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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 December 18, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed November 18, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant asserts that the amended claim limitation “monitoring for expiration of the first timer as an indication that conditional handover to a target cell has failed, without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station” is supported by paragraphs [0049] to [0053] of Applicant’s original Specification. However, this is incorrect.
Firstly, Applicant’s original Specification does not disclose “monitoring” at all.
Secondly, Applicant’s original Specification does not disclose that any aspect of the disclosed invention occurs autonomously (as asserted in Applicant’s arguments) “without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station.” Applicant asserts that this limitation is supported by paragraphs [0049] to [0053] of Applicant’s Specification, which disclose that the UE terminates the conditional handover once the first timer expires and then discloses that the UE may determine whether the trigger condition is met for another cell again. Applicant additionally asserts, incorrectly, that the paragraphs [0049] to [0053] disclose that the UE “immediately” proceeds to evaluate other cells, but that is also incorrect. Applicant’s original Specification does not disclose that no signaling may occur between the timer expiring and the UE proceeding to evaluate other cells.
Further, the scope of Applicant’s amended limitation is drastically different than Applicant’s asserting meaning that: no signaling may occur between the timer expiring and the UE proceeding to evaluate other cells. Rather, Applicant’s amended limitation “monitoring for expiration of the first timer as an indication that conditional handover to a target cell has failed, without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station,” does not place any limit on timing of the negative limitation “without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station.” Accordingly, the limitation, as written, means that no additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station is EVER received, aside from the single conditional message recited earlier in the claim. Accordingly, the limitation is not disclosed by Applicant’s original Specification.
Applicant further asserts that the claims are patentable because Deenoo and Deenoo ‘4326 allegedly do not disclose that the UE independently determines conditional handover failure or that the determination is made without receiving further signaling from the network. However, firstly, these limitations are not disclosed in Applicant’s original Specification. Secondly, these limitations are disclosed by both of the cited references (Deenoo, paragraph [0090], WTRU mobility triggered based on timer T310 expiry; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to perform a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of an impairment event such as T310 expiry) (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0080], validity timer and monitoring for trigger condition may be initiated by the WTRU; paragraph [0080], when a trigger condition is satisfied; paragraph [0110], WTRU may start monitoring the trigger conditions in relation to a conditional reconfiguration when the quality of the serving cell goes below a threshold and WTRU may continue monitoring the trigger conditions associated with the conditional reconfiguration before expiry of a timer; paragraph [0171], when a trigger condition is satisfied, the WTRU may apply the conditional reconfiguration and start a timer, such as timer T304, and then if the procedure is unsuccessful before expiry of the timer T304, the WTRU may consider that the conditional reconfiguration has failed).
Applicant further asserts that Deenoo’s validity timer is allegedly different than the claimed timer because Deenoo’s validity timer is allegedly “network controlled.” However, the claimed timer is received in a message from the network, just as the timer in Deenoo is. Further, Applicant does not even present any arguments regarding the disclosures in Deenoo ‘4326.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-13, 29-31 and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 11 and 29 recite “monitoring for expiration of the first timer as an indication that conditional handover to a target cell has failed, without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station.” Applicant’s original Specification does not disclose this limitation.
Firstly, Applicant’s original Specification does not disclose “monitoring” at all.
Secondly, Applicant’s original Specification does not disclose that any aspect of the disclosed invention occurs autonomously (as asserted in Applicant’s arguments) “without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station.” Applicant asserts that this limitation is supported by paragraphs [0049] to [0053] of Applicant’s Specification, which disclose that the UE terminates the conditional handover once the first timer expires and then discloses that the UE may determine whether the trigger condition is met for another cell again. Applicant additionally asserts, incorrectly, that the paragraphs [0049] to [0053] disclose that the UE “immediately” proceeds to evaluate other cells, but that is also incorrect. Applicant’s original Specification does not disclose that no signaling may occur between the timer expiring and the UE proceeding to evaluate other cells.
Further, the scope of Applicant’s amended limitation is drastically different than Applicant’s asserting meaning that: no signaling may occur between the timer expiring and the UE proceeding to evaluate other cells. Rather, Applicant’s amended limitation “monitoring for expiration of the first timer as an indication that conditional handover to a target cell has failed, without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station,” does not place any limit on timing of the negative limitation “without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station.” Accordingly, the limitation, as written, means that no additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station is EVER received, aside from the single conditional message recited earlier in the claim. Accordingly, the limitation is not disclosed by Applicant’s original Specification.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-13, 29-31 and 37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deenoo et al. (US 2021/0168678) in view of Deenoo et al. (US 2020/0154326) (Hereafter, Deenoo ‘4326).
