Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 04, 2026
Application No. 17/796,176

CONNECTION MANAGEMENT IN MULTI-HOP NETWORKS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jul 28, 2022
Priority
Jan 31, 2020 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2020074116
Examiner
SAMARA, LOUIS
Art Unit
2476
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
OA Round
4 (Non-Final)
94%
Grant Probability
Favorable
4-5
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 94% — above average
94%
Career Allowance Rate
228 granted / 242 resolved
+36.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+7.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
265
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.6%
-38.4% vs TC avg
§103
64.6%
+24.6% vs TC avg
§102
14.3%
-25.7% vs TC avg
§112
13.4%
-26.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 242 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 Arguments Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-3, filed 03/03/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s)30-35, 37-38, 41, 43-49, 53-54, 61, 62, and 64 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20180092019 to Yasukawa, et al. (hereinafter "Yasukawa") in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20200367035 to Lee, et al. (hereinafter "Lee") have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai. Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-3, filed 03/03/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 33 and 54 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasukawa and Lee in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20200100088 to Kim, et al. (hereinafter "Kim") have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai. Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-3, filed 03/03/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 37 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasukawa, Lee, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20210266839 to Chen (hereinafter "Chen") have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai. Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-3, filed 03/03/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 43-46, 61, and 64 under 35 U.S.C. 103 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 Yasukawa, and Lee, in view of U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2020/0029384 to Hong, et al. (hereinafter Hong) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai. Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-3, filed 03/03/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 49 and 64 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasukawa and Lee in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20190380128 to Park, et al. (hereinafter "Park") have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. Claim(s) 30, 34, 35, 38, 41, 48, and 53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20180092019 A1to Yasukawa et al., from hereon Yasukawa in view of US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai et al., from hereon Tsai. Regarding claim 30 Yasukawa teaches…a method of operating a second wireless device to perform radio link recovery between a first wireless device and a network node (P. 1 discloses the equipment apparatus, the connection management method and an addressing method for managing connection in D2D communication) in a sidelink multi-hop communication network, the method comprising(P.59-6060 and 150 further disclose the sidelink multi-hop communication allowing for the configuration and selection of the relay also known as second device for d2d communication): receiving a first communication resume request message from the first wireless device (P. 97 discloses the receiving of the first communication request also known as configuration information… The relay terminal UE1 further transmits configuration information (the groupcast ID, address information on layer 2/3 of the remote terminal UE2, resource information for D2D communication, or the like) for D2D relay to the other relay terminal UE3 (S203). It should be noted that the configuration information for D2D relay may be transmitted from the base station eNB or the remote terminal UE2 to the other relay terminal UE3; Note: as per the specification the resume request message can contain different information including and IP and or groupcast ID also described as a destination address); transmitting a second communication resume request message to the network node over an established connection (P. 59-62 disclose the transmission of the resume request message to the network node over the establish connection also described on P. 93 ven if the remote terminal UE2 selects the other relay terminal UE3, the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 continues D2D relay, so that multi-links can be established using both the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 and the other relay terminal UE3. With the establishment of multi-links, the connection between the remote terminal UE2 and the base station eNB can be maintained; P.59-62…(1) Selection of the other relay terminal UE3 during the connection to the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 (2) Establishment of multi-links to both the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 and the other relay terminal UE3 (3) Continuous use of the IP address used for communication with the currently-connected relay terminal UE1); receiving a first communication resume confirmation message from the network node (Fig. 10-11, P.142-143 discloses the reception of resume confirmation message as per the specification message that includes configuration information and resources, IP, etc, P. 144 further disclose the allocation of D2D resources etc for transmission to recover from RLF conditions and to maintain the communication between the devices through the configured relay device ); and transmitting a second communication resume confirmation