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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/12/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/18/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/15/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 03/18/2026 has been entered. Independent Claims 1 and 6 have been amended. Dependent Claims 7 have been amended. Dependent Claims 3 and 21 has been cancelled. Claims 1 and 4-20 are still pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3, and 13 under 35 USC § 103, 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 specified challenged in the argument.
Claim Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 18 states “an Internet protocol (IP) packet”, with the P in protocol not being capitalized, as is analogous in Claim 1, and IP is an acronym. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu (Pub. No.: US 20210092661 A1, hereafter “Hu”) in view of Loehr (Pub. No.: US 20200274654 A1, hereafter “Loehr”), further in view of Yonge (Pub. No.: US 20080175265 A1, hereafter “Yonge”).
Regarding Claim 1
Hu teaches
A method (Hu Fig. 5: a handover method) compromising: outputting (Hu ¶0111: transmit), by the communication stack (Hu Fig. 5: by the source RAN device), for transmission on the first DRB (Hu ¶0111: source DRB), a transport block (Hu ¶0111: end marker) with a service data application protocol (SDAP) (Hu ¶0111: SDAP layer) end marker PDU (Hu ¶0111: end marker control PDU) in a radio link control (RLC) unacknowledged mode (Hu ¶0111: new data) based on detecting that the mapping (Hu ¶0111: mapping relationship) of the QoS flow (Hu ¶0111: QoS flow) is updated (Hu ¶0111: changes) from the first DRB (Hu ¶0111: source DRB) to the second DRB (Hu ¶0111: new DRB; Hu teaches a handover method for transmitting from a source RAN device, for a source DRB with an end marker control PDU in an SDAP layer for changing the mapping relationship for a QoS from the source DRB to a new DRB);
Hu does not explicitly teach
providing, by an application of a user equipment (UE) as part of a communication service, an Internet Protocol (IP) packet to a communication stack of the UE, wherein the IP packet has a payload; determining, by the communication stack, the IP packet is associated with a quality-of-service (QoS) flow that is mapped to a first data radio bearer (DRB); outputting, by the communication stack for transmission on the first DRB, a protocol data unit (PDU) with the payload; detecting, by the communication stack, that a mapping of the QoS flow is updated from the first DRB to a second DRB; receiving a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) negative acknowledgement (NACK) or a retransmission grant for to the transportation block; and entering a survival time mode and outputting the SDAP end marker PDU for retransmission with enhanced reliability based on said receiving the HARQ NACK or the transmission grant.
However, Loehr teaches
providing (Loehr ¶0082: performs), by an application of a user equipment (UE) (Loehr ¶0082: UE 205) as part of a communication service (Loehr ¶0082: network), an Internet Protocol (IP) packet (Loehr ¶0082: packet) to a communication stack of the UE (Loehr ¶0082: UE), wherein the IP packet has a payload (Loehr ¶0082: PDCP PDU; Loehr teaches a UE using a network with a packet which contains a type of data); determining (Loehr ¶0101: configuring), by the communication stack (Loehr ¶0101: transmission), the IP packet is associated with a quality-of-service (QoS) flow (Loehr ¶0101: QoS flow) that is mapped to a first data radio bearer (DRB) (Loehr ¶0101: QoS flow mapped radio bearer; Loehr teaches configuring a QoS flow relating to a radio bearer); outputting (Loehr ¶0085: configures), by the communication stack for transmission on the first DRB (Loehr ¶0085: each radio bearer), a protocol data unit (PDU) with the payload (Loehr ¶0085: selective packets; Loehr teaches configuring for each radio bearer via selective packets);
detecting (Loehr ¶0085: autonomously enable), by the communication stack (Loehr ¶0085: network configures), that a mapping of the QoS flow (Loehr ¶0085: selective packets) is updated from the first DRB (Loehr ¶0085: configures) to a second DRB (Loehr ¶0085: each radio bearer; Loehr teaches autonomously a network configuration through selective packets for configuring each radio bearer); receiving (Loehr ¶0082: reception for the PDCP PDU), by the communication stack, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) (Loehr ¶0083: HARQ) negative acknowledgement (NACK) (Loehr ¶0083: NACK) or a retransmission grant associated with the transportation block (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Loehr teaches a system receiving a HARQ NACK); by the communication stack, the SDAP end marker PDU (Loehr ¶0084: PDCP PDU) for retransmission with enhanced reliability (Loehr ¶0083: duplicate transmissions) based on said receiving the HARQ NACK (Loehr ¶0083: reception of the HARQ NACK) or the transmission grant (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Loehr teaches starting a timer and sending out duplicate signals based off of a HARQ NACK).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu by way of Loehr, to include an element that teaches a system receiving a HARQ NACK and starting a timer and sending out duplicate signals based off of a HARQ NACK, as taught by Loehr in ¶0083, to better improve systems with selective duplication of ultra-reliable high urgency data transmissions.
