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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 34, 41, 44, 47, 54-58 objected to because of the following informalities: These claims uses “;” and “and” after each other such as in the order of “; and”. Appropriate correction is required.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 34 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments filed December 2, 2025, with respect to claims 44 and 54 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 10 of the Remarks, applicant argues that none of the noted clauses of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi, alone or in combination, teach that the "the BSR includes a first buffer size for the first QoS flow and a second buffer size for the second QoS flow." Examiner respectfully disagrees with this argument. In paragraph 0075 “SDAP 225 receives the three IP packets from one or more QoS flows and maps the three packets to radio bearers. In FIG. 4A, the SDAP 225 maps IP packets n and n+1 to a first radio bearer 402 and maps IP packet m to a second radio bearer” and in paragraph 0068 “SDAP 215 at the UE 210 may be informed of the mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers through reflective mapping or control signaling received from the gNB” and in paragraph 0103 “UE may be the same or similar to the wireless device” and in paragraph 0266 “wireless device may perform a regular BSR/SR procedure by triggering a BSR for the new data” and in paragraph 0266 “For example, the wireless device may trigger a BSR for the new data. The wireless device may trigger a second SR in response to the BSR if needed” which as a whole teaches that when a wireless device may receive new data such as uplink data and/or sidelink data, a BSR can be triggered for the new data and subsequent data.
On page 12 of the Remarks, applicant argues that none of the noted clauses of Cakulev, Kim, and Van Phan, alone or in combination, teach that the "first IP flow and the second IP flow are mapped to a same QoS flow in an access stratum layer." Examiner respectfully disagrees with this argument. In paragraph 0129 “use of the reflective QoS means that the terminal identifies the QoS flow IDs of the IP flows received on the downlink and stores the identified QoS flow IDs of the IP flows” and in paragraphs 0175-0176 “IP flow for specific reason (e.g., IP flows having different QoS flow IDs are mapped one by one)” as a whole teaches that IP flows can have the same QoS flow ID if they are not mapped one by one.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 42 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.
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 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.
Claim 34 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei et al. US 20180160445 A1 (Domestic Priority December 7, 2016) in view of Sambhwani et al. US 20120281642 A1 (Domestic Priority 11, 08, 2010).
Regarding claim 34 (Previously Presented), Babaei discloses a method comprising: generating, for transmission to a user equipment (UE) (see, the exchanging information regarding UE configuration with messages, section 0114; noted, the generation of CAM message to support transmission by a UE, section 0158), a configuration message (see, the exchanging information regarding UE configuration with messages, section 0114), wherein the configuration message includes configuration information (see, the exchanging information regarding UE configuration with messages, section 0114) for a configured grant (CG) (see, base station may provide an SPS grant, section 0174), wherein: a first occasion of the CG is configured to support a first transport block (TB) size and a second occasion of the CG is configured to support a second TB size that is different from the first TB size; and the configuration information indicates the first TB size for the first occasion and the second TB size for the second occasion in an explicit manner; and receiving; uplink data from the UE based on the CG (see, UE may transmit uplink data on the DCI including the corresponding traffic type in the corresponding SPS grant where the DCI comprises of fields associated with SPS configuration parameters, section 0185).
Babaei discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: a first occasion of the CG is configured to support a first transport block (TB) size and a second occasion of the CG is configured to support a second TB size that is different from the first TB size; and the configuration information indicates the first TB size for the first occasion and the second TB size for the second occasion in an explicit manner; and receiving; uplink data from the UE based on the CG (see, UE may transmit uplink data on the DCI including the corresponding traffic type in the corresponding SPS grant where the DCI comprises of fields associated with SPS configuration parameters, section 0185).
However Sambhwani from a similar field of endeavor discloses: a first occasion of the CG is configured to support a first transport block (TB) size (see, primary scheduling grant may be utilized to determine a packet size (e.g., the primary transport block size) to be utilized on the primary stream, section 0090 Sambhwani) and a second occasion of the CG is configured to support a second TB size (see, the secondary scheduling grant may be utilized to determine a packet size (e.g., the secondary transport block size) to be utilized on the secondary stream, section 0090 Sambhwani) that is different from the first TB size (see, different combinations of transport block sizes across the two stream, section 0081 Sambhwani); and the configuration information indicates the first TB size for the first occasion and the second TB size for the second occasion in an explicit manner (primary scheduling grant may be utilized to determine a packet size (e.g., the primary transport block size) to be utilized on the primary stream and the secondary scheduling grant may be utilized to determine a packet size (e.g., the secondary transport block size) to be utilized on the secondary stream, section 0090 Sambhwani); and receiving; uplink data from the UE based on the CG.
