DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on March 13, 2026, has been entered. Claims 5-9 are presently pending with claims 5, 6, 8, and 9 being independent. Claims 1-4 are canceled. Claims 5-9 are currently amended.
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.
Claims 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eklof et al. (US 2022/0201582 A1; hereinafter Eklof) in view of Deenoo et al. (US 2020/0154326 A1; hereinafter Deenoo) further in view of 3GPP TS 36.331 version 15.6.0 Release 15 (Radio Resource Control (RRC); hereinafter 3GPP RRC) and Chang et al. (US 2022/0322173 A1; hereinafter Chang).
Regarding claims 6, 8, and 9, Eklof teaches a terminal comprising (read as a wireless device or user equipment (UE) (FIG. 11, element 1100 UE; ¶ [0036] User Equipment.):
a receiver that receives, from a source radio base station (read as network node or source node), a first message which has an information element in which a list is configured, the list including plural pieces of information on candidate cells (read as target information) and transition conditions (read as triggering condition) associated with the candidate cells (FIG. 6, element 600 Network Node; Fig. 8, step 4 Conditional HO Command; FIG. 11, element 1135 receiver; ¶ [0090] The wireless device includes communication circuitry. The communication circuitry is configured to receive information from nodes.; ¶ [0123] There may often be many cells or beams that the UE reported as possible candidates. The network should issue conditional handover commands for several of those candidates. The RRCConnectionReconfiguration for each of those candidates may differ, e.g. in terms of the HO execution condition.; ¶ [0125] A conditional HO command is sent to the UE by the serving gNB.; ¶ [0145] A UE configured with a set of conditional RRCReconfiguration(s) shall execute a conditional handover when the condition for the handover is fulfilled. Conditional handover configuration(s) may be for a cell or list of cells.; ¶ [0150] RRCReconfiguration with a reconfigurationWithSync (field containing configuration necessary to execute handover, like target information).; ¶ [0158] The network configures the UE with triggering conditions.; ¶ [0159] The source node may send a conditional handover (CHO) configuration to the UE, including the prepared RRCReconfiguration as well as a condition associated with the RRCReconfiguration.; [0161] A HO command type of message contains HO triggering condition(s) and dedicated RRC configuration(s).; ¶ [0361] A receiver.);
a transmitter that transmits a complete message (read as RRCReconfigurationComplete), in which the transaction ID (read as rrc-TransactionIdentifier) included in the one piece of information on the one candidate cell is included, to the target radio base station (read as suitable cell or towards that cell or target node) when the processor performs the transition (read as performs CHO execution) to the target radio base station, (FIG. 5, element 520 Communication Circuitry; element 510 Processing Circuitry; FIG. 11, element 1133 transmitter, element 1101 processor; ¶ [0090] The wireless device includes communication circuitry. The communication circuitry is configured to transmit information to nodes. The processing circuitry is configured to perform processing, such as by executing instructions stored in memory. The processing circuitry in this regard may implement certain function units.; ¶ [0159] The UE executes the CHO. The UE performs random access and synchronization towards the potential target node and transmits an RRCReconfigurationComplete to the target node.; ¶ [0200] The UE performs CHO execution towards that cell and sends an RRCReconfigurationComplete. Include in the RRCReconfiguration-Complete message an indication that a failure report is available, for the network may request it.; ¶ [0222] The RRCReconfigurationComplete message is used to confirm the successful completion of an RRC connection reconfiguration.; page 14 code, RRCReconfigurationComplete message, RRCReconfigurationComplete ::= SEQUENCE {rrc-TransactionIdentifier…}),
Eklof does not explicitly teach a transaction ID being included in a piece of information on each candidate cell; a processor that performs, based on one transition condition included in the list in the message, a synchronization with one candidate cell associated with the one transition condition and performs a transition to a target radio base station which configures one piece of information on the one candidate cell, without transmitting a re-establishment request message, when a radio link failure is detected during a random access procedure; wherein the processor includes, in a second message different from the complete message, (a) information on a cell in which the radio link failure is detected, (b) information on a location of the terminal where the radio link failure is detected, and (c) information on a frequency used when the radio link failure is detected, wherein the transmitter transmits, to the target radio base station, the second message including (a) the information on the cell, (b) the information on the location of the terminal, and (c) the information on the frequency therein,