Regarding claim 1, Deenoo discloses a method at a user equipment (UE) (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU detects an occurrence of an impairment event that satisfies a trigger condition), the method comprising:
receiving a conditional handover message, wherein the conditional handover message indicates a trigger condition and is associated with a first timer that is started after the trigger condition is met, wherein the trigger condition is logically separate from the first timer and is configured within the conditional handover message (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of an impairment event such as lower layer problems, random access problem, indication that maximum RLC retransmission has been reached, indication that beam recovery is failed, reconfiguration failure, integrity check failure, handover failure; paragraph [0097], trigger condition such as target cells whose RSRP or RSRQ offset/thresholds are smaller compared to the serving cell, validity timer; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered before expiry of T310 and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands; paragraph [0104], CHO triggers are associated with multiple measurement quantities, trigger conditions associated with a specific measurement quantity; paragraph [0163], condition that the selected cell has a valid (unexpired) CHO configuration);
starting the first timer in response to determining that the trigger condition is met (Deenoo, Fig. 2, timers T310 and then T311 started in response to detecting radio link problem; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of an impairment event such as lower layer problems, random access problem, indication that maximum RLC retransmission has been reached, indication that beam recovery is failed, reconfiguration failure, integrity check failure, handover failure; paragraph [0098], timers T300, T301, T304, T311; paragraph [0103], CHO may be triggered based on detection of problems, a new timer for problem detection, or an offset to timer T310, may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands);
monitoring for expiration of the first timer (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of a reconfiguration failure or handover failure; paragraph [0095], WTRU may select a cell for which a conditional reconfiguration exists; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0101], upon timer expiry, the WTRU may perform CHO; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer for problem detection , or an offset to timer T310, may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands; paragraph [0157], if T380 associated with stored Reconfig expires, perform action for stored Reconfig; paragraph [0159], upon T310 expiry, perform actions of reconfiguration) as an indication that conditional handover to a target cell has failed (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of a reconfiguration failure or handover failure; paragraph [0092], perform conditional reconfiguration if WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration for any suitable target cell that satisfies cell selection criteria; paragraph [0116], failure of handover procedure), without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station (Deenoo, paragraph [0090], WTRU mobility triggered based on timer T310 expiry; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to perform a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of an impairment event such as T310 expiry);
in response to determining that the conditional handover to the target cell fails, selecting another cell having a channel quality that satisfies a threshold target cell quality associated with the conditional handover message (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of a handover failure; paragraph [0092], perform conditional reconfiguration if WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration for any suitable target cell that satisfies cell selection criteria; paragraph [0092], target cell satisfies a selection criteria such as quality of the target cell above a predetermined threshold; paragraph [0095], performing cell selection; paragraph [0097], trigger condition such as target cells whose RSRP or RSRQ offset/thresholds are smaller compared to the serving cell, WTRU selects a target cell for which a conditional reconfiguration exists if the quality of the target cell is above a predefined threshold); and
determining whether to perform conditional handover to the another cell in response to the another cell being associated with a conditional handover message or to perform reestablishment with the another cell in response to the another cell not being associated with the conditional handover message (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of a handover failure; paragraph [0092], perform conditional reconfiguration if WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration for any suitable target cell that satisfies cell selection criteria, paragraph [0095], perform reestablishment if the selected cell for which conditional reconfiguration does not exist).
Although Deenoo discloses a conditional handover message and the first timer, Deenoo does not explicitly disclose that the timer is included in the conditional handover message. Deenoo ‘4326 more explicitly discloses that the first timer is included in the conditional handover message.