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the method of Babaei with the TB sizes of Sambhwani. The motivation would have been to improve sending data to the network device based on the transport block size.
Claim 41 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei et al. US 20180160445 A1 (Domestic Priority December 7, 2016) in view of Sambhwani et al. US 20120281642 A1 (Domestic Priority 11, 08, 2010), and in further view of Bhattad et al. US 20200314876 A1 (Foreign Priority March 28, 2019).
The combination of Babaei and Sambhwani discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 41 (Previously presented), the method of claim 34, wherein: the configuration information indicates that the first occasion of the CG supports a set of TB sizes; and said receiving uplink data from the UE based on the CG includes: receiving, from the UE in the first occasion, a TB including the uplink data and uplink control information (UCI) indicating an actual size of the TB being transmitted based on the CG, wherein the actual size of the TB is selected from the set of TB sizes indicated in the configuration information; determining the actual size of the TB based on the UCI; and decoding the TB based on the actual size.
However Bhattad from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the method of claim 34, wherein: the configuration information indicates (see, apparatus for wireless communication such as UE may include means for receiving an indication of a set of starting offsets for an uplink communication where set of starting offsets are for a configured grant uplink (CG-UL) communication, section 0041 Bhattad) that the first occasion of the CG supports a set of TB sizes (see, the use of transport block size for transmission for configured grant uplink communication, section 0094 Bhattad; noted, set of starting offsets associated with a configured grant uplink (CG-UL) communication, section 0041 Bhattad); and said receiving uplink data from the UE based on the CG (see, apparatus for wireless communication such as UE may include means for receiving an indication of a set of starting offsets for an uplink communication where set of starting offsets are for a configured grant uplink (CG-UL) communication, section 0041 Bhattad) includes: receiving, from the UE in the first occasion, a TB including the uplink data and uplink control information (UCI) (see, base station may use the starting offset, which may be indicated in uplink control information (UCI) for the CG-UL communication (sometimes referred to as CG-UCI), to calculate a TB size for the retransmission, section 0094 Bhattad) indicating an actual size of the TB being transmitted based on the CG (see, UE may determine a TB size, a rate matching scheme, and/or information to be transmitted in the CG-UL communication after selecting the starting offset for a CG-UL communication, section 0106 Bhattad), wherein the actual size of the TB is selected from the set of TB sizes (see, used TB size are determined from symbols that correspond to different TB sizes, section 0098 Bhattad) indicated in the configuration information (see, UE may determine a TB size, a rate matching scheme, and/or information to be transmitted in the CG-UL communication after selecting the starting offset for a CG-UL communication, section 0106 Bhattad); determining the actual size of the TB based on the UCI (see, UCI that has information on transport block size, section 0154 Bhattad); and decoding the TB based on the actual size (see, UE has processor that can transmit UCI that indicates transport block size, section 0154 Bhattad; noted, processor can be used to decode, section 0038 Bhattad).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Babaei and Sambhwani with the transport blocks of Bhattad. The motivation would have been to improve wireless communication in a shared spectrum.
Claim 43 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei et al. US 20180160445 A1 (Domestic Priority December 7, 2016) in view of Sambhwani et al. US 20120281642 A1 (Domestic Priority 11, 08, 2010), and in further view of Freda et al. US 20190149274 A1 (Domestic Priority May 10, 2017).
The combination of Babaei and Sambhwani discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 43 (Previously presented), the method of claim 34, further comprising: receiving, from a core network (CN), suggestion information regarding quality of service (QoS} information for a plurality of uplink data.
However Freda from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the method of claim 34, further comprising: from a core network (CN), suggestion information (see, core network may serve as a gateway for the WTRUs accessing other networks where WTRUs have a transmit/receive element, sections 0034-0036 Freda; noted, a grant may indicate to a WTRU the specific resources within the initial resource range that the WTRU may be required to transmit, section 0143 Freda) regarding quality of service (QoS} information for a plurality of uplink data flows (see, a WTRU may (e.g. alternatively) consider a single value as valid out of a plurality of values, e.g., based on reception of control signaling (DCI, MAC CE) that may indicate a valid value based on previously reported QoS parameters, section 0220 Freda; noted, WTRU may receive signaling (e.g., implicitly or explicitly) in a DCI to indicate that transmissions associated with a specific grant may be performed based on a different set of parameters associated with a flow, section 0236 Freda).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Babaei and Sambhwani with the suggestion information of Freda. The motivation would have been to involve indications of transmission and reception in units.