Hu in view of Loehr does not explicitly teach
entering, by the application, a survival time mode based on the communication stack receiving the HARQ NACK or the retransmission grant, wherein, upon entering the survival time mode, the application is to start a timer and continue to operate in an absence of an anticipated message or burst associated with the communication service until expiration of the timer.
However, Yonge teaches
entering (Yonge ¶0136: maintain), by the application (Yonge ¶0136: stations), a survival time mode (Yonge ¶0136: NACKcount, Examiner’s Note, the transmission stations to continue to retransmit, see ¶0141 and ¶0213) based on the communication stack (Yonge ¶0136: packet to be transmitted) receiving the HARQ NACK (Yonge ¶0136: NACK response) or the retransmission grant (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), wherein, upon entering the survival time mode (Yonge ¶0162-¶0163: NACKcount process), the application is to start a timer (Yonge ¶0162-¶0163: reset NACKcount to zero) and continue to operate in an absence of an anticipated message (Yonge Fig. 24: 446, No Response to 454) or burst (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) associated with the communication service (Yonge Fig. 24: 454) until expiration of the timer (Yonge Fig. 24: 460; Yonge teaches maintaining communication with stations using a NACKcount based off of potential packets to be transmitted relating to the NACK response, wherein the NACKcount process resets to zero in response to not receiving a NACK and continuing to increment the NACKcount counter).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu in view of Loehr by way of Yonge, to include an element that teaches maintaining communication with stations using a NACKcount based off of potential packets to be transmitted relating to the NACK response, wherein the NACKcount process resets to zero in response to not receiving a NACK and continuing to increment the NACKcount counter, as taught by Yonge in Fig. 24, ¶0136, and ¶0162-¶0163, to better improve systems with selective duplication of ultra-reliable high urgency data transmissions.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Hu (Pub. No.: US 20200245184 A1, hereafter “Hu”) in view of Loehr (Pub. No.: US 20200274654 A1, hereafter “Loehr”), further in view of Yonge (Pub. No.: US 20080175265 A1, hereafter “Yonge”), and even further in view of Hu (Pub. No.: US 20210092661 A1, hereafter “Hu”).
Regarding Claim 4
Hu in view of Loehr further in view of Yonge teaches the method as explained above in Claim 1. Hu in view of Loehr further in view of Yonge does not explicitly teach
wherein outputting the SDAP end marker PDU retransmission with enhanced reliability comprises: outputting the SDAP end marker PDU with transport block repetition, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) duplication, or an enhanced-reliability physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) configuration
However, Hu teaches
wherein outputting the SDAP end marker PDU (Hu ¶0111: end marker control PDU at an SDAP layer) for retransmission (Hu ¶0111: re-transmit) with enhanced reliability (Hu ¶0043: PDCP-C is mainly responsible for data encryption, decryption, integrity, and others) comprises: outputting (Hu ¶0111: re-transmit) the SDAP end marker PDU (Hu ¶0043: end marker control PDU at an SDAP layer) with transport block repetition (Hu ¶0111: mapping), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) duplication (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or an enhanced-reliability physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) configuration (Hu ¶0043: PDCP and SDAP are set by the centralized processing unit together; Hu teaches having an SDAP end marker PDU retransmit said end marker along with the PDCP layer).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu with Loehr, and further with Hu to include retransmitting the SDAP end marker PDU with PDCP or PUSCH, as taught by Hu in ¶0043 and ¶0111, to have the same forwarding processing, such as a same scheduling policy, a same queue management policy, and a same rate matching policy.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Hu (Pub. No.: US 20200245184 A1, hereafter “Hu”), in view of Loehr (Pub. No.: US 20200274654 A1, hereafter “Loehr”), further in view of Yonge (Pub. No.: US 20080175265 A1, hereafter “Yonge”), and even further in view of Kone (Pub. No.: US 20100008278 A1, hereafter “Kone”).