Deenoo ‘4326 discloses a method comprising:
receiving a conditional handover message (Deenoo ‘4326, Fig. 2, conditional reconfiguration message 206; paragraph [0078], configuration or reconfiguration message may include parameters associated with trigger condition such as timers, offsets, thresholds; paragraph [0080], Cell1 may transmit a conditional reconfiguration message 206 to WTRU; paragraph [0085], configuration message may include a handover command; paragraph [0090], WTRU may receive a configuration message from a source cell), wherein the conditional handover message indicates a trigger condition and comprises a first timer that is started after the trigger condition is met, wherein the trigger condition is logically separate from the first timer and both are configured within the conditional handover message (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0078], configuration or reconfiguration message may include parameters associated with trigger condition such as timers, offsets, thresholds; paragraph [0079], configuration of a trigger condition; paragraph [0080], WTRU configured with triggers, Cell1 may transmit a conditional reconfiguration and then validity timer and monitoring for trigger condition may be initiated; paragraph [0122], triggering condition based on comparison between measurement and threshold; paragraph [0171], when a trigger condition is satisfied, the WTRU may apply the conditional reconfiguration and start a timer, such as timer T304, and then if the procedure is unsuccessful before expiry of the timer T304, the WTRU may consider that the conditional reconfiguration has failed);
starting the first timer (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0080], validity timer initiated by the WTRU; paragraph [0110], WTRU may start monitoring the trigger conditions in relation to a conditional reconfiguration when the quality of the serving cell goes below a threshold and WTRU may continue monitoring the trigger conditions associated with the conditional reconfiguration before expiry of a timer) in response to determining that a trigger condition is met (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0080], validity timer and monitoring for trigger condition may be initiated by the WTRU; paragraph [0080], when a trigger condition is satisfied; paragraph [0110], WTRU may start monitoring the trigger conditions in relation to a conditional reconfiguration when the quality of the serving cell goes below a threshold and WTRU may continue monitoring the trigger conditions associated with the conditional reconfiguration before expiry of a timer; paragraph [0171], when a trigger condition is satisfied, the WTRU may apply the conditional reconfiguration and start a timer, such as timer T304, and then if the procedure is unsuccessful before expiry of the timer T304, the WTRU may consider that the conditional reconfiguration has failed);
monitoring for expiration of the first timer as an indication that conditional handover to a target cell has failed, without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0080], validity timer and monitoring for trigger condition may be initiated by the WTRU; paragraph [0080], when a trigger condition is satisfied; paragraph [0110], WTRU may start monitoring the trigger conditions in relation to a conditional reconfiguration when the quality of the serving cell goes below a threshold and WTRU may continue monitoring the trigger conditions associated with the conditional reconfiguration before expiry of a timer; paragraph [0171], when a trigger condition is satisfied, the WTRU may apply the conditional reconfiguration and start a timer, such as timer T304, and then if the procedure is unsuccessful before expiry of the timer T304, the WTRU may consider that the conditional reconfiguration has failed);
in response to determining that the conditional handover to the target cell fails, selecting another cell having a channel quality that satisfies a threshold target cell quality associated with the conditional handover message (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0078], configuration or reconfiguration message may include parameters associated with trigger condition such as timers, offsets, thresholds; paragraph [0110], WTRU may start monitoring the trigger conditions in relation to a conditional reconfiguration when the quality of the serving cell goes below a threshold; paragraph [0122], triggering condition based on comparison between measurement and threshold; paragraph [0206], when a conditional reconfiguration fails, WTRU may use a conditional reconfiguration associated with the next best target cell); and
determining whether to perform conditional handover to the another cell in response to the another cell being associated with a conditional handover message or to perform reestablishment with the another cell in response to the another cell not being associated with the conditional handover message (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0206], when a conditional reconfiguration fails, WTRU may use a conditional reconfiguration associated with the next best target cell).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, that the first timer is included in the conditional handover message, in the invention of Deenoo. The motivation to combine the references would have been to efficiently configure the parameters for conditional handover.
Regarding claim 3, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
selecting, by the UE, the target cell for performing conditional handover (Deenoo, paragraph [0078], WTRU configured with multiple condition reconfigurations associated with multiple target cells; paragraph [0095], WTRU may select a cell for which a conditional reconfiguration exists);
wherein the first timer is started based on selecting the target cell for performing conditional handover (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands).
Regarding claim 4, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
applying, by the user equipment, a configuration of the conditional handover message for performing conditional handover to the target cell (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands);
wherein the first timer is started based on applying the configuration for performing conditional handover to the target cell (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands).
Regarding claim 5, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
Initiating conditional handover to the target cell (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands);
wherein the first timer is started based on initiating conditional handover to the target cell (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands).
Regarding claim 6, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
Initiating random access to a target base station (Deenoo, paragraph [0116], WTRU determines that the trigger condition has been satisfied and initiates a random access procedure with the target eNB);
wherein the first timer is started based on initiating random access to the target base station (Deenoo, paragraph [0101], WTRU may start a timer and perform a RA procedure).
