains to the thresholds and conditions for dynamic CA management described in US9320041B2.
    • Potentially Anticipates: All claims (1-20), particularly those specifying activation and release thresholds and the conditions under which carrier aggregation is activated or released (e.g., claims 2, 5, 10, 14, 15, 16).

  • R2-111168, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #73, "Discussion on CA activation/deactivation mechanism", ZTE; Feb. 21-25, 2011.

    • Full Citation: R2-111168, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #73, "Discussion on CA activation/deactivation mechanism", ZTE; Feb. 21-25, 2011.
    • Publication/Filing Date: February 21-25, 2011.
    • Brief Description: This 3GPP technical document discusses the mechanism for carrier aggregation activation and deactivation. This is highly relevant as it explores the technical underpinnings of dynamic CA management, a central theme of US9320041B2.
    • Potentially Anticipates: All claims (1-20), especially those detailing the methods and systems for dynamically activating and releasing carrier aggregation.

General Note on Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
Anticipation means that every element of a patent claim is found, either expressly or inherently, in a single prior art reference. Given the nature of these prior art references (many being 3GPP technical contributions and patent applications directly addressing carrier aggregation management in LTE-Advanced), there is a strong likelihood that several claims, if not all, could be anticipated or rendered obvious by one or a combination of these references. A thorough analysis would require mapping each limitation of each claim to the disclosures of these documents.

Generated 6/1/2026, 12:48:11 AM