message to the first wireless device to establish a multi-hop connection between the first wireless device and the network node via the second wireless device (P.72 discloses…the other relay terminal UE3 receives the change request for changing the relay terminal, the other relay terminal UE3 transmits a response to the change request to the remote terminal UE2 (S107), and then a connection is established between the other relay terminal UE3 and the remote terminal UE2 (S109) ), but does not teach…wherein the second communication resume confirmation message is generated by the second wireless device and the second communication resume confirmation message is based on the first communication resume confirmation message. Tsai teaches… wherein the second communication resume confirmation message is generated by the second wireless device and the second communication resume confirmation message is based on the first communication resume confirmation message ( claim 6 discloses… receiving, at a second UE, a notify discovery request grant that instructs the second UE to perform a monitoring function; transmitting, from the first UE, a discovery message via a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) on a predetermined communication resource to the second UE; transmitting, from the second UE, a confirmation message to the server based on an analysis of the discovery message; and receiving, at the first UE, a discovery completion message from the server informing the first UE that the discovery procedure is complete). 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 combination of Yasukawa by incorporating the teachings of Tsai because the method and device allow for various modes of configuration to support simultaneous support for multi-links for v2x systems (Tsai, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Regarding claim 34 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the method of Claim 30, Yasukawa teaches…wherein receiving the first communication resume request message comprises receiving the first communication resume request message via a unicast transmission over a sidelink (P.109 and 99-100 ). Regarding claim 35 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the method of Claim 30, Yasukawa teaches…wherein the first communication resume request comprises at least one of: an indication that the request is for radio link recovery with the network node; and an indication of an ongoing end to end bearer; and an indication of the corresponding quality of service ("QoS") information between the first wireless device and the network node (P.30 ). Regarding claim 38 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the method of Claim 30, Yasukawa teaches…wherein the connection with the network node is a radio resource control (" RRC") connection (P. 9, 49 and P. a145). Regarding claim 41 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the method of Claim 30, Yasukawa teaches…wherein transmitting the second communication resume confirmation message comprises transmitting the second communication resume confirmation message to the first wireless device via device-to-device signaling (P.101 ). Regarding claim 48 Yasukawa teaches…a wireless device configured to perform radio link recovery between a second wireless device and a network node (P. 1 discloses the equipment apparatus, the connection management method and an addressing method for managing connection in D2D communication)in a sidelink multi-hop network, the wireless device comprising: processing circuitry; and memory coupled to the processing circuitry and having instructions stored therein that are executable by the processing circuitry to cause the wireless device to perform operations comprising(P.59-6060 and 150 further disclose the sidelink multi-hop communication allowing for the configuration and selection of the relay also known as second device for d2d communication; P. 77 discloses the circuitry): receiving a first communication resume request message from the second wireless device(P. 97 discloses the receiving of the first communication request also known as configuration information… The relay terminal UE1 further transmits configuration information (the groupcast ID, address information on layer 2/3 of the remote terminal UE2, resource information for D2D communication, or the like) for D2D relay to the other relay terminal UE3 (S203). It should be noted that the configuration information for D2D relay may be transmitted from the base station eNB or the remote terminal UE2 to the other relay terminal UE3; Note: as per the specification the resume request message can contain different information including and IP and or groupcast ID also described as a destination address); transmitting a second communication resume request message to the network node over an established connection(P. 59-62 disclose the transmission of the resume request message to the network node over the establish connection also described on P. 93 ven if the remote terminal UE2 selects the other relay terminal UE3, the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 continues D2D relay, so that multi-links can be established using both the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 and the other relay terminal UE3. With the establishment of multi-links, the connection between the remote terminal UE2 and the base station eNB can be maintained; P.59-62…(1) Selection of the other relay terminal UE3 during the connection to the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 (2) Establishment of multi-links to both the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 and the other relay terminal UE3 (3) Continuous use of the IP address used for communication with the currently-connected relay terminal UE1); receiving a first communication resume confirmation message from the network node(Fig. 10-11, P.142-143 discloses the reception of resume confirmation message as per the specification message that