Regarding claim 7, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the conditional handover message further comprises a second timer corresponding to the another cell (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0078], WTRU configured with multiple condition reconfigurations associated with multiple target cells; paragraph [0095], WTRU may select a cell for which a conditional reconfiguration exists; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands), and the method further comprises:
determining that a trigger condition corresponding to the another cell is met when the first timer expires (Deenoo, paragraph [0101], upon timer expiry, the WTRU may perform CHO; paragraph [0157], if T380 associated with stored Reconfig expires, perform action for stored Reconfig; paragraph [0159], upon T310 expiry, perform actions of reconfiguration); and
starting the second timer corresponding to the another cell (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0078], WTRU configured with multiple condition reconfigurations associated with multiple target cells; paragraph [0095], WTRU may select a cell for which a conditional reconfiguration exists; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands).
Regarding claim 8, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the conditional handover message further comprises a multiple-handover timer and the multiple-handover timer is started with the first timer (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0078], WTRU configured with multiple condition reconfigurations associated with multiple target cells; paragraph [0095], WTRU may select a cell for which a conditional reconfiguration exists; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0101], upon timer expiry, the WTRU may perform CHO; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands; paragraph [0157], if T380 associated with stored Reconfig expires, perform action for stored Reconfig; paragraph [0159], upon T310 expiry, perform actions of reconfiguration).
Regarding claim 9, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 8, further comprising: performing when a multiple-handover timer expires. (Deenoo, Fig. 2, T311 Re-establishment when timer T310 expires; paragraph [0099], timer for enhanced reestablishment procedure).
Regarding claim 10, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the conditional handover message further comprises a maximum number of handover, and the method further comprises: performing reestablishment when a counter is equal to or greater than the maximum number of handover (Deenoo, paragraph [0099], maximum number of transmissions and counter for enhanced reestablishment procedure).
Regarding claim 11, Deenoo discloses a method at a user equipment (UE) (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU detects an occurrence of an impairment event that satisfies a trigger condition), the method comprising:
receiving a conditional handover message, wherein the conditional handover message indicates a trigger condition and is associated with a first timer that is started after the trigger condition is met, wherein the trigger condition is logically separate from the first timer and is configured within the conditional handover message (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of an impairment event such as lower layer problems, random access problem, indication that maximum RLC retransmission has been reached, indication that beam recovery is failed, reconfiguration failure, integrity check failure, handover failure; paragraph [0097], trigger condition such as target cells whose RSRP or RSRQ offset/thresholds are smaller compared to the serving cell, validity timer; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered before expiry of T310 and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands; paragraph [0104], triggers conditions associated with a specific measurement quantity; paragraph [0163], condition that the selected cell has a valid (unexpired) CHO configuration);
monitoring for expiration of the first timer (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of a reconfiguration failure or handover failure; paragraph [0095], WTRU may select a cell for which a conditional reconfiguration exists; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0101], upon timer expiry, the WTRU may perform CHO; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered and new timer for problem detection , or an offset to timer T310, may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands; paragraph [0157], if T380 associated with stored Reconfig expires, perform action for stored Reconfig; paragraph [0159], upon T310 expiry, perform actions of reconfiguration) as an indication that conditional handover to a target cell has failed (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of a reconfiguration failure or handover failure; paragraph [0092], perform conditional reconfiguration if WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration for any suitable target cell that satisfies cell selection criteria; paragraph [0116], failure of handover procedure), without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station (Deenoo, paragraph [0090], WTRU mobility triggered based on timer T310 expiry; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to perform a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of an impairment event such as T310 expiry);
in response to determining that the conditional handover to the target cell fails, selecting another cell having a channel quality that satisfies a threshold target cell quality associated with the conditional handover message (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of a handover failure; paragraph [0092], perform conditional reconfiguration if WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration for any suitable target cell that satisfies cell selection criteria; paragraph [0092], target cell satisfies a selection criteria such as quality of the target cell above a predetermined threshold; paragraph [0095], performing cell selection; paragraph [0097], trigger condition such as target cells whose RSRP or RSRQ offset/thresholds are smaller compared to the serving cell, WTRU selects a target cell for which a conditional reconfiguration exists if the quality of the target cell is above a predefined threshold); and
determining whether to perform conditional handover to the another cell in response to the another cell being associated with a conditional handover message or to perform reestablishment with the another cell in response to the another cell not being associated with the conditional handover message (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of a handover failure; paragraph [0092], perform conditional reconfiguration if WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration for any suitable target cell that satisfies cell selection criteria, paragraph [0095], perform reestablishment if the selected cell for which conditional reconfiguration does not exist).
Although Deenoo discloses the condition handover message and the first timer, Deenoo ‘4326 more explicitly discloses that the first timer is included in the conditional handover message.