In analogous art, Deenoo teaches a transaction ID (read as identity) being included in a piece of information on each candidate cell (read as target) (¶ [0078] One or more conditional mobility information elements (IEs) per candidate target cell.; ¶ [0103] A reconfiguration element may be associated with a specific target. Either the reconfiguration message may carry an identity associated with the configuration of the triggering condition or the triggering condition may carry an identity associated with the reconfiguration message.; ¶ [0186] A list of conditional reconfiguration identities (condReconfigID) may also be linked in reconfigID. A condReconfigID may include events that need to be satisfied to apply a corresponding reconfiguration associated with that or a given measurement object.);
a processor that performs, based on one transition condition included in the list in the message, a synchronization with one candidate cell associated with the one transition condition (read as trigger condition) and performs a transition (read as random access operation) to a target radio base station which configures one piece of information on one candidate cell (read as selected cell), without transmitting a re-establishment request message (read as instead of re-establishment request), when a radio link failure is detected during a random access procedure (FIG. 1B, element 118 processor; FIG. 2, illustrates trigger condition; ¶ [0030] A processor.; ¶ [0079] When a trigger condition is satisfied or met, a contention free RACH resource may be selected and random access operation performed.; ¶ [0086] The PRACH resource configuration may also be associated with a RS that may correspond to a new radio synchronization sequence (NR-SS).; ¶ [0087] A PRACH resource configuration may be received in relation to a handover.; ¶ [0171] When a trigger condition is satisfied, the WTRU may apply the conditional reconfiguration. The WTRU may access the target cell associated with the trigger condition using selected random access resources.; ¶ [0186] A list of conditional reconfiguration identities (condReconfigID). A condReconfigID may include events that need to be satisfied to apply a corresponding reconfiguration.; ¶ [0191] A conditional reconfiguration message that includes a trigger condition and configuration information for handover to a target cell.; ¶ [0208] WTRU may perform cell selection upon a radio link failure. If a WTRU determines that the conditional reconfiguration for the selected cells exists, then the WTRU may perform actions as if trigger conditions are satisfied towards that selected cell. The WTRU may transmit an RRC reconfiguration complete indicating successful conditional reconfiguration to the target cell instead of a re-establishment request.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine transitioning to a target cell without a re-establishment request taught by Deenoo with conditional handover taught by Eklof. One would have been motivated to do so in order to minimize handover delays and improve reliability, which would result in increased user satisfaction, by using the conditional handover mechanism while avoiding the delay associated with re-establishment (Deenoo: ¶¶ [0002-0003]).
Eklof and Deenoo do not explicitly teach wherein the processor resumes a radio bearer suspended due to the radio link failure in a case of performing the synchronization with the one candidate cell; wherein the processor includes, in a second message different from the complete message, (a) information on a cell in which the radio link failure is detected, (b) information on a location of the terminal where the radio link failure is detected, and (c) information on a frequency used when the radio link failure is detected, wherein the transmitter transmits, to the target radio base station, the second message including (a) the information on the cell, (b) the information on the location of the terminal, and (c) the information on the frequency therein,
In analogous art, 3GPP RRC teaches wherein the processor resumes a radio bearer (read as SRB1) suspended due to the radio link failure in a case of performing the synchronization with the one candidate cell (read as target PCell) (§5.3.5.4 start synchronizing to the DL of the target PCell; §5.3.7.2 upon detecting radio link failure; §5.3.7.5 re-establish RLC for SRB1, resume SRB1).