includes configuration information and resources, IP, etc, P. 144 further disclose the allocation of D2D resources etc for transmission to recover from RLF conditions and to maintain the communication between the devices through the configured relay device ); and transmitting a second communication resume confirmation message to the second wireless device to establish a multi-hop connection between the second wireless device and the network node via the wireless device(P.72 discloses…the other relay terminal UE3 receives the change request for changing the relay terminal, the other relay terminal UE3 transmits a response to the change request to the remote terminal UE2 (S107), and then a connection is established between the other relay terminal UE3 and the remote terminal UE2 (S109) ), but does not teach….wherein the second communication resume confirmation message is generated by the first wireless device and the second communication resume confirmation message is based on the first communication resume confirmation message. Tsai teaches… wherein the second communication resume confirmation message is generated by the first wireless device and the second communication resume confirmation message is based on the first communication resume confirmation message( claim 6 discloses… receiving, at a second UE, a notify discovery request grant that instructs the second UE to perform a monitoring function; transmitting, from the first UE, a discovery message via a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) on a predetermined communication resource to the second UE; transmitting, from the second UE, a confirmation message to the server based on an analysis of the discovery message; and receiving, at the first UE, a discovery completion message from the server informing the first UE that the discovery procedure is complete). 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 combination of Yasukawa by incorporating the teachings of Tsai because the method and device allow for various modes of configuration to support simultaneous support for multi-links for v2x systems (Tsai, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Regarding claim 53 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the wireless device of Claim 48, Yasukawa teaches…wherein the first communication resume request comprises one or more of: an indication that the request is for radio link recovery with a network node; an indication of an ongoing end to end bearer; and an indication of the corresponding quality of service ("QoS") information between the second wireless device and the network node (P. 30). Claim(s) 33 and 54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20180092019 A1to Yasukawa et al., from hereon Yasukawa and US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai et al., from hereon Tsai in view of US-20200100088-A1 to Kim et al., from hereon Kim. Regarding claim 33 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the method of Claim 30, but do not teach…wherein receiving the first communication resume request message comprises receiving the first communication resume request message via a broadcast transmission over a sidelink. Kim teaches… wherein receiving the first communication resume request message comprises receiving the first communication resume request message via a broadcast transmission over a sidelink(P.234 discloses… the target UE is the ProSe-UE-to-network relay UE, the target UE generates an inactivity timer T4108 with the value provided by the Maximum Inactivity Period IE included in the DIRECT_COMMUNICATION_REQUEST message and when there is no more message to be transmitted via the link to be established, the target UE starts the T4108 timer. In the case where the T4108 timer is started, when any communication activity occurs before the T4108 timer expires, the UE terminates the T4108 timer and resets the T4108 timer to an initial value ). 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 combination of Yasukawa and Tsai by incorporating the teachings of Kim because the method and device allow for various modes of configuration and determining a recovery procedure via a relay network device via a PC5 interface via a discovery message (Kim, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Regarding claim 54 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the wireless device of Claim 48, but do not teach…wherein the operations further comprise transmitting a link establishment response message to the second wireless device over a sidelink in response to receiving the first communication resume request message to establish a communication link with the second wireless device. Kim teaches… wherein the operations further comprise transmitting a link establishment response message to the second wireless device over a sidelink in response to receiving the first communication resume request message to establish a communication link with the second wireless device (P.234 discloses… the target UE is the ProSe-UE-to-network relay UE, the target UE generates an inactivity timer T4108 with the value provided by the Maximum Inactivity Period IE included in the DIRECT_COMMUNICATION_REQUEST message and when there is no more message to be transmitted via the link to be established, the target UE starts the T4108 timer. In the case where the T4108 timer is started, when any communication activity occurs before the T4108 timer expires, the UE terminates the T4108 timer and resets the T4108 timer to an initial value ). 