Regarding Claim 5
Hu in view of Loehr further in view of Yonge teaches the method as explained above in Claim 1. Hu in view of Loehr further in view of Yonge does not explicitly teach
wherein the instructions, further comprising: triggering a timer based on outputting the SDAP end marker PDU; and detecting the event based on an expiration of the time.
However, Kone teaches
wherein the instructions (Kone Fig. 2a: 214, memory storing instructions), further comprising: triggering a timer (Kone ¶0064: HARQ traffic timer) based on outputting the SDAP end marker PDU (ACK; Kone teaches triggering a timer when an ACK); and detecting (Kone ¶0064: HARQ is interrupted) the event based on an expiration of the timer (Kone ¶0064: timer expires abnormally and is extended; Kone teaches having an event from the timer expiring).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge, to include Kone to creating a timer after transmitting an end marker, and noticing when the timer runs out, as taught by Kone in ¶0064, to allow additional definitions of multiple power saving classes that may involve complexity in achieving efficient power savings.
Claim(s) 6, 10-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Hu, (Pub. No.: US 20210092661 A1, hereafter “Hu”) in view of Loehr (Pub. No.: US 20200274654 A1, hereafter “Loehr”), further in view of Yonge (Pub. No.: US 20080175265 A1, hereafter “Yonge”).
Regarding Claim 6
Hu Teaches
A method comprising (Hu Fig. 5: a handover method):
receiving (Hu Fig. 5: receiving), from a UE (Hu Fig. 5: by the source RAN device), a service data adaptation (SDAP) (Hu Fig. 5: data transfer) end marker control PDU (Hu Fig. 5: path transfer request; Hu teaches a base station receiving data from the end marker), the SDAP end-marker control PDU to indicate that a mapping (Hu ¶0111: mapping relationship) of the QoS flow to the first DRB (Hu ¶0111: source DRB) is updated (Hu ¶0111: changes) to a second DRB (Hu ¶0111: new DRB; Hu teaches having a mapping relationship between the source DRB and changes for the new DRB);
and outputting (Hu ¶0111: transmit) the SDAP end marker ACK (Hu ¶0111: end marker at SDAP layer) for transmission to the UE (Hu ¶0111: re-transmits to target; Hu teaches transmitting the end marker ACK on the SDAP).
Hu does not explicitly teach
receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a protocol data unit (PDU) via a quality-of-service (QoS) flow mapped to a first data radio bearer (RDB), wherein the PDU includes a payload of an Internet Protocol (IP) packed sourced from an application of the UE as part of a communication service;
generating a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) negative acknowledgement (NACK) or a retransmission grant for to the transportation block; and outputting, for transmission to the UE, the HARQ NACK or retransmission grant to trigger a survival time mode for the UE and retransmission of the SDAP end marker PDU with enhanced reliability.