Claim 44 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cakulev et al. US 20200382986 A1 (Domestic Priority January 23, 2019) in view of Van Phan et al. US 20230199757 A1 (Domestic Priority April 15, 2020), and in further view of Yi et al. US 20210144582 A1 (Domestic Priority November 7, 2019).
Regarding claim 44 (Currently amended), Cakulev discloses an apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to: receive, from a network via the interface circuitry, a configuration message (see, the UE that receives QoS flows information, parameters, sections 0013, 0016, 0023) that includes configuration information for at least one configured grant (CG) and is determined based on quality of service (QoS) information for a plurality of uplink data flows (see, QoS Flows or QoS rules with which the UE is permitted to communicate associated data, and the identifying of QoS flows, section 0013, 0016, 0023) with different QoS attributes (see, number of different possible QoS flow indicators (QFI)s or the number of different types of data flows can be used within a mapping of the QoS flows to the resources, section 0009), wherein: the plurality of uplink data flows (see, QoS Flows or QoS rules with which the UE is permitted to communicate associated data, and the identifying of QoS flows, section 0013, 0016, 0023) includes a first data flow and a second data flow (fig. 1A, communications between the UE and the RAN can involve a first QoS flow and second QoS flow, section 0022), and the QoS information (see, one or more QoS parameters that are included in the QoS profile of the information identifying the QoS, section 0026) indicates that the first data flow is mapped to a first QoS flow (see, a first QoS flow can be assigned to use a first DRB where a data flow that is to receive a particular QoS can be referred to as a QoS flow, section 0022) and the second data flow mapped to a second QoS flow (see, a second QoS flow can be assigned to use a second DRB where a data flow that is to receive a particular QoS can be referred to as a QoS flow, section 0022); and the at least one CG includes a first CG and a second CG that is different from the first CG, and the configuration information indicates that the first QoS flow is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG, and the second QoS flow is configured to be transmitted based on the second CG; and generate, for transmission to the network based on the at least one CG, uplink data based on the plurality of uplink data flows; and generate a buffer status report (BSR) for transmission to the network, wherein the BSR includes a first buffer size for the first QoS flow and a second buffer size for the second QoS flow; and memory coupled with the processing circuitry to store the configuration information.
Cakulev discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: and the at least one CG includes a first CG and a second CG that is different from the first CG, and the configuration information indicates that the first QoS flow is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG, and the second QoS flow is configured to be transmitted based on the second CG; and generate, for transmission to the network based on the at least one CG, uplink data based on the plurality of uplink data flows; and generate a buffer status report (BSR) for transmission to the network, wherein the BSR includes a first buffer size for the first QoS flow and a second buffer size for the second QoS flow; and memory coupled with the processing circuitry (fig. 4, device 400 with memory 430 that stores information and/or instructions for use by processor, sections 0062-0064) to store the configuration information (see, the UE that receives QoS flows information, parameters, sections 0013, 0016, 0023).
However Van Phan from a similar field of endeavor discloses: and the at least one CG includes a first CG and a second CG that is different from the first CG (fig. 5, different combinations of configured grants implying unique different configured grants, section 0069 Van Phan), and the configuration information (see, configuration of the first and second configured grants provided by the BS/gNB via signaling such as DCI or system information block, section 0054 Van Phan) indicates that the first QoS flow (see, UE using configured grant to transmit data where the configured grants is associated with QoS, sections 0045-0051 Van Phan) is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG (see, first configured grant may be provided for or associated with a quality of service (QoS), section 0051 Van Phan), and the second QoS flow is configured to be transmitted based on the second CG (see, the use of a second configured grant when given the maximum flow bit rate according to the QoS profile, section 0052 Van Phan); and generate, for transmission to the network based on the at least one CG (fig. 5, network node or BS may send to UE a configured grant that includes a resource that may be dedicated to the UE for uplink transmission, section 0064 Van Phan), uplink data based on the plurality of uplink data flows (see, maximum packet size or amount of data may be defined per a service flow, section 0052 Van Phan); and generate a buffer status report (BSR) for transmission to the network, wherein the BSR includes a first buffer size for the first QoS flow and a second buffer size for the second QoS flow; and memory coupled with the processing circuitry to store the configuration information.
