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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 21, 2026 has been entered. Claims 28-47 are currently pending and an Office action on the merits follows.
Response to Arguments
Regarding claim 28, on pages 8-9 of the applicant’s remarks, the applicant argues that TS 38.473 fails to teach “wherein the selecting comprises selecting between a list-based IE structure and an aggregated IE structure” The examiner respectfully disagrees. In TS 38.473 the F1 SETUP REQUEST sent by the gNB-DU to the gNB-CU must is received and analyzed by the gNB-CU at least to determine whether to return a F1 SETUP RESPONSE or F1 SETUP FAILURE which then determine which IEs to include accordingly as further specified in sections 9.2.1.5 and 9.2.1.6 for the respective IEs. Additionally, the gNB-CU must analyze the F1 SETUP REQUEST to determine which cells to include in the Cells to be Activated List IE which is a list-based IE structure.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 28-33 and 41 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by 3GPP TS 38.473 V15.0.0 (herein “TS 38.473”).
Consider claim 28, TS 38.473 teaches a computerized method of implementing a cell de-activation protocol, the computerized method comprising:
receiving, at a first apparatus of a distributed network architecture, data representative of a configuration request message from a second apparatus of the distributed network architecture (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.3.2 F1 SETUP REQUEST and section 8.2.4.2 note GNB-DU CONFIGURATION UPDATE);
analyzing at least a portion of the data representative of the configuration request message (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.3.2. and section 8.2.3.3. note the gNB-CU sending the F1 SETUP RESPONSE or F1 SETUP FAILURE based on the data sent in the F1 SETUP REQUEST);
based on the analyzing, selecting one or more information elements (IEs), wherein the selecting comprises selecting between a list-based IE structure and an aggregated IE structure (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.3.2. and section 8.2.3.3. note the gNB-CU sending the F1 SETUP RESPONSE with the Cells to be Activated List IE and PCI IE or the F1 SETUP FAILURE with the Time to Wait IE);
based on the selecting, generating data representative of a response message (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.3.2. and section 8.2.3.3. note the gNB-CU generates the F1 SETUP RESPONSE or the F1 SETUP FAILURE);
transmitting the data representative of the response message to the second apparatus, the data representative of the response message configured to cause at least one of (i) activation or (ii) deactivation of respective ones of a plurality of wireless cells associated with the second apparatus (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.3.2 note F1 SETUP RESPONSE including the Cells to be Activated List IE and PCI IE).
Consider claim 29, TS 38.473 teaches wherein the receiving, at the first apparatus of the distributed network architecture, data representative of the configuration request message from the second apparatus of the distributed network architecture comprises receiving, at a centralized unit (CU) of the distributed network architecture, data representative of an NR (New Radio) compliant F1 SETUP REQUEST message, from a distributed unit (DU) of the distributed network architecture (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.3.2 note gNB-DU sends F1 SETUP REQUEST to gNB-CU).
Consider claim 30, TS 38.473 teaches wherein the transmitting of the data representative of the response message to the second apparatus comprises transmitting a data representative of a configuration update message configured to cause the second apparatus to deactivate a prescribed range of the plurality of wireless cells (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.5.2. and section 9.2.1.10 gNB-CU Configuration Update Cells to be Deactivated List).
Consider claim 31, TS 38.473 teaches wherein the generating of the data representative of the response message comprises modifying the one or more IEs with one or more data elements to generate the data representative of the response message, the one or more data elements configured to cause the second apparatus to modify at least one physical cell identifier (PCI) associated with at least one of the plurality of wireless cells (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.4.2 note gNB-DU Configuration Update with Cells to be Activated Item IE contained in the GNB-DU CONFIGURATIoN UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE MESSAGE, the gNB-DU shall reconfigure the physical cell identity for cells for which the PCI IE is included).
Consider claim 32, TS 38.473 teaches further comprising receiving, at the first apparatus, data representative of an acknowledgement message from the second apparatus, the acknowledgement message indicating one or more of the plurality of wireless cells which failed to activate (see TS 38.473 section 9.2.1.11 note GNB-CU CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Cells Failed to be Activated List).
Consider claim 33, TS 38.473 teaches further comprising, based on the receiving of the data representative of an acknowledgement message, initiating a setup procedure towards one or more base station apparatuses (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.3.2 F1 SETUP REQUEST and section 8.2.4.2 note GNB-DU CONFIGURATION UPDATE).
Consider claim 41, TS 38.473 teaches wherein the data representative of the response message is configured to cause the at least one of (i) the activation or (ii) the deactivation of the respective ones of the plurality of wireless cells associated with the second apparatus without requiring enumeration of individual cell identifiers in the response message (see TS 38.473 section 8.2.3.2 note F1 SETUP RESPONSE including the Cells to be Activated List IE).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 34-40 and 42-47 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claims 34-40, the prior art of record fails to anticipate or render, singly or in combination, obvious the claimed limitations, especially " based on the transmission of the data representative of the configuration request message, receive data representative of a response message from the centralized apparatus, the data representative of the response message: (i) comprising at least one information element (IE) configured for use in a non-cell specific communication protocol for controlling activation or deactivation of the plurality of wireless cells between the centralized apparatus and the computerized apparatus, and (ii) configured to cause either the activation or the deactivation of the plurality of cells” within context of the claim as a whole.
Regarding claims 42-47, the prior art of record fails to anticipate or render, singly or in combination, obvious the claimed limitations, especially "cause algorithmic evaluation of the extracted data to determine that a first computerized protocol for activation of the plurality of wireless cells should be utilized instead of a second, default protocol for activation of the plurality of wireless cells, the algorithmic evaluation comprising a determination that a number of the plurality of wireless cells associated with the at least one distributed wireless access point exceeds a prescribed threshold” within context of the claim as a whole.
Consequently, the disclosed independent claims are allowed on behalf of the above-discussed reasons, and also preserved via Applicant Arguments/Remarks filed on January 21, 2026 as well. Since the disclosed dependent claims are dependent on one of the above independent claims, therefore they are also patentable.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM-6:00PM.
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, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647