However, Loehr teaches
receiving (Loehr ¶0082: performs), from a user equipment (UE) (Loehr ¶0082: UE 205), a protocol data unit (PDU) (Loehr ¶0082: PDCP PDU) via a quality-of-service (QoS) flow (Loehr ¶0101: QoS flow) mapped (Loehr ¶0101: QoS flow mapped) to a first data radio bearer (RDB) (Loehr ¶0101: radio bearer), wherein the PDU includes a payload of an Internet Protocol (IP) (Loehr ¶0082: packet) packed sourced from an application of the UE as part of a communication service (Loehr ¶0082: network; Loehr teaches a UE using a network with a packet which contains a type of data and configuring for each radio bearer via selective packets);
generating (Loehr Fig. 2: 220) a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) negative acknowledgement (NACK) (Loehr ¶0069: sends a NACK, e.g. a HARQ NACK, see ¶0083 for reception) or a retransmission grant (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) for to the transportation block (Loehr ¶0075: MAC PDU; Loehr teaches the gNB generating a NACK for a PDU);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu by way of Loehr, to include an element that teaches the gNB generating a NACK for a PDU and the gNB sending the HARQ NACK to a UE to generate an activation trigger to have the system send a repetition of duplicate PDUs, as taught by Loehr in Fig. 2 and ¶0075, to better improve systems with selective duplication of ultra-reliable high urgency data transmissions.
Loehr does not explicitly state
and outputting, for transmission to the UE, the HARQ NACK or retransmission grant, wherein the HARQ NACK or retransmission grant is to trigger the application to enter a survival time mode by continuing to operate in an absence of an anticipated message or burst associated with the communication service for a predetermined period of time, wherein the HARQ NACK or retransmission grant is to further trigger the communication stack to retransmit the SDAP end marker PDU with enhanced reliability.
However, Yonge teaches
and outputting (Yonge ¶0136: maintain), for transmission (Yonge ¶0136: packet to be transmitted) to the UE (Yonge ¶0136: station), the HARQ NACK (Yonge ¶0136: NACK response) or retransmission grant (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), wherein the HARQ NACK or retransmission grant (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) is to trigger the application (Yonge ¶0136: initially set to zero) to enter a survival time mode (Yonge ¶0136: NACKcount) by continuing to operate (Yonge ¶0136: incremented) in an absence of an anticipated message (Yonge Fig. 24: 446, No Response to 454) or burst (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) associated with the communication service (Yonge Fig. 24: 454) for a predetermined period of time (Yonge Fig. 24: 460), wherein the HARQ NACK or retransmission grant is to further trigger the communication stack (Yonge ¶0137: retransmission) to retransmit the SDAP end marker PDU (Yonge ¶0137: retransmission) with enhanced reliability (Yonge ¶0136: ROBO Mode; Yonge teaches outputting communication with stations using a NACKcount based off of potential packets to be transmitted relating to the NACK response, wherein the NACKcount process resets to zero in response to not receiving a NACK and continuing to increment the NACKcount counter).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu in view of Loehr by way of Yonge, to include an element that teaches outputting communication with stations using a NACKcount based off of potential packets to be transmitted relating to the NACK response, wherein the NACKcount process resets to zero in response to not receiving a NACK and continuing to increment the NACKcount counter, as taught by Yonge in Fig. 24, ¶0136, and ¶0162-¶0163, to better improve systems with selective duplication of ultra-reliable high urgency data transmissions.
Regarding Claim 10
Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge teaches the method as explained above in Claim 6. Hu further teaches
wherein generating the SDAP end marker ACK (Hu ¶0111: end marker) comprises: providing an acknowledgment indication (Hu ¶0111: end marker) in a field of an SDAP header (Hu ¶0111: at SDAP layer) of a control PDU (Hu ¶0111: control PDU; Hu teaches an ACK in the SDAP of a control PDU).
Regarding Claim 11
Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge teaches the method as explained above in Claim 6. Hu further teaches
generating a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) data PDU (Hu ¶0111: one PDU corresponds to one SDAP) to include the SDAP (Hu ¶0045: an SDAP layer is added above a PDCP) end marker ACK (Hu ¶0111: end marker control PDU at an SDAP layer; Hu teaches generating packet data and a use case to send the data, the end marker).