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the apparatus of Cakulev with the configured grants of Van Phan. The motivation would have been to introduce new ways flow can be transmitted.
The combination of Cakulev and Van Phan discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: and generate a buffer status report (BSR) for transmission to the network, wherein the BSR includes a first buffer size for the first QoS flow and a second buffer size for the second QoS flow; and memory coupled with the processing circuitry to store the configuration information.
However Yi from a similar field of endeavor discloses: and generate a buffer status report (BSR) for transmission to the network (see, wireless device may generate a MAC PDU comprising the BSR, section 0269 Yi), wherein the BSR includes a first buffer size (see, BSR may indicate a buffer size level, for example, how much data is in a buffer and is to be transmitted, section 0241 Yi) for the first QoS flow (see, transmission of RRC message that have QoS management functions, section 0102 Yi; noted, RRC signaling can have parameters such as buffer size level, section 0253 Yi) and a second buffer size (see, wireless device may trigger a BSR and compute a second buffer size level, section 0312 Yi; noted, wireless device may trigger the BSR in response to determining a different buffer size level of the BSR, section 0275 Yi) for the second QoS flow (see, transmission of RRC message that have QoS management functions, section 0102 Yi; noted, RRC signaling can have parameters such as buffer size level, section 0253 Yi; noted, the second QoS of a second resource pool for PSCCH, section 0232 Yi; noted, wireless device may transmit one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages indicating assistance information for a sidelink operation, section 0314 Yi); and memory coupled with the processing circuitry to store the configuration information.
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev and Van Phan with the BSR of Yi. The motivation would have been to improve transmission of a buffer status report.
Claim 47 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cakulev et al. US 20200382986 A1 (Domestic Priority January 23, 2019) in view of Van Phan et al. US 20230199757 A1 (Domestic Priority April 15, 2020) in view of Yi et al. US 20210144582 A1 (Domestic Priority November 7, 2019), and in further view of Pan et al. US 20230388850 A1 (Domestic Priority March 9, 2021).
The combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 47 (Currently amended), the apparatus of claim 44, wherein: the plurality of data flows further includes a third data flow and the QoS information indicates that the third data flow is mapped to a third QoS flow that is different from the first QoS flow; and the third QoS flow is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG.
However Pan from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the apparatus of claim 44, wherein: the plurality of data flows further includes a third data flow (see, identifier information associated with four QoS flows, section 0126 Pan) and the QoS information indicates that the third data flow is mapped to a third QoS flow (see, QoS parameter information corresponding to a QoS flow, section 0012 Pan) that is different from the first QoS flow (the first and third QoS parameter information are assigned to different sidelinks, section 0023 Pan); and the third QoS flow is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG (see, indication indicating whether to allow use of configured grant with a mapping relationship to a QoS flow, section 0102 Pan).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi with the third QoS flows of Pan. The motivation would have been to expand the capabilities of QoS flows.
Claim 48 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cakulev et al. US 20200382986 A1 (Domestic Priority January 23, 2019) in view of Van Phan et al. US 20230199757 A1 (Domestic Priority April 15, 2020) in view of Yi et al. US 20210144582 A1 (Domestic Priority November 7, 2019), and in further view of Dai et al. US 20200120535 A1 (Foreign Priority June 16, 2017).
The combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 48 (Currently amended), the apparatus of claim 44, wherein the QoS information indicates that the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are mapped to a same logical channel (LCH).
However Dai from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the apparatus of claim 44,wherein the QoS information indicates that the first QoS flow and the second QoS flow are mapped to a same logical channel (LCH) (see, QoS flow IDs mapped to the same LCH, section 0089 Dai).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi with the QoS flows mapped to the same LCH of Dai. The motivation would have been to expand the capabilities of QoS flows.
Claims 51 and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cakulev et al. US 20200382986 A1 (Domestic Priority January 23, 2019) in view of Van Phan et al. US 20230199757 A1 (Domestic Priority April 15, 2020) in view of Yi et al. US 20210144582 A1 (Domestic Priority November 7, 2019), and in further view of Guo et al. US 20230362938 A1 (Domestic Priority October 2, 2020).
The combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 51 (Currently amended), the apparatus of claim 44, wherein a first occasion of a first CG is configured to support a first transport block (TB) size, and a second occasion of the first CG is configured to support a second TB size which is different from the first TB size.
However Guo from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the apparatus of claim 44, wherein a first occasion of a first CG is configured to support a first transport block (TB) size (see, a first CG resource may be associated with a first TBS, 0055 Guo), and a second occasion of the first CG is configured to support a second TB size (see, a first CG resource can receive a data block having a second TBS different than the first TBS, section 0192 Guo) which is different from the first TB size (see, the data block received may have a second transport block size different from the first transport block size, section 0203 Guo).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi with the transport blocks of Guo. The motivation would have been to expand the capabilities of the configured grant.
The combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 52 (Currently amended), the apparatus of claim 51, wherein the configuration information indicates the first TB size for the first occasion and the second TB size for the second occasion in an explicit manner.
However Guo from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the apparatus of claim 51, wherein the configuration information indicates the first TB size for the first occasion (see, a first CG resource may be associated with a first TBS, 0055 Guo) and the second TB size for the second occasion (see, a first CG resource can receive a data block having a second TBS different than the first TBS, section 0192 Guo) in an explicit manner (see, the data block received may have a second transport block size different from the first transport block size, section 0203 Guo).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi with the transport blocks of Guo. The motivation would have been to expand the capabilities of the configured information.
Claim 53 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cakulev et al. US 20200382986 A1 (Domestic Priority January 23, 2019) in view of Van Phan et al. US 20230199757 A1 (Domestic Priority April 15, 2020) in view of Yi et al. US 20210144582 A1 (Domestic Priority November 7, 2019), and in further view of Pang et al. US 20190174360 A1 (Foreign Priority August 11, 2016).
The combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 53 (Currently amended), the apparatus of claim 44, wherein the processor circuitry to: generate suggestion information, for transmission to the network, regarding the QoS information for the plurality of uplink data flows.
However Pang from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the apparatus of claim 44, wherein the processor circuitry (see, the determining by the processor based on the indication information a target quality of service parameter corresponding to the target service data flow, section 0033 Pang) to: generate suggestion information (see, service transmission control method including generating by a service transmission device indication information, section 0024 Pang), for transmission to the network (see, the processor is further configured to notify an access network device of the target quality of service parameter, section 0034 Pang; noted, access network device may directly or indirectly notify the core network device of the quality of service parameter corresponding to the service data flow, section 0043 Pang), regarding the QoS information for the plurality of uplink data flows (see, indication information is used to indicate a quality of service parameter corresponding to a target service data flow transmitted by the service transmission device, the target service data flow is one of a plurality of service data flows included in a target service transmitted by the service transmission device, section 0046 Pang).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev, Van Phan, and Yi with the indication information of Pang. The motivation would have been to improve the quality of service parameter corresponding to a target service data flow transmitted by the service transmission device.
Claim 54 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cakulev et al. US 20200382986 A1 (Domestic Priority January 23, 2019) in view of Kim et al. US 20180368167 A1 (Foreign Priority June 16, 2017), and in further view of Van Phan et al. US 20230199757 A1 (Domestic Priority April 15, 2020).