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 combination of Yasukawa and Tsai by incorporating the teachings of Kim because the method and device allow for various modes of configuration and determining a recovery procedure via a relay network device via a PC5 interface via a discovery message (Kim, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Claim(s) 37 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20180092019 A1to Yasukawa et al., from hereon Yasukawa and US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai et al., from hereon Tsai in view of US-20210266839-A1 to Chen. Regarding claim 37 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the method of Claim 30, but do not teach…further comprising: triggering establishment of the connection with the network node after receiving the first communication resume request message and while the second wireless device is in a low powered mode Chen teaches…(P.22 discloses… the UE 110 transmits a response message 230 to inform the base station 120 of the decision to operate in the idle state 218 instead of the inactive state 216. The response message 230 can include an RRC connection-resume-request message, which can trigger the base station 120 to transmit another request message 220 that directs the UE 110 to transition to the idle state 218. The response message 230 can include a specific field or identifier to inform the base station 120 of the determination by the UE 110 to transition to the idle state 218. In other cases, the UE 110 purposefully transmits the RRC connection-resume-request message with information). 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 combination of Yasukawa and Tsai by incorporating the teachings of Chen because the method and device allow for various modes to support communication operations by detecting the power level of the device and transitioning between modes using RRC (Chen, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.. Claim(s) 43-46, 61, and 62 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20180092019 A1to Yasukawa et al., from hereon Yasukawa and US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai et al., from hereon Tsai in view of US-20200029384-A1 to Hong et al., from hereon Hong. Regarding claim 43 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the method of Claim 30, but do not teach…wherein receiving the first communication resume request message comprises receiving the first communication resume request message after a detected communication link failure between the first wireless device and a third wireless device forming part of a multi-hop connection between the first wireless device and the network node via the third wireless device. Hong teaches…. wherein receiving the first communication resume request message comprises receiving the first communication resume request message after a detected communication link failure between the first wireless device and a third wireless device forming part of a multi-hop connection between the first wireless device and the network node via the third wireless device(Fig. 8, P.253-255 discloses the step S820, if the remote UE determines a sidelink (or PC5) as the RLF recovery path, the remote UE performs a re-establishment procedure with the eNB (or network) via a relay UE (S840). [0254] Specifically, the remote UE sends a re-establishment request message to the eNB (or network) via the relay UE. [0255] Then, the eNB sends a response message to the remote UE via the relay UE and thus performs an RLF recovery procedure.). 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 combination of Yasukawa and Tsai by incorporating the teachings of Hong because the method and device allow for various modes to support radio link failure recovery with connectivity via RRC and sidelink communication (Hong, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Regarding claim 44 Yasukawa, Tsai, and Hong teach the method of Claim 43, Yasukawa teaches…further comprising: releasing the communication link between the third wireless device and the network node in response to the detected communication link failure between the first wireless device and a third wireless device (Abs ). Regarding claim 45 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the method of Claim 30, but do not teach…wherein receiving the first communication resume request message comprises receiving the first communication resume request message after a detected communication link failure between the network node and a third wireless device forming part of a multi-hop connection between the first wireless device and the network node via the third wireless device. Hong teaches… wherein receiving the first communication resume request message comprises receiving the first communication resume request message after a detected communication link failure between the network node and a third wireless device forming part of a multi-hop connection between the first wireless device and the network node via the third wireless device(Fig. 8, item 810 ). 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 combination of Yasukawa and Tsai by incorporating the teachings of Hong because the method and device allow for various modes to support radio link failure recovery with connectivity via RRC and sidelink communication (Hong, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Regarding claim 46 Yasukawa, Tsai, and Hong teach the method of Claim 45, further comprising: releasing the communication link between the first wireless device and the third wireless device following the detected communication link failure between the third wireless device and the network node (Abs). Regarding claim 61 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the wireless device of Claim 48, but do not teach…wherein receiving the communication resume request message comprises receiving the communication resume request message from the second wireless device after a detected communication link failure between the second wireless device and a third wireless device forming part of a multi-hop connection between the second wireless device and the network node. Hong teaches… wherein receiving the communication resume request message comprises receiving the communication resume request message from the second wireless device after a detected communication link failure between the second wireless device and a third wireless device forming part of a multi-hop connection between the second wireless device and the network node(Fig. 8, P.253-255 discloses the step S820, if the remote UE determines a sidelink (or PC5) as the RLF recovery path, the remote UE performs a re-establishment procedure with the eNB (or network) via a relay UE (S840). [0254] Specifically, the remote UE sends a re-establishment request message to the eNB (or network) via the relay UE. [0255] Then, the eNB sends a response message to the remote UE via the relay UE and thus performs an RLF recovery procedure.). 