Regarding Claim 12
Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge teaches the method as explained above in Claim 6. Hu further teaches
generating a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) (Hu ¶0045: an SDAP layer is added above the PDCP layer) control PDU (Hu ¶0045: one PDU session corresponds to one SDAP) to include the SDAP end marker ACK (Hu ¶0111: end marker control PDU at an SDAP layer), wherein the PDCP control PDU includes an acknowledgment bit or a six-bit quality of service flow indicator (Hu ¶0047: PDU session container, used to indicate a QoS flow whose QFI is 6 bits) to provide the SDAP end marker ACK (Hu ¶0111: end marker control PDU at an SDAP layer; Hu teaches generating a PDU at the SDAP layer with an ACK and a 6 bit QFI).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu (Pub. No.: US 20210092661 A1, hereafter “Hu”) in view of Loehr (Pub. No.: US 20200274654 A1, hereafter “Loehr”), further in view of Yonge (Pub. No.: US 20080175265 A1, hereafter “Yonge”), and even further in view of Turtinen (Pub. No.: US 20200068427 A1, hereafter “Turtinen”).
Regarding Claim 7
Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge teaches the method as explained above in Claim 6. Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge does not explicitly teach
outputting configuration information to configure the UE to operate based on an end marker acknowledgement for QoS flow indicators mapped to DRBs to be transmitted using RLC unacknowledged mode
However, Turtinen teaches
outputting (Turtinen ¶0035: from the transmitting entity) configuration information (Turtinen ¶0035: help manage) to configure the UE (Turtinen ¶0035: to the receiving entity) to operate based on an end marker acknowledgement (Turtinen ¶0035: until an EM is received) for QoS flow indicators mapped to DRBs (Turtinen ¶0034: target data radio bearer) to be transmitted using RLC unacknowledged mode (Turtinen ¶0035: RLC in a UM mode; Turtinen teaches having the configuration information be changed from the ACK for QoS mapped to RDB through the RLC UM mode).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge, and further with Turtinen to include transmitting config information to the UE to map QoS with RLC UAK mode, as taught by Turtinen in ¶0035, to help improve packet handling after a remapping of QoS flow to a DRB.
Claim(s) 8, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu (Pub. No.: US 20210092661 A1, hereafter “Hu”) in view of Loehr (Pub. No.: US 20200274654 A1, hereafter “Loehr”), further in view of Yonge (Pub. No.: US 20080175265 A1, hereafter “Yonge”), and even further in view of Kim (Pub. No.: US 20210392467 A1, hereafter “Kim”).
Regarding Claim 8
Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge teaches the method as explained above in Claim 6. Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge does not explicitly teach
outputting configuration information to configure the UE with a timer value to define a period after transmitting the SDAP end marker control PDU the UE is to wait for an acknowledgment before sending another SDAP end marker control PDU.
However, Kim teaches
outputting configuration information (Kim ¶0214: in SDAP config info) to configure the UE (Kim ¶0214: UE may configure) with a timer value (Kim ¶0214: run a reordering timer) to define a period after transmitting the SDAP end marker control PDU (Kim ¶0214: retransmitting HARQ ACK) the UE is to wait for an acknowledgment before sending another SDAP end marker control PDU (Kim ¶0214: base station may perform a retransmission; Kim teaches the UE retransmitting the HARQ ACK, and waiting for the base station to retransmit).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu with Loehr, further in view of Yonge, and further with Kim, to include sending config info to the UE with a timer after sending the SDAP end marker control PDU to then send another SDAP end marker control PDU, as taught by Kim in ¶0214, to seamlessly provide the services between the PDCP to receive and process MBS data, in accordance to the handover between base stations and between networks.
Regarding Claim 9
Hu in view of Loehr, further in view of Yonge teaches the method as explained above in Claim 6. Kim further teaches
setting both a reflective quality of service (Kim ¶0096: reflective QoS indicator) flow-to-data radio bearer mapping indication (RDI) field (Kim ¶0093: mapping between QoS flow and data radio bearer) and a reflective quality of service indication (RQI) field with a bit value of one (Kim ¶0096: configured with a 1-bit non-access stratum), wherein the SDAP end marker ACK is a control PDU having a one byte SDAP header without a data field (Kim ¶0096: one bit access stratum reflective QoS indicator to be used for scheduling information; Kim teaches having a reflective QoS with bit to be used for scheduling information).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu with Loehr, further in view of Yonge, and further with Kim to allow reflective QoS flow-to-data RDI, having a 1-bit field, and where the SDAP end marker ACK is controlled with a second data field, as taught by Kim in ¶0093 and ¶0096, to seamlessly provide the services between the PDCP to receive and process MBS data, in accordance to the handover between base stations and between networks.