Deenoo ‘4326 discloses a method comprising:
receiving a conditional handover message (Deenoo ‘4326, Fig. 2, conditional reconfiguration message 206; paragraph [0078], configuration or reconfiguration message may include parameters associated with trigger condition such as timers, offsets, thresholds; paragraph [0080], Cell1 may transmit a conditional reconfiguration message 206 to WTRU; paragraph [0085], configuration message may include a handover command; paragraph [0090], WTRU may receive a configuration message from a source cell), wherein the conditional handover message indicates a trigger condition and comprises a first timer that is started after the trigger condition is met, wherein the trigger condition is logically separate from the first timer and both are configured within the conditional handover message (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0078], configuration or reconfiguration message may include parameters associated with trigger condition such as timers, offsets, thresholds; paragraph [0079], configuration of a trigger condition; paragraph [0080], WTRU configured with triggers, Cell1 may transmit a conditional reconfiguration and then validity timer and monitoring for trigger condition may be initiated; paragraph [0122], triggering condition based on comparison between measurement and threshold; paragraph [0171], when a trigger condition is satisfied, the WTRU may apply the conditional reconfiguration and start a timer, such as timer T304, if the procedure is unsuccessful before expiry of the timer T304, the WTRU may consider that the conditional reconfiguration has failed);
monitoring for expiration of the first timer as an indication that conditional handover to a target cell has failed, without receiving and additional control or reconfiguration message from a base station (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0080], validity timer and monitoring for trigger condition may be initiated by the WTRU; paragraph [0080], when a trigger condition is satisfied; paragraph [0110], WTRU may start monitoring the trigger conditions in relation to a conditional reconfiguration when the quality of the serving cell goes below a threshold and WTRU may continue monitoring the trigger conditions associated with the conditional reconfiguration before expiry of a timer; paragraph [0171], when a trigger condition is satisfied, the WTRU may apply the conditional reconfiguration and start a timer, such as timer T304, and then if the procedure is unsuccessful before expiry of the timer T304, the WTRU may consider that the conditional reconfiguration has failed);
in response to determining that the conditional handover to the target cell fails, selecting another cell (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0206], when a conditional reconfiguration fails, WTRU may use a conditional reconfiguration associated with the next best target cell); and
determining whether to perform conditional handover to the another cell in response to the another cell being associated with a conditional handover message or to perform reestablishment with the another cell in response to the another cell not being associated with the conditional handover message (Deenoo ‘4326, paragraph [0206], when a conditional reconfiguration fails, WTRU may use a conditional reconfiguration associated with the next best target cell).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, that the first timer is included in the conditional handover message, in the invention of Deenoo. The motivation to combine the references would have been to efficiently configure the parameters for conditional handover.
Regarding claim 12, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 11, wherein an offset is added in the channel quality related with the conditional handover message (Deenoo, paragraph [0096], WTRU configured to add a positive offset when evaluating RSRP, RSRQ).
Regarding claim 13, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 11, wherein determining to perform conditional handover further comprises: determining to perform conditional handover to the target cell in response to the target cell being associated with the conditional handover message and the channel quality associated with the target cell meeting a threshold (Deenoo, paragraph [0092], WTRU may perform conditional reconfiguration procedure if the WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration or any target cell and the target cell satisfies a cell selection criteria).
Claims 29-31 are rejected under substantially the same rationale as claims 11-13, respectively. Deenoo further discloses the user equipment comprising a process in (Deenoo, Fig. 1B, processor 118).
Regarding claim 37, Deenoo discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the conditional handover message indicates a threshold target cell quality and determining whether to perform conditional handover to the another cell is further in response to a channel quality associated with the target cell meeting the threshold target cell quality (Deenoo, paragraph [0003], WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell; paragraph [0091], WTRU may be configured to determine whether to perform a reestablishment procedure or a conditional reconfiguration procedure after detection of an impairment event such as lower layer problems, random access problem, indication that maximum RLC retransmission has been reached, indication that beam recovery is failed, reconfiguration failure, integrity check failure, handover failure; paragraph [0097], trigger condition such as target cells whose RSRP or RSRQ offset/thresholds are smaller compared to the serving cell; paragraph [0098], timers T301, T301, T304, T300; paragraph [0103], CHO triggered before expiry of T310 and new timer may be set to facilitate triggering a handover based on CHO commands; paragraph [0104], triggers conditions associated with a specific measurement quantity).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WO 201902901 discloses ceasing to initiate a conditional handover when time exceeds a predetermined threshold.
WO 2018175721 discloses that to apply configuration information to begin handover when a trigger condition is met prior to expiration of a timer.
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/ALAN L LINDENBAUM/Examiner, Art Unit 2413
/UN C CHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2413