DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Applicant’s RCE filed 4/14/26 is acknowledged.
Claim 36, 48, 54, 56, 58, 60, and 62 are amended.
Claims 36-39 and 41-63 are pending.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/14/26 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 36, 46, 56, and 58 (pages 11-12) in a reply filed 3/10/2026 have been considered but are moot because the arguments are based on newly changed limitations in the amendment and new ground of rejections using newly introduced references or a newly introduced portion of an existing reference are applied in the current rejection.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 54 and 62 (pages 12-13) in a reply filed 3/10/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 12-13 of the remarks, in regard to claim 54 and 62, the Applicant disagrees with the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. US 20200107390 (hereinafter “Hwang2”) in view of Kim et al. US 20220256634 (hereinafter “Kim3”) and in further view of Liu et al. US 20220141735 (hereinafter “Liu”)
Specifically, the Applicant remarks:
The references do not teach “network address”. Cell ID does not map to “a network address”.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Regarding (1), it’s not clear why the applicant believes a cell identifier (or cell ID) does not map to “a network address”. Hwang2 mentions that the “MCG failure indication” includes serving and neighboring cell measurement results (cell IDs and measurement values” and since this information is sent to MN, the SN must also know the “network address” of the MN. In addition, using broadest reasonable interpretation, cell identifier is analogous to “network address” especially since the instant application’s specification does not further limit or define “network address” of MN.
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.
Claim(s) 36, 38, 39, 45, 47, 48, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, and 61 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. US 20230262540 (hereinafter “Kim”) in view of Jang et al. US 20200053600 (hereinafter “Jang”) and in further view of Takahashi et al. US 20220286879 (hereinafter “Takahashi”)
As to claim 36 and 56 (claim 36 is the method claim for the UE in claim 56):
Kim discloses:
A method for providing radio link failure (RLF) information, the method comprising: a user equipment (UE) detecting an RLF with respect to a master cell group (MCG); (“The UE may detect a radio link failure (RLF) of a MCG (or, detect a MCG failure/MCG RLF)”, Kim [0213])
(“Upon detecting the RLF of the MCG and fast MCG link recovery is not available (i.e., T316 is not configured), the UE may initiate a RRC connection re-establishment procedure. However, upon/after detecting the RLF of the MCG but fast MCG link recovery is available (i.e., T316 is configured), the UE shall:”, Kim [0218]) (“initiate the MCG failure information procedure (also referred to as fast MCG recovery procedure) to report MCG radio link failure.”, Kim [0222])
wherein initiating the fast MCG link recovery comprises sending an MCG failure information message to a master node (MN) via a secondary cell group (SCG) upon the detection of the radio link failure on the MCG, instead of triggering radio resource control (RRC) re-establishment. (“In summary, if the fast MCG recovery is configured (i.e., T316 is configured), the UE may trigger an MCG fast recovery procedure in which a MCG failure information message is transmitted to the network via SCG, upon detecting a PCell failure (i.e., MCG failure). And if the fast MCG recovery fails (i.e., T316 expires), the UE may initiate the RRC re-establishment procedure.”, Kim [0235]) (Examiner’s Note: RRC re-establishment is only initiated if fast MCG recovery fails)
Kim as described above does not explicitly teach:
and in response to detecting the RLF with respect to the MCG the UE: i) storing an RLF report; detecting the expiration of a timer; and as a result of detecting the expiration of the timer, adding the RLF report to a list of RLF reports,
and the MCG failure information message comprises:
timing information indicating a time at which the RLF with respect to the MCG was detected;
information indicating a speed of the UE;
a list of equivalent PLMNs (EPLMNs) stored by the UE;
a tracking area code of the failed PCell and the source PCell;
a C-RNTI used by the previous source PCell;
a global cell identity of the failed PCell and the source PCell;
and/or random-access related information.
However, Jang further teaches storing RLF report after detecting RLF which includes:
in response to detecting the RLF with respect to the MCG, (“The cell group is again divided into a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG). The MCG means a set of serving cells controlled by a base station (master eNB (MeNB)) that controls a primary cell (PC) cell, and the SCG means a set of serving cells controlled by a base station other than the base stations that control the PCell, that is, a secondary base station (secondary eNB (SeNB)) that controls only a secondary cell (SCell).”, Jang [0136]) the UE: i) storing an RLF report; detecting the expiration of a timer; and as a result of detecting the expiration of the timer, adding the RLF report to a list of RLF reports, (“Although not described in this figure, if the handover is not successfully completed before the driven T304 timer is expired, the terminal generates and stores a radio link failure report (RLF-report). When the terminal is successfully connected to the base station, if the network is notified that the terminal stores the RLF-report information and requests the RLF-report information, the stored information is reported to the network (base station). As the message that the network requests, a UEInformationRequest message of the RRC layer may be used, and as the message reported to the network, a UEInformationResponse message may be used as a message reported to the network. On the other hand, the RLF-report may include the measurement results of the most recent main cell (PCell, i.e., source cell), the measurement results of the target cells, the handover condition information received by the base station, or the like.”, Jang [0234]) (Examiner’s Note: UE stores a RLF report of the most recent main cell after a timer expires and since the UE also has access to measurement results of multiple cells such as target cells, it is adding more information or measurement results to an already existing RLF report which is analogous to “adding the RLF report to a list of RLF reports”)
Kim and Jang are analogous because they pertain to RLF procedure.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include storing RLF report after detecting RLF as described in Jang into Kim. By modifying the method to include storing RLF report after detecting RLF as taught by Jang, the benefits of extended RLF report (Jang [0234]) with improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
The combination of Kim and Jang as described above does not explicitly teach:
and the MCG failure information message comprises:
timing information indicating a time at which the RLF with respect to the MCG was detected;
information indicating a speed of the UE;
a list of equivalent PLMNs (EPLMNs) stored by the UE;
a tracking area code of the failed PCell and the source PCell;
a C-RNTI used by the previous source PCell;
a global cell identity of the failed PCell and the source PCell;
and/or random-access related information.