Claim(s) 13-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu (Pub. No.: US 20210092661 A1, hereafter “Hu”) in view of Jheng (Pub. No.: US 20180324631 A1, hereafter “Jheng”).
Regarding Claim 13
Hu teaches
An apparatus comprising: interface circuitry (Hu Fig. 7: 702): and processing circuitry (Hu Fig. 7: 701) coupled with the interface circuitry (Hu Fig. 7: 702), the processing circuitry to: receive (Hu ¶0045: downlink data packet), via the interface circuitry (Hu Fig. 7: 702), a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration (Hu ¶0045: configured by an RRC message) or a reflective quality of service flow-to-data radio bearer mapping indication (RDI) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Hu teaches a processor coupled with a transceiver to receive an RRC message);
Hu does not explicitly teach
determine, based on the RRC reconfiguration or the RDI, that the mapping of the QoS flow to the first DRB is to be updated to a second DRB; and output, via the interface circuitry and based on determination that the mapping of the QoS flow to the first DRB is to be updated to the second DRB, a plurality of service data adaptation (SDAP) end marker protocol data units (PDUs) for transmission, wherein the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs are associated with the QoS flow.
However, Jheng teaches
determine (Jheng ¶0101: configures), based on the RRC reconfiguration (Jheng ¶0101: RRC signaling message) or the RDI (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), that the mapping of the QoS flow (Jheng ¶0101: mapping of the QoS flows) to the first DRB (Jheng ¶0101: to the DRBs) is to be updated to a second DRB (Jheng ¶0101: via a particular DRB; Jheng teaches a configuration based off of an RRC signaling message for specific DRBs); and output (Jheng ¶0101: updates), via the interface circuitry (Jheng Fig. 24: 2404) and based on determination (Jheng ¶0101: configures) that the mapping of the QoS flow to the first DRB is to be updated to the second DRB (Jheng ¶0101: selectively updates), a plurality of service data adaptation (SDAP) end marker protocol data units (PDUs) (Jheng ¶0102: SDAP header for reflective QoS functionality) for transmission, wherein the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs are associated with the QoS flow (Jheng ¶0102: reflective QoS functionality; Jheng teaches selective updating based off of the configuration using an SDAP header for the reflective QoS functionality mentioned in ¶0101).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu by way of Jheng, to include an element that teaches a configuration based off of an RRC signaling message for specific DRBs and selective updating based off of the configuration using an SDAP header for the reflective QoS functionality mentioned in ¶0101, as taught by Jheng in ¶0101-¶0102, to improve communication across multiple system by enabling a quicker mapping procedure and updating the header fields and allowing for the system to respond.
Regarding Claim 14
Hu in view of Jheng teaches the apparatus as explained above in Claim 13. Hu further discloses
wherein to output the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Hu ¶0111: end marker control PDU at the SDAP layer) the processing circuitry is to: output a first SDAP end marker PDU (Hu ¶0111: during uplink transmission) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Hu ¶0111: an end marker control PDU at the SDAP layer) on the first DRB (Hu ¶0111: the terminal device transmits an end marker on a source DRB; Hu teaches having an SDAP end marker PDU on a DRB); and output (Hu ¶0111: re-transmit) a second SDAP end marker PDU (Hu ¶0111: transmits the uplink data on a new DRB) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Hu ¶0111: end marker control PDU at the SDAP layer) on the first DRB or the second DRB (Hu ¶0111: transmits on the new DRB; Hu teaches sending a second SDAP end marker PDU).