Regarding claim 54 (Previously presented), Cakulev discloses a method comprising: determining quality of service (QoS) information for a plurality of uplink data flows (see, QoS Flows or QoS rules with which the UE is permitted to communicate associated data, and the identifying of QoS flows, section 0013, 0016, 0023) with different QoS attributes (see, number of different possible QoS flow indicators (QFI)s or the number of different types of data flows can be used within a mapping of the QoS flows to the resources, section 0009), wherein the plurality of uplink data flows (see, QoS Flows or QoS rules with which the UE is permitted to communicate associated data, and the identifying of QoS flows, section 0013, 0016, 0023) includes a first data flow and a second data flow (fig. 1A, communications between the UE and the RAN can involve a first QoS flow and second QoS flow, section 0022), and the QoS information (see, one or more QoS parameters that are included in the QoS profile of the information identifying the QoS, section 0026) indicates that the first data flow is mapped to a first internet protocol (IP) flow (see, a first QoS flow can be assigned to use a first DRB, section 0022; noted, this flow between the UE and RAN is internet based, section 0046-0047) and the second data flow is mapped to a second IP flow (see, a second QoS flow can be assigned to use a second DRB, section 0022; noted, this flow between the UE and RAN is internet based, section 0046-0047) that is different from the first IP flow, (see, QoS flows each match to a particular DRB having different settings such as preemption capability and/or preemption vulnerability, section 0029; noted, this flow between the UE and RAN is internet based, section 0046-0047) and the first IP flow and the second IP flow are mapped to a same QoS flow in an access stratum layer; generating, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), a configuration message (see, the UE that receives QoS flows information, parameters, sections 0013, 0016, 0023) based on the QoS information (see, QoS flow allocator can generate and/or maintain the mapping according to one or more settings that indicate which QoS parameters of a QoS profile are to be used to map QoS flows to the resources of the RAN, section 0020), wherein the configuration message includes configuration information for at least one configured grant (CG), wherein the at least one CG includes a first CG and a second CG that is different from the first CG, and the configuration information indicates that the first IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG, and the second IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the second CG; and receiving, from the UE based on the at least one CG, uplink data based on the plurality of uplink data flows.
Cakulev discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: and the first IP flow and the second IP flow are mapped to a same QoS flow in an access stratum layer; generating, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), a configuration message (see, the UE that receives QoS flows information, parameters, sections 0013, 0016, 0023) based on the QoS information (see, QoS flow allocator can generate and/or maintain the mapping according to one or more settings that indicate which QoS parameters of a QoS profile are to be used to map QoS flows to the resources of the RAN, section 0020), wherein the configuration message includes configuration information for at least one configured grant (CG), wherein the at least one CG includes a first CG and a second CG that is different from the first CG, and the configuration information indicates that the first IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG, and the second IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the second CG; and receiving, from the UE based on the at least one CG, uplink data based on the plurality of uplink data flows.
However Kim from a similar field of endeavor discloses: and the first IP flow and the second IP flow are mapped to a same QoS flow (see, the terminal may map the IP flows to the QoS flows through NAS signaling, section 0130 Kim; noted, an access stratum (AS) of the terminal to provide the information to a NAS of the terminal, section 0126 Kim) in an access stratum layer (see, AS may map the QoS flows to the determined DRBs, section 0130 Kim; noted, a plurality of IP flows may be mapped to a plurality of data radio bearers (DRBs), section 0125 Kim) in an access stratum layer; generating, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), a configuration message based on the QoS information, wherein the configuration message includes configuration information for at least one configured grant (CG), wherein the at least one CG includes a first CG and a second CG that is different from the first CG, and the configuration information indicates that the first IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG, and the second IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the second CG; and receiving, from the UE based on the at least one CG, uplink data based on the plurality of uplink data flows.
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the method of Cakulev with the access stratum of Kim. The motivation would have been to support higher data rates beyond a 4G system with a technology for Internet of Things (IoT).
The combination of Cakulev and Kim discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: wherein the configuration message includes configuration information for at least one configured grant (CG), wherein the at least one CG includes a first CG and a second CG that is different from the first CG, and the configuration information indicates that the first IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG, and the second IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the second CG; and receiving, from the UE based on the at least one CG, uplink data based on the plurality of uplink data flows.
However Van Phan from a similar field of endeavor discloses: wherein the configuration message includes configuration information for at least one configured grant (CG) (see, configuration of the first and second configured grants provided by the BS/gNB via signaling such as DCI or system information block, section 0054 Van Phan), wherein the at least one CG includes a first CG and a second CG that is different from the first CG (fig. 5, different combinations of configured grants implying unique different configured grants, section 0069 Van Phan), and the configuration information (see, configuration of the first and second configured grants provided by the BS/gNB via signaling such as DCI or system information block, section 0054 Van Phan) indicates that the first IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the first CG (fig. 2, the first configured grant is associated with a quality of service (QoS), or a logical channel of a QoS level, or a logical channel group, sections 0050-0051 Van Phan; noted, the flow can be communicated through the network though the Internet, section 0134 Van Phan), and the second IP flow is configured to be transmitted based on the second CG (fig. 2, configured grant is associated with a quality of service (QoS), or a logical channel of a QoS level, or a logical channel group, sections 0050-0051 Van Phan; noted, the flow can be communicated through the network though the Internet, section 0134 Van Phan); and receiving, from the UE based on the at least one CG (see, parameters on resources allocated to the first and second configured grants include amount of data to be transmitted by the UE and UE can transmit data (or at least a portion of the data) via both the first configured grant and the second configured grant, sections 0051,0064 Van Phan), uplink data (see, maximum packet size or amount of data may be defined per a service flow, section 0052 Van Phan) based on the plurality of uplink data flows (see, QoS profile that inherited from that of the one or more service flows with variable enough packet sizes or instantaneous data rate, section 0051 Van Phan).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev and Kim with the configured grants of Van Phan. The motivation would have been to introduce new ways flow can be transmitted.