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 combination of Yasukawa and Tsai by incorporating the teachings of Hong because the method and device allow for various modes to support radio link failure recovery with connectivity via RRC and sidelink communication (Hong, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Regarding claim 62 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the wireless device of Claim 48, but do not teach….wherein receiving the communication resume request message comprises receiving the communication resume request message from the second wireless device after a detected communication link failure between the network node and a third wireless device forming part of a multi-hop connection between the second wireless device and the network node. Hong teaches… wherein receiving the communication resume request message comprises receiving the communication resume request message from the second wireless device after a detected communication link failure between the network node and a third wireless device forming part of a multi-hop connection between the second wireless device and the network node. (Fig. 8, P.253-255 discloses the step S820, if the remote UE determines a sidelink (or PC5) as the RLF recovery path, the remote UE performs a re-establishment procedure with the eNB (or network) via a relay UE (S840). [0254] Specifically, the remote UE sends a re-establishment request message to the eNB (or network) via the relay UE. [0255] Then, the eNB sends a response message to the remote UE via the relay UE and thus performs an RLF recovery procedure.). 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 combination of Yasukawa and Tsai by incorporating the teachings of Hong because the method and device allow for various modes to support radio link failure recovery with connectivity via RRC and sidelink communication (Hong, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Claim(s) 49 and 64 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20180092019 A1to Yasukawa et al., from hereon Yasukawa and US-20220174655-A1 to Tsai et al., from hereon Tsai in view of US-20190380128-A1 to Park et al., from hereon Park. Regarding claim 49 Yasukawa and Tsai teach the wireless device of Claim 48, but do not teach…wherein the second communication resume request message is based on the received first communication resume request message. Park teaches… wherein the second communication resume request message is based on the received first communication resume request message(P. 310 discloses… the wireless device may determine the first PLMN and/or the second PLMN based on the third message and/or the at least one system information block. Based on the determining, the wireless device may include/add the first PLMN identifier (e.g., or the first cell identifier) and/or the second PLMN identifier (e.g., or the second cell identifier) in the first message). 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 combination of Yasukawa and Tsai by incorporating the teachings of Park because the method and device allow for various modes to support radio link failure recovery with connectivity via interactions with the network device via messages 1, 2, and 3 (Park, P. 310). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Regarding claim 64 Yasukawa teaches…a method of operating a system to perform radio link recovery between a first wireless device and a network node (P. 1 discloses the equipment apparatus and method, the connection management method and an addressing method for managing connection in D2D communication) in a sidelink multi-hop communication network, the method comprising(P.59-6060 and 150 further disclose the sidelink multi-hop communication allowing for the configuration and selection of the relay also known as second device for d2d communication): receiving, by a second wireless device, a first communication resume request message from the first wireless device(P. 97 discloses the receiving of the first communication request also known as configuration information… The relay terminal UE1 further transmits configuration information (the groupcast ID, address information on layer 2/3 of the remote terminal UE2, resource information for D2D communication, or the like) for D2D relay to the other relay terminal UE3 (S203). It should be noted that the configuration information for D2D relay may be transmitted from the base station eNB or the remote terminal UE2 to the other relay terminal UE3; Note: as per the specification the resume request message can contain different information including and IP and or groupcast ID also described as a destination address); transmitting, by the second wireless device, a second communication resume request message to the network node over an established connection(P. 59-62 disclose the transmission of the resume request message to the network node over the establish connection also described on P. 93 ven if the remote terminal UE2 selects the other relay terminal UE3, the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 continues D2D relay, so that multi-links can be established using both the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 and the other relay terminal UE3. With the establishment of multi-links, the connection between the remote terminal UE2 and the base station eNB can be maintained; P.59-62…(1) Selection of the other relay terminal UE3 during the connection to