wherein the processor includes, in a second message (read as UEInformationResponse) different from the complete message (read as RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete), (a) information on a cell in which the radio link failure is detected, (b) information on a location of the terminal where the radio link failure is detected, and (c) information on a frequency used when the radio link failure is detected (§5.3.11.3, page 163, If detailed location information is available, set the content of the locationInfo as follows: include the locationCoordinates; set the failedPCellID to the global cell identity, if available, and otherwise to the physical cell identity and carrier frequency of the PCell where radio link failure is detected.; §5.6.5.3, page 235, Set the rlf-Report in the UEInformationResponse message to the value of rlf-Report in VarRLF-Report.; §6.2.2, page 397-398, UEInformationResponse, RLF-Report-r9 ::= SEQUENCE includes LocationInfo-r10, failedPCellID-r10 that includes physCellId-r10 and carrierFreq-r10.)
wherein the transmitter transmits, to the target radio base station, the second message including (a) the information on the cell, (b) the information on the location of the terminal, and (c) the information on the frequency therein (§5.3.1.3, page 72, After receiving the handover message, the UE attempts to access the target PCell. Upon successful completion of the handover, the UE sends a message used to confirm handover.; §5.6.5.2, page 234, E-UTRAN initiates the procedure by sending the UEInformationRequest message.; §5.6.5.3, page 235-236, Set the relf-Report in the UEInformationResponse message to the value of rlf-Report in VarRLF-Report and submit the UEInformationResponse message to lower layers for transmission.; §6.2.2, page 397-398, Direction: UE to E-UTRAN. UEInformationResponse, RLF-Report-r9 ::= SEQUENCE includes LocationInfo-r10, failedPCellID-r10 that includes physCellId-r10 and carrierFreq-r10.),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the resumption of a radio bearer taught by 3GPP RRC with transitioning to a target cell without a re-establishment request taught by Deenoo and conditional handover taught by Eklof. One would have been motivated to do so in order to recover from radio link failures faster reducing service interruption and latency, which would result in increased user satisfaction, by resuming a radio bearer to reactivate suspended communication with minimal overhead.
Eklof, Deenoo, and 3GPP RRC do not explicitly teach wherein the synchronization is executed as part of a conditional handover (CHO) procedure.
In analogous art, Chang teaches wherein the synchronization is executed as part of a conditional handover (CHO) procedure (¶ [0070] The operation of executing a conditional handover includes one or a plurality of the following: synchronization to the target cell is performed.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine synchronization during handover as taught by Chang with the resumption of a radio bearer taught by 3GPP RRC, transitioning to a target cell without a re-establishment request taught by Deenoo and conditional handover taught by Eklof. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce handover latency and improve service continuity by executing synchronization during conditional handover, avoiding delays of a re-establishment request and promptly restoring suspended radio bearers (Chang: ¶¶ [0002-0004]).
Regarding claim 7, Eklof teaches wherein the processor includes, in a message different from the complete message (read as RLF report), the at least one of the information on the cell and the information on the location of the terminal (read as UE), based on an instruction (read as request) from a network (FIG. 5, element 510 Processing Circuitry; ¶ [0090] The processing circuitry is configured to perform processing, such as by executing instructions stored in memory. The processing circuitry in this regard may implement certain function units.; ¶ [0127] The network can request information from the UE.; ¶ [0134] The RLF report contains various types of information to the failure, e.g., which cell the UE failed in, measurements for that cell and other types of information that the network might need.; ¶ [0135] The target node may request the UE to report the stored RLF report. RLF report logs information associated to the time and location where the failure has occurred. The UE transmits the report to the target.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Johansson et al. (US 2014/0133465 A1) discloses “Radio Link Failure Report Extensions in Mobile Communication Networks”
Latheef et al. (US 2020/0351744 A1) discloses “Method and Apparatus for Executing Conditional Handover in Wireless Communication Network”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID M KAYAL whose telephone number is (703)756-4576. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:30 ET.
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/D.M.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/RICKY Q NGO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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