Claims 55 and 56 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cakulev et al. US 20200382986 A1 (Domestic Priority January 23, 2019) in view of Kim et al. US 20180368167 A1 (Foreign Priority June 16, 2017), in view of Van Phan et al. US 20230199757 A1 (Domestic Priority April 15, 2020), and in further view of Guo et al. US 20230362938 A1 (Domestic Priority October 2, 2020).
The combination of Cakulev, Kim, and Van Phan discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 55 (Previously presented), the method of claim 54, wherein: a first occasion of a first CG is configured to support a first transport block (TB) size, and a second occasion of the first CG is configured to support a second TB size that is different from the first TB size; and the configuration information indicates the first TB size for the first occasion and the second TB size for the second occasion in an explicit manner.
However Guo from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the method of claim 54, wherein: a first occasion of a first CG is configured to support a first transport block (TB) size (see, first configuration transmitted at block 1810 may further indicate a first transport block size and first CG resource, sections 0181, 0220 Guo), and a second occasion of the first CG is configured to support a second TB size that is different from the first TB size (see, a first CG resource can receive a data block having a second TBS different than the first TBS, section 0192 Guo); and the configuration information indicates the first TB size for the first occasion (see, a first CG resource can receive a data block having a second TBS different than the first TBS, section 0192 Guo) and the second TB size for the second occasion in an explicit manner (see, the data block received may have a second transport block size different from the first transport block size, section 0203 Guo).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev, Kim, and Van Phan with the transport blocks of Guo. The motivation would have been to expand the capabilities of the configured grants.
The combination of Cakulev, Kim, and Van Phan discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 56 (Previously presented), the method of claim 54, wherein: a first occasion of a first CG is configured to support a first transport block (TB) size, and a second occasion of the first CG is configured to support a second TB size that is different from the first TB size; the configuration information indicates that each occasion of the first CG supports a set of TB sizes; and the receiving, from the UE based on the at least one CG, uplink data based on the plurality of uplink data flows includes: receiving, from the UE, a TB including the uplink data and uplink control information (UCI) indicating an actual size of the TB being transmitted based on the first CG, wherein the actual size of the TB is selected from the set of TB size indicated in the configuration information; determining the actual size of the TB based on the UCI; and decoding the TB based on the actual size.
However Guo from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the method of claim 54, wherein: a first occasion of a first CG is configured to support a first transport block (TB) size (see, first configuration transmitted at block 1810 may further indicate a first transport block size and first CG resource, sections 0181, 0220 Guo), and a second occasion of the first CG is configured to support a second TB size that is different from the first TB size (see, a first CG resource can receive a data block having a second TBS different than the first TBS, section 0192 Guo); the configuration information indicates that each occasion of the first CG supports a set of TB sizes (see, the use of data blocks to introduce new transport block sizes to configured grant, sections 0054-0055 Guo); and the receiving, from the UE based on the at least one CG, uplink data based on the plurality of uplink data flows (fig. 5, BS may configure a UE with multiple CG configurations for different traffic flows which is transmitted from the UE using CG-UCI, section 0109 Guo) includes: receiving, from the UE, a TB including the uplink data and uplink control information (UCI) (fig. 5, the UE may report the determined transmission parameters to the BS using CG-UCI, section 0109 Guo) indicating an actual size of the TB being transmitted based on the first CG (see, UE may transmit a CG transmission including an initial transmission of a data block having a size corresponding to the first TBS configured for the CG resource, section 0103 Guo), wherein the actual size of the TB is selected from the set of TB size (see, UE may apply HARQ techniques to a data block that is transmitted to the BS where the data block contains selected CG resources, sections 0080-0081 Guo) indicated in the configuration information (see, data block containing selected CG resources, sections 0080-0081 Guo); determining the actual size of the TB based on the UCI (see, the base station via CG-UCI, section 0114 Guo); and decoding the TB based on the actual size (see, successful transmission of the data blocks leads to the BS decoding it where the data block contains selected CG resources, sections 0080-0081 Guo).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev, Kim, and Van Phan with the transport blocks of Guo. The motivation would have been to expand the capabilities of the configured grants.
