DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/06/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
3. Claims 1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11-13, 15-17, 38-39, 46-56, 58 are pending wherein claims 1 and 38 are in independent form.
4. Claims 1 and 38 have been amended.
5. Claims 3, 4, 8, 10, 14, 18-37, 40-45, 57 have been cancelled.
Response to Arguments
6. Applicant's arguments filed on 03/06/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The reasons set forth below.
7. On page 12 of the remarks, applicant argues, “ However, a serving cell sending conditional handover (CHO) configuration information to a UE, and the UE evaluating the target cell selected by the serving cell, as described in JIN, does not disclose a UE "selecting a candidate target cell of the plurality of candidate target cells for a conditional handover procedure based at least in part on the candidate target cell satisfying the conditional handover condition" and "transmitting, to the source cell, a conditional handover execution message indicating a selection of the candidate target cell of the plurality of candidate target cells for the conditional handover procedure," as recited in amended claim 1 (emphasis added).”
In response, examiner respectfully disagrees because:
Jin discloses that the serving eNB (i.e., source cell) sends CHO configuration message to the UE and the CHO configuration message includes a list of target cells with priority order (Fig. 8-10, Par 0163-0164, Par 0183, Par 0185-0187). During the handover evaluation process/check, the UE compares the signal quality of the serving cell and the signal quality of a target cell with the thresholds defined for conditional handover. When a target cell satisfies the handover condition, the UE selects the target cell and transmits a handover evaluation result to the serving/source eNB (Fig. 8-10, Par 0176-0177, Par 0183, Par 0185-0187, Par 0198-0199). Therefore, Jin discloses to select a candidate target cell (selecting a target cell based on HO evaluation process/check) of the plurality of candidate target cells (list of target cells included in the CHO configuration message) for a conditional handover procedure based at least in part on the candidate target cell satisfying the conditional handover condition (target cell satisfying handover conditions) (Fig. 8-10, Par 0163-0164, Par 0176-0177, Par 0183, Par 0185-0187, Par 0198-0199).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. 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.
9. Claims 1-2, 5-7, 11-12, 15, 38-39, 46-49, 51-52, 54, and 58 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al (US 20210377830 A1, hereinafter referred to as Jin) in view of Chen et al (US 20190223073, hereinafter referred to as Chen).
Re claim 1, Jin teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 8-11, Abstract), comprising:
(i) receiving, from a source cell (serving eNB), a configuration message (CHO configuration) identifying a configuration for a plurality of candidate target cells (group of cells) and a conditional handover condition (threshold S, threshold t, period h etc.) (Fig. 8-10, Par 0163-0175, Par 0185-0197),
(ii) selecting a candidate target cell of the plurality of candidate target cells (group of cells) for a conditional handover procedure based at least in part on the candidate target cell satisfying the conditional handover condition (selecting a target cell satisfying a threshold for conditional handover) (Fig. 8-10, Par 0163-0177, Par 0185-0199);
(iii) communicating with the candidate target cell to initiate the conditional handover procedure to transfer to the candidate target cell (transmitting random access preamble to the target cell) (Fig. 8-10, Par 0163-0177, Par 0185-0199);
(iv) transmitting, to the source cell (serving eNB), a conditional handover execution message (HO evaluation notification) indicating a selection of the candidate target cell of the plurality of candidate target cells for the conditional handover procedure (when a target cell is selected based on satisfying the handover condition, UE transmits a HO evaluation notification to the serving cell) (Fig. 8-10, Par 0163-0164, Par 0176-0177, Par 0183, Par 0185-0187, Par 0198-0199).
Jin does not explicitly disclose to (v) maintain a connection with the source cell after initiating the conditional handover procedure.
Re component (v), Chen teaches to
(v) maintain a connection with the source cell (source gNB) after initiating the conditional handover procedure (maintaining connection to source gNB after starting CHO to target cell) (Fig. 8-9, Fig. 14-15, Par 0124, Par 0129, Par 0135, Par 0159, Par 0167).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Jin by including the step to (v) maintain a connection with the source cell after initiating the conditional handover procedure, as taught by Chen for the purpose of efficiently performing conditional handover process to improve network performance, as taught by Chen (Par 0204-0207).
Claim 38 recites a user equipment performing the steps recited in claim 1 and thereby, is rejected for the reasons discussed above with respect to claim 1. Jin further teaches that the UE comprises one or more memories (2k-20), and one or more processors (2k-30) coupled to the one or more memories (Fig. 24, Par 0273-0274).