the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 (2) Establishment of multi-links to both the currently-connected relay terminal UE1 and the other relay terminal UE3 (3) Continuous use of the IP address used for communication with the currently-connected relay terminal UE1); receiving, by the second wireless device, a first communication resume confirmation message from the network node(Fig. 10-11, P.142-143 discloses the reception of resume confirmation message as per the specification message that includes configuration information and resources, IP, etc, P. 144 further disclose the allocation of D2D resources etc for transmission to recover from RLF conditions and to maintain the communication between the devices through the configured relay device ); transmitting, by the second wireless device, a second communication resume confirmation message to the first wireless device to establish a multi-hop connection between the first wireless device and the network node via the second wireless device (P.72 discloses…the other relay terminal UE3 receives the change request for changing the relay terminal, the other relay terminal UE3 transmits a response to the change request to the remote terminal UE2 (S107), and then a connection is established between the other relay terminal UE3 and the remote terminal UE2 (S109) ), but do not teach…wherein the second communication resume confirmation message is generated by the second wireless device and the second communication resume confirmation message is based on the first communication resume confirmation message; releasing, by the first wireless device, access stratum ("AS") and non-access stratum ("NAS") configurations of the hop between the first wireless device and the second wireless device in response to a radio link failure of the sidelink connection towards the second wireless device; and keeping, by the first wireless device, end-to-end NAS and AS configurations between the first wireless device and the network node. Tsai teaches…. wherein the second communication resume confirmation message is generated by the second wireless device and the second communication resume confirmation message is based on the first communication resume confirmation message; ( claim 6 discloses… receiving, at a second UE, a notify discovery request grant that instructs the second UE to perform a monitoring function; transmitting, from the first UE, a discovery message via a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) on a predetermined communication resource to the second UE; transmitting, from the second UE, a confirmation message to the server based on an analysis of the discovery message; and receiving, at the first UE, a discovery completion message from the server informing the first UE that the discovery procedure is complete). 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 combination of Yasukawa by incorporating the teachings of Tsai because the method and device allow for various modes of configuration to support simultaneous support for multi-links for v2x systems (Tsai, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Park teaches…releasing, by the first wireless device, access stratum ("AS") and non-access stratum ("NAS") configurations of the hop between the first wireless device and the second wireless device in response to a radio link failure of the sidelink connection towards the second wireless device; (P.77, discloses… a wireless device measurement configuration/reporting; detection of and/or recovery from radio link failure; or NAS message transfer to/from a core network entity (e.g. AMF, Mobility Management Entity (MME)) from/to the wireless device.), and; keeping end-to-end NAS and AS configurations between the first wireless device and the network node (P. Services and/or functions of an RRC sublayer may comprise at least one of: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by 5GC and/or NG-RAN; establishment, maintenance, and/or release of an RRC connection between a wireless device and NG-RAN, which may comprise at least one of addition, modification and release of carrier aggregation; or addition, modification, and/or release of dual connectivity in NR or between E-UTRA and NR). 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 combination of Yasukawa by incorporating the teachings of Park because the method and device allow for various modes to support radio link failure recovery with connectivity via access stratum and non-access stratum which are key management functions which can be terminated at various devices such as network nodes and terminals (Park, P. 70). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO form PTO-892: S-20200053823-A1 to Mildh; US-20190124710-A1 to Stattin; WO-2021063519-A1 to Hu disclose resume messaging and link failure recovery. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LOUIS SAMARA whose telephone number is (408)918-7582. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6-3 PT. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at 571-272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /L.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2476 /PHIRIN SAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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Prosecution Timeline

Show 2 earlier events
Dec 20, 2024
Response Filed
Apr 03, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Jul 11, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Sep 10, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Sep 19, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Nov 29, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Mar 03, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 28, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

4-5
Expected OA Rounds
94%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+7.1%)
2y 5m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 242 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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