Regarding Claim 15
Hu in view of Jheng teaches the apparatus as explained above in Claim 13. Hu further teaches
wherein to output the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Hu ¶0111: end marker control PDU and SDAP layer) the processing circuitry is to: output a first SDAP end marker PDU (Hu ¶0111: for uplink transmission, end marker control PDU at the SDAP layer) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Hu ¶0111: a new DRB) in a first media access control (MAC) PDU (Hu ¶0043: functions, like MAC, are set by the distributed unit; Hu teaches having the distributed unit having reflective mapping including MAC); and output a second SDAP end marker PDU (Hu ¶0111: end marker control PDU at the SDAP layer) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Hu ¶0111: transmits on the new DRB) in a second MAC PDU (Hu ¶0043: with a second control PDU; Hu teaches having the MAC in the PDCP, which corresponds to the SDAP layer, having a MAC, and having a second PDU).
Regarding Claim 16
Hu in view of Jheng teaches the apparatus as explained above in Claim 13. Jheng further teaches
initiate (Jheng ¶0114: upon receiving) a prohibit timer (Jheng ¶0114: is going to end) based on outputting a first SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0114: SDAP header having an end marker) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Jheng ¶0114: SDAP of the QoS flow ending in the first DRB; Jheng teaches waiting for the first SDAP end marker of a PDU, of multiple PDUs); and output a second SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0114: second DRB in the QoS flow) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Jheng ¶0114: of the first and second DRB) based on an expiration of the prohibit timer (Jheng ¶0114: holds the new packet until the end marker is received; Jheng teaches having a second end marker in the QoS flow, and holding it for some time).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu with Jheng to include creating a timer after transmitting an end marker, and transmitting a second end marker when said timer runs out, as taught by Jheng in ¶0114, to allow additional definitions of multiple power saving classes that may involve complexity in achieving efficient power savings.
Regarding Claim 17
Hu in view of Jheng teaches the apparatus as explained above in Claim 13. Jheng further teaches
transmit (Jheng ¶0114: transmissions) a first SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0114: SDAP header having an end-marker) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Jheng ¶0114: uses the end-marker if there are additional packets to send) in an initial transmission of an SDAP PDU (Jheng ¶0114: in the first DRB; Jheng teaches sending multiple SDAPs); store (Jheng ¶0114: holds), at an SDAP sublayer (Jheng ¶0114: SDAP receiver), the SDAP PDU (Jheng ¶0114: in the first SDAP PDU; Jheng teaches holding, at the SDAP receiver, the first SDAP PDU); receive (Jheng ¶0114: receiving), at the SDAP sublayer (Jheng ¶0114: a packet having an SDAP header), an indication from lower layers (Jheng ¶0114: to other layers) that the first SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0108: SDAP headers include PDCP PDUs) was not transmitted successfully (Jheng ¶0114: checks the packet arrived out-of-order; Jeng teaches receiving a SDAP including PDCP PDUs, and checking packet integrity); and transmit (Jheng ¶0116: transmissions), based on said indication (interpreting markers), a second SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0116: second DRB in the QoS flow) of the plurality of end marker PDUs (Jheng ¶0116: additional pending packet transmissions) in a re-transmission of the SDAP PDU (Jheng ¶0116: during QoS flow remapping; Jheng teaches transmitting, based on the data in the DRB, a second pending transmission).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu with Jheng to include transmitting an SDAP end marker PDU, storing it, then receiving the lack of response, and resending a second SDAP end marker PDU, as taught by Jheng in ¶0114 and ¶0116, to allow additional definitions of multiple power saving classes that may involve complexity in achieving efficient power savings.