Re claims 2, 46, Jin teaches that the configuration message (CHO command/RRC Reconfiguration) identifies a set of cell configurations and a set of conditional handover conditions for the plurality of candidate target cells (target cell configurations), wherein the set of cell configurations includes a plurality of cell group configurations for each candidate target cell of the plurality of candidate target cells (target cell configurations include cell group list, Fig. 9), and wherein the method further comprises: receiving a delta signaling message to add a particular cell group configuration to the plurality of cell group configurations (updating existing CHO by including new cell ID received from the base station, Fig. 11), or removing the particular cell group configuration from the plurality of cell group configurations (Fig. 8-11, Par 0163-0175, Par 0183, Par 0185-0198, Par 0203-0204).
Re claims 5, 47, Jin teaches that a cell configuration of the set of cell configurations and a corresponding conditional handover condition of the set of conditional handover conditions is provided via an information element in the configuration message (Cell configuration information provided in an RRC Reconfiguration message) (Fig. 8-11, Par 0163-0175, Par 0185-0198).
Re claims 6, 48, Jin teaches that the configuration message is a radio resource control (RRC) message (Cell configuration information provided in an RRC Reconfiguration message) (Fig. 8-11, Par 0163-0175, Par 0185-0198).
Re claims 7, 49, Jin teaches that the configuration message identifies at least one of a cell list, a cell physical cell identity, or a cell-specific dedicated configuration (Fig. 8-11, Par 0163-0175, Par 0185-0198).
Re claims 11, 51, Jin teaches to determine whether the configuration message relates to the source cell or to a candidate target cell, of the plurality of candidate target cells, based at least in part on an information element parameter (a target candidate cell to perform handover is determined based on the information provided in the CHO command/RRR Reconfiguration message) (Fig. 8-11, Par 0163-0175, Par 0178, Par 0185-0198, Par 0201).
Re claims 12, 52, Jin teaches to release the configuration of the configuration message from the source cell for the target cell before expiration of a timer, and to perform at least one of: releasing a conditional handover configuration, or discarding a conditional handover configuration (UE deletes conditional handover configuration after performing handover to a target cell) (Fig. 8-10, Par 0179, Par 0183, Par 0201, Par 0204).
Re claims 15, 54, Jin teaches to receive a non-conditional handover command from the source cell, and perform at least one of: releasing a conditional handover configuration, discarding a conditional handover configuration, stopping a random access channel (RACH)-less timer, or performing a non-conditional handover in accordance with the non- conditional handover command (UE performs a non-conditional handover according to the non-conditional HO command) (Fig. 5, Par 0151-0152).
Re claim 39, Jin teaches that the configuration message (CHO command/RRC Reconfiguration) identifies a set of cell configurations and a set of conditional handover conditions for the plurality of candidate target cells (target cell configurations) (Fig. 8-11, Par 0163-0175, Par 0183, Par 0185-0198, Par 0203-0204).
Re claim 58, Jin discloses to select a target cell for conditional handover based on the target cell satisfying a threshold.
Jin does not explicitly disclose to determine, based at least in part on the conditional handover condition, that a respective beam quality of each candidate target cell, of a set of candidate target cells of the plurality of candidate target cells, satisfies a threshold, wherein the candidate target cell is selected based at least in part on a beam quality of the candidate target cell.
Chen teaches to determine, based at least in part on the conditional handover condition, that a respective beam quality of each candidate target cell, of a set of candidate target cells of the plurality of candidate target cells, satisfies a threshold (both the target cell 1 and target cell 2 satisfy the triggering condition), wherein the candidate target cell is selected based at least in part on a beam quality of the candidate target cell (target cell 1 is selected based on the signal quality of the target cell 1 satisfying the triggering condition (i.e., signal quality threshold)) (Fig. 2-4, Par 0020, Par 0071-0075, Par 0079-0081, Par 0093, Par 0103-0105).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Jin by including the step to determine, based at least in part on the conditional handover condition, that a respective beam quality of each candidate target cell, of a set of candidate target cells of the plurality of candidate target cells, satisfies a threshold, wherein the candidate target cell is selected based at least in part on a beam quality of the candidate target cell, as taught by Chen for the purpose of properly performing conditional handover (Chen, Par 0009-0012).
10. Claims 9, 13, 50, and 53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin and Chen as applied to claims 1 and 38 above and further in view of Susitaival et al (US 20190281511 A1, hereinafter referred to as Susitaival).
Re claims 9, 50, Jin teaches to apply the configuration from the source cell when executing a handover based at least in part on the configuration message relating to the candidate target cell (Performing conditional handover to a target cell based on the conditional handover configuration received from the base station) (Fig. 8-10, Par 0163-0177, Par 0185-0199).