Claims 57 and 58 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cakulev et al. US 20200382986 A1 (Domestic Priority January 23, 2019) in view of Kim et al. US 20180368167 A1 (Foreign Priority June 16, 2017), in view of Van Phan et al. US 20230199757 A1 (Domestic Priority April 15, 2020), and in further view of Pang et al. US 20190174360 A1 (Foreign Priority August 11, 2016).
The combination of Cakulev, Kim, and Van Phan discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 57 (Previously presented), the method of claim 54, wherein the determining QoS information for a plurality of uplink data flows with different QoS attributes includes: receiving, from the UE, suggestion information regarding the QoS information for the plurality of data flows; and determining the QoS information for the plurality of uplink data flows based on the suggestion information.
However Pang from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the method of claim 54, wherein the determining QoS information for a plurality of uplink data flows with different QoS attributes (see, the access network device and the core network device each can determine a quality of service parameter, quality of service parameters determined by the access network device and the core network device may be different parameters where the core network device determines the quality of service parameter, the access network device should determine processing for a service data flow based on the parameter determined by the core network device and a service feature, section 0143 Pang) includes: receiving, from the UE, suggestion information (see, after receiving the data packet from the UE, the access network device may obtain, by parsing the TCP/IP header, the indication information, section 0115 Pang) regarding the QoS information for the plurality of data flows (see, indication information may be a quality of service parameter identifier, and the quality of service parameter identifier is intended to uniquely determine a set of QoS parameters, section 0111 Pang; noted, a data or control flow can have a corresponding QoS parameter, section 0112 Pang); and determining the QoS information for the plurality of uplink data flows based on the suggestion information (see, the access network device and the core network device each can determine a quality of service parameter, quality of service parameters determined by the access network device and the core network device may be different parameters where the core network device determines the quality of service parameter, the access network device should determine processing for a service data flow based on the parameter determined by the core network device and a service feature, section 0143 Pang).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev, Kim, and Van Phan with the QoS of Pang. The motivation would have been to improve the field of communications technologies.
The combination of Cakulev, Kim, and Van Phan discloses all the claim limitations but fails to disclose: Regarding claim 58 (Previously presented), the method of claim 54, wherein the determining QoS information for a plurality of uplink data flows with different QoS attributes includes: determining, by a core network (CN), suggestion information regarding the QoS information for the plurality of uplink data flows via an application server; and informing a base station about the suggestion information.
However Pang from a similar field of endeavor discloses: the method of claim 54, wherein the determining QoS information for a plurality of uplink data flows with different QoS attributes (see, the access network device and the core network device each can determine a quality of service parameter, quality of service parameters determined by the access network device and the core network device may be different parameters where the core network device determines the quality of service parameter, the access network device should determine processing for a service data flow based on the parameter determined by the core network device and a service feature, section 0143 Pang) includes: determining, by a core network (CN) (see, access network device determines the quality of service parameter of the target service data flow based on the service feature information and a quality of service parameter that is sent by a core network device, section 0133 Pang), suggestion information regarding the QoS information for the plurality of uplink data flows (see, indication information may be a quality of service parameter identifier, and the quality of service parameter identifier is intended to uniquely determine a set of QoS parameters, section 0111 Pang; noted, a data or control flow can have a corresponding QoS parameter, section 0112 Pang) via an application server (see, after receiving a download data packet that is sent by the server to the UE, the core network device correspondingly processes the download data packet based on the QoS parameter indicated by the access network device, section 0138 Pang); and informing a base station about the suggestion information (see, after receiving the data packet from the UE, the access network device may obtain the indication information corresponding to the currently transmitted service data flow, section 0115 Pang; noted, access network device can be a base station, section 0099 Pang).
In view of the above, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to modify the combination of Cakulev, Kim, and Van Phan with the parameters of Pang. The motivation would have been to improve the field of communications technologies.
Conclusion
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/PATRICK YIPAO PEI/Examiner, Art Unit 2473
/KWANG B YAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2473