Regarding Claim 18
Hu in view of Jheng teaches the apparatus as explained above in Claim 13. Jheng further teaches
output a first SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0113: SDAP headers can be used to deliver PDCP PDUs) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Jheng ¶0113: adding an end-marker) in an initial transmission (Jheng ¶0113: for the first DRB) of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDU (Jheng ¶0109: source PDCP entity; Jheng teaches the first, and multiple thereafter, SDAP having an end marker in a PDCP PDU); store (Jheng ¶0114: holds), at a PDCP sublayer (Jheng ¶0114: the SDAP), the PDCP PDU (Jheng ¶0108: SDAP headers may be used for PDCP PDUs; Jheng teaches holding the PDCAP, which contains the PDCP PDU); receive (Jheng ¶0114: receiving), at the PDCP sublayer (Jheng ¶0114: SDAP headers may be used for PDCP PDUs), an indication from lower layers (Jheng ¶0114: from other layers) that the first SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0108: the SDAP header, used for PDCP PDU, having an end marker) was not transmitted successfully (Jheng ¶0114: knows that the out-of-order delivery has occurred; Jheng teaching receiving at the PDCP layer, the first SDAP end marker suggesting that transmission was not successful); and output (Jheng ¶0116: transmissions), based on said indication (Jheng ¶0116: interpreting those markers), a second SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0116: second DRB in the QoS flow) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Jheng ¶0116: additional pending packet transmissions) in for retransmission of the PDCP PDU (Jheng ¶0109: during QoS flow remapping, moving to a second DCRP PDU; Jheng teaches retransmitting, with the QoS flow remapping in a second DCP PDU).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu with Jheng to include transmitting an SDAP end marker PDCP PDU, storing it, then receiving the lack of response, and resending a second SDAP end marker PDCP PDU, as taught by Jheng in ¶0108, ¶0109, ¶0113, ¶0114, and ¶0116, to allow additional definitions of multiple power saving classes that may involve complexity in achieving efficient power savings.
Regarding Claim 19
Hu in view of Jheng teaches the apparatus as explained above in Claim 18. Jheng further teaches
delete (Jheng ¶0109: no longer can be used) the PDCP PDU (Jheng ¶0108: first PDCP PDU), based on a determination that the first DRB is released (Jheng ¶0108: after data is moved to a second PDCP entity; Jheng teaches having multiple PDCP sequences and numbers that can no longer be used).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu with Jheng to include deleting the PDCP PDU after the prior message has been sent, as taught by Jheng in ¶0108 and ¶0109, to allow additional definitions of multiple power saving classes that may involve complexity in achieving efficient power savings.
Regarding Claim 20
Hu in view of Jheng teaches the apparatus as explained above in Claim 13. Jheng further teaches
output a first SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0116: SDAP headers can be used to deliver PDCP PDUs) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Jheng ¶0116: an end marker control PDU at the SDAP layer) in an initial transmission (Jheng ¶0116: in the first DRB) of a radio link control (RLC) PDU (Jheng ¶0047: RLC data PDU; Jheng teaches having the first SDAP PDU with an end marker in an RLC PDU); store (Jheng ¶0116: pending in the RLC layer), at an RLC sublayer (Jheng ¶0116: sent by the RLC layer), the RLC PDU (Jheng ¶0047: RLC data PDU; Jheng teaches placing data in the RLC layer, sending the RLC layer, and the RLC having a PDU); receive (Jheng ¶0116: transmitter may use acknowledgements), at the RLC sublayer (Jheng ¶0116: by the RLC layer), an indication from lower layers (Jheng ¶0116: interpreting the markers) that the first SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0116: determine) was not transmitted successfully (Jheng ¶0116: whether any particular packet was successfully sent; Jheng teaches receiving the RLC layer and determining whether a packet was sent or not); and output (Jheng ¶0114: deliver), based on said indication, a second SDAP end marker PDU (Jheng ¶0114: second DRB in the QoS flow) of the plurality of SDAP end marker PDUs (Jheng ¶0114: an end marker control PDU at the SDAP layer) for retransmission of the RLC PDU (Jheng ¶0047: RLC data PDU; Jheng teaches having multiple DRBs in the QoS flow, with a PDU end marker, and RLC data in a PDU).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hu with Jheng to include transmitting an SDAP end marker RLC PDU, storing it, then receiving the lack of response, and resending a second SDAP end marker RLC PDU, as taught by Jheng in ¶0047, ¶0114, and ¶0116, to allow additional definitions of multiple power saving classes that may involve complexity in achieving efficient power savings.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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