Jin does not explicitly disclose to update a configuration for the source cell based at least in part on the configuration message relating to the source cell.
Susitaival teaches to update a configuration for the source cell based at least in part on the configuration message relating to the source cell (Updating serving cell configuration) (Fig. 1-2, Par 0071, Par 0073-0076).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Jin by including the step to update a configuration for the source cell based at least in part on the configuration message relating to the source cell, as taught by Susitaival for the purpose of reducing link switch latency while maintaining efficient signaling schemes, as taught by Susitaival (Par 0004-0005).
Re claims 13, 53, Jin teaches to update the configuration of the configuration message from the source cell for the target cell before expiration of a timer (updating existing CHO by including new cell ID received from the base station, Fig. 11) (Fig. 8-11, Par 0163-0175, Par 0183, Par 0185-0198, Par 0203-0204), and store a cell context (updating CHO by including new cell information), update the cell context based at least in part on delta signaling (storing the new cell information in the existing CHO after receiving the new cell information ((N+1)th cell) from the base station), apply the cell context in connection with performing a handover (performing handover operation based on the updated CHO), and discard other cell contexts for other cells in connection with performing the handover (releasing/deleting other cell information after handover) (Fig. 8-11, Par 0163-0175, Par 0179, Par 0183, Par 0185-0198, Par 0201, Par 0203-0204).
Jin does not explicitly disclose to reset the timer .
Susitaival teaches to reset the timer based at least in part on delta signaling (updating/extending the validity timer) (Fig. 4, Par 0048, Par 0081).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Jin by including the step to reset the timer based at least in part on delta signaling, as taught by Susitaival for the purpose of reducing link switch latency while maintaining efficient signaling schemes, as taught by Susitaival (Par 0004-0005).
11. Claims 16 and 55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin and Chen as applied to claims 1 and 38 above and further in view of Sunell et al (US 20200120560 A1, hereinafter referred to as Sunell).
Re claims 16, 55, Jin teaches to initiate the conditional handover procedure (transmitting random access preamble to the target cell) (Fig. 8-10, Par 0163-0177, Par 0185-0199.
Jin does not explicitly disclose to trigger a random access channel (RACH)-less timer in connection with initiating the conditional handover procedure.
Sunell teaches to trigger a random access channel (RACH)-less timer in connection with initiating the conditional handover procedure (timer associated with RACH-less handover is triggered) (Fig. 2, Fig. 4-5, Fig. 7, Par 0035-0036, Par 0038-0040, Par 0044-0047, Par 0065-0067).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Jin by including the step to trigger a random access channel (RACH)-less timer in connection with initiating the conditional handover procedure, as taught by Sunell for the purpose of efficiently performing handover to reduce handover delay and interference to other UEs, as taught by Sunell (Par 0009-0013).
12. Claims 17 and 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin and Chen as applied to claims 1 and 38 above and further in view of Chang et al (US 20190380081 A1, hereinafter referred to as Chang ‘081).
Re claims 17, 56, Jin does not explicitly disclose to transmit, based at least in part on a cell quality determination associated with the source cell and using a measurement reporting event message or a radio resource control (RRC) message, a conditional handover cancellation message during a conditional handover evaluation period and before performing the conditional handover.
Chang ‘081 teaches to transmit, based at least in part on a cell quality determination associated with the source cell (measurement report is sent and conditional handover configuration is released when the second condition is met) and using a measurement reporting event message or a radio resource control (RRC) message (measurement report is sent when the second condition is met and the second condition is associated with the measurement events), a conditional handover cancellation message during a conditional handover evaluation period and before performing the conditional handover (when a second condition is met, UE releases the conditional handover configuration and send a measurement report triggered by meeting the second condition. The base station cancels the conditional handover upon receiving the measurement report triggered by meeting the second condition. Therefore, the measurement report sent by UE (when the second condition is satisfied and conditional handover configuration is released) is the message to cancel conditional handover) (Fig. 1, Par 0011-0014, Par 0019-0021, Par 0029-0033, Par 0039, Par 0068-0069, Par 0114-0131, Par 0193-0197).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Jin by including the step to transmit, based at least in part on a cell quality determination associated with the source cell and using a measurement reporting event message or a radio resource control (RRC), a conditional handover cancellation message during a conditional handover evaluation period and before performing the conditional handover, as taught by Chang ‘081 for the purpose of optimizing the handover procedure to reduce data transmission interruption, as taught by Chang ‘081 (Par 0008-0010).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARUN UR R CHOWDHURY whose telephone number is (571)270-3895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang B Yao can be reached at 5712723182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HARUN CHOWDHURY/ Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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