DETAILED ACTION
Status of Case
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the RCE filed on 3/5/2026.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 3/5/2026 with respect to the pending claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
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 1, 5, 7-12, 16, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barbieri (USPAN 2020/0204252) in view of Palanki (USPAN 2011/0158164), and Werenka (USPAN 2007/0177572).
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 12, Barbieri discloses a computer implemented method (a method of facilitating communication, para.0171), and a corresponding system comprising at least one processor and at least one non-transitory storage media storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations (see figures 4-6, wherein disclosed is said system comprising said processor; figure 6 is reproduced below for convenience), and a corresponding at least one non-transitory storage media storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations (see figures 4-6, wherein disclosed is said non-transitory storage media), comprising:
receiving, using at least one processor of a synchronization device, one or more communication parameters from one or more communication devices communicating in a wireless communication system (user equipment device in wireless communication with the base station of the RAN, para.0033; information received can be used as parameters to determine how to assign remote radio unit (RRU), para.0057; parameters include numbers of mobile terminals 210A-C in active communication with the group of RRUs 230A-C, radio measurements performed by the group of RRUs 230A-C, radio measurements performed by the mobile terminals 210A-C [i.e. communication parameters], para.0060; determining failure based on received communication parameters, para.0064);
determining, using the at least one processor, based on the received one or more communication parameters, one or more synchronization parameters for each of the one or more communication devices (parameters include numbers of mobile terminals 210A-C in active communication with the group of RRUs 230A-C, radio measurements performed by the group of RRUs 230A-C [i.e. communication parameters], synchronization states of the group of RRUs 230A-C [i.e. synchronization parameters], para.0060; informing the RRU of the synchronization parameters for the next BBU instance to associate to, para.0122; exchanging control and data information needed for coordination across the cluster of RRUs. The information may include synchronization parameters, para.0151); and
providing, using the at least one processor, the determined one or more synchronization parameters to each of the one or more communication devices, and synchronizing the one or more communication devices using the provided one or more synchronization parameters (exchanging control and data information needed for coordination across the cluster of RRUs. The information may include synchronization parameters, para.0151; The first logical RRU 630A includes a first timebase synchronization circuit 638A to synchronize the first logical RRU 630A with a first timebase of the RAN, and the second logical RRU 630B includes a second timebase synchronization circuit 638B to synchronize the second logical RRU 630B with a second timebase of the RAN, para.0166; setting synchronization parameters in the selected RRU that are compatible with the second BBU, para.0229).
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Barbieri does not specifically disclose that one or more synchronization parameters include one or more offsets parameters, including at least one of phase offset, frequency offset or timing offset.
Palanki discloses that one or more synchronization parameters include one or more offsets parameters, including at least one of phase offset, frequency offset or timing offset (see paragraph 79: the synchronization parameter may include a frequency offset), and further discloses
many of the same limitations as disclosed by Barbieri (see paragraphs 7 and 71-90).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Barbieri and combine it with the noted teachings of Palanki. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method where a measurement is made of at least one synchronization parameter between a plurality of base stations (see paragraph 7 of Palanki).
Barbieri fails to explicitly disclose that the one or more communication parameters include one or more timestamps extracted, by the one or more communication devices, from one or more synchronization packets received by the one or more communication devices, such that the one or more timestamps go through at least two hops of communication including a hop in the one or more synchronization packets transmitted to the one or more communication devices and another hop in the one or more communication parameters transmitted from the one or more communication devices to the synchronization device.
Werenka the one or more communication parameters include one or more timestamps extracted, by the one or more communication devices, from one or more synchronization packets received by the one or more communication devices, such that the one or more timestamps go through at least two hops of communication including a hop in the one or more synchronization packets transmitted to the one or more communication devices and another hop in the one or more communication parameters transmitted from the one or more communication devices to the synchronization device (see figure 4: exchange timing information with RF receiver, RF receiver acquires timestamps, constructs message that includes associated timestamps, and transmits the message over the network, i.e. thus the timestamps go through at least two hops: from transmitter to receiver in the received message and then from receiver to transmitter in the constructed message that is transmitted over the network).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Barbieri and combine it with the noted teachings of Werenka. The motivation to combine these references is for providing a method for reporting synchronization status in a network (see paragraph 3 of Werenka).
Consider claims 5 and 16, Barbieri discloses that the one or more synchronization parameters include at least one of the following: a phase, a frequency, a timing offset and any combination thereof associated with each of the one or more communication devices (parameters include synchronization states of the group of RRUs, para.0060; synchronization state indicates whether a certain RRU is time/frequency/phase synchronized with the remaining RRUs, and to which extent, para.0135; RRUs may be time, frequency, and/or phase synchronized, and they may be instructed by the BBU to transmit the same data stream, para.0148).
Consider claims 7 and 18, Barbieri discloses that the one or more communication devices are configured to transmit one or more data packets based on the synchronizing (see paragraphs 229-230, wherein disclosed is said transmitting).
Consider claims 8 and 19, Barbieri discloses that the one or more communication devices include at least one of the following: a base station, a gNodeB base station, an eNodeB base station, and any combination thereof (see paragraphs 33 and 219: base station).
Consider claim 9, Barbieri discloses that the one or more communication devices include at least one of the following: one or more distributed units, one or more radio units, and any combinations thereof (see paragraph 241: “remote radio unit (RRU) can be used with a plurality of baseband units (BBUs) in a distributed radio access network (RAN)”).
Consider claim 10, Barbieri discloses that the base station is a base station operating in at least one of the following communications systems: a long term evolution communications system and a new radio communications system (see paragraphs 38 and 148: LTE).
Consider claim 20, Barbieri discloses that the one or more communication devices include at least one of the following: one or more distributed units, one or more radio units, and any combinations thereof (see paragraph 241: “remote radio unit (RRU) can be used with a plurality of baseband units (BBUs) in a distributed radio access network (RAN)”); and
the base station is a base station operating in at least one of the following communications systems: a long term evolution communications system and a new radio communications system (see paragraphs 38 and 148: LTE).
Claims 6 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barbieri (USPAN 2020/0204252) in view of Palanki (USPAN 2011/0158164), Werenka (USPAN 2007/0177572), and Kadmon (USPN 9,706,438).
Consider claims 6 and 17, although Barbieri discloses determining one or more synchronization parameters, and synchronizing the one or more communication devices using the synchronization parameters (see above), Barbieri does not specifically disclose determining a sector status.
Kadmon discloses determining a sector status (see col. 2 lines 28-30: determining said sector status).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Barbieri and combine it with the noted teachings of Kadmon. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a self-optimized network and providing for a method to manage radio access network (RAN) capacity as demand grows and providing congestion relief (see col. 1 lines 13-30 of Kadmon).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 and 13-15 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jamal Javaid whose telephone number is 571-270-5137 and email address is Jamal.Javaid@uspto.gov.
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/JAMAL JAVAID/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412