However, Takahashi further teaches MCG failure information which includes:
and the MCG failure information message comprises:
timing information indicating a time at which the RLF with respect to the MCG was detected;
information indicating a speed of the UE;
a list of equivalent PLMNs (EPLMNs) stored by the UE;
a tracking area code of the failed PCell and the source PCell;
a C-RNTI used by the previous source PCell;
a global cell identity of the failed PCell and the source PCell;
and/or random-access related information. (“The UE may include information related to the MCG failure in the MCGFailureInformation. For example, in the case where the timer T310 is over, the UE sets t310-Expiry in the failureType. In the case where the UE has detected a random-access procedure failure in the MAC layer of the MCG, the UE sets randomAccessProblem in the failureType. In the case where the UE has detected that the number of retransmissions exceeded its maximum number in the RLC layer of the MCG, the UE sets rlc-MaxNumRetx in the failureType.”, Takahashi [0058]) (“Since the MCG failure information in the foregoing embodiment includes the positional information on the position of the terminal 200 at the time when the terminal 200 detected the failure, the core network can obtain the positional information at the time of the occurrence of the MCG failure, and thus, the core network can geographically identify the area having a problem in area quality.”, Takahashi [0077]) (“The UE may include, in the MCGFailureInformation, positional information indicating the position of the UE itself at the time when the UE detected an MCG failure such as the positional information obtained by using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or failedPCellID. For example, the UE may include LocationInfo illustrated in FIG. 6 in the MCGFailureInformation.”, Takahashi [0060]) (Examiner’s Note: GNSS includes timing information)
Kim, Takahashi, and Jang are analogous because they pertain to RLF procedure.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include MCG failure information as described in Takahashi into Kim as modified by Jang. By modifying the method to include MCG failure information as taught by Takahashi, the benefits of extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), improving MCG failure reporting (Takahashi [0060]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
As to claim 38 and 57 (claim 38 is the method claim for the UE in claim 57):
The combination of Kim and Jang as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 36, wherein: the master cell group (MCG) failure information comprises at least one of: timing information indicating a time at which the RLF with respect to the MCG was detected, location information indicating the location of the UE at the time that the radio link failure with respect to the MCG was detected, UE mobility information, a list of equivalent PLMNs, EPLMNs, stored by the UE, measurement results that are not part of legacy MCG failure information, a tracking area code of the failed PCell and the source PCell, a C-RNTI used by the previous source PCell, a global cell identity of the failed PCell and the source PCell, or random-access related information.
However, Takahashi further teaches MCG failure information which includes:
The method of claim 36, wherein: the master cell group (MCG) failure information comprises at least one of: timing information indicating a time at which the RLF with respect to the MCG was detected, location information indicating the location of the UE at the time that the radio link failure with respect to the MCG was detected, UE mobility information, a list of equivalent PLMNs, EPLMNs, stored by the UE, measurement results that are not part of legacy MCG failure information, a tracking area code of the failed PCell and the source PCell, a C-RNTI used by the previous source PCell, a global cell identity of the failed PCell and the source PCell, or random-access related information. (“Since the MCG failure information in the foregoing embodiment includes the positional information on the position of the terminal 200 at the time when the terminal 200 detected the failure”, Takahashi [0077])
Kim, Jang, and Takahashi are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include MCG failure information as described in Takahashi into Kim as modified by Jang. By modifying the method to include MCG failure information as taught by Takahashi, the benefits of extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), detailed reporting (Takahashi [0077]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
As to claim 39:
Kim as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 38, further comprising storing a RLF report in response to detecting the RLF with respect to the MCG.
However, Jang further teaches RLF report which includes:
The method of claim 38, further comprising storing a RLF report in response to detecting the RLF with respect to the MCG. (“Although not described in this figure, if the handover is not successfully completed before the driven T304 timer is expired, the terminal generates and stores a radio link failure report (RLF-report). When the terminal is successfully connected to the base station, if the network is notified that the terminal stores the RLF-report information and requests the RLF-report information, the stored information is reported to the network (base station). As the message that the network requests, a UEInformationRequest message of the RRC layer may be used, and as the message reported to the network, a UEInformationResponse message may be used as a message reported to the network. On the other hand, the RLF-report may include the measurement results of the most recent main cell (PCell, i.e., source cell), the measurement results of the target cells, the handover condition information received by the base station, or the like.”, Jang [0234]) (Examiner’s Note: UE stores a RLF report of the most recent main cell after a timer expires and since the UE also has access to measurement results of multiple cells such as target cells, it is adding more information or measurement results to an already existing RLF report which is analogous to “adding the RLF report to a list of RLF reports”)
Kim and Jang are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report as described in Jang into Kim. By modifying the method to include RLF report as taught by Jang, the benefits of extended RLF report (Jang [0234]) with improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
As to claim 45:
Kim discloses:
The method of claim 36, wherein the RLF report comprises information indicating that the RLF report was generated while an MCG failure recovery was available. (“the UE may initiate a RRC connection re-establishment procedure. However, upon/after detecting the RLF of the MCG but fast MCG link recovery is available (i.e., T316 is configured), the UE shall:”, Kim [0218]) (“initiate the MCG failure information procedure (also referred to as fast MCG recovery procedure) to report MCG radio link failure.”, Kim [0222])
As to claim 47:
Kim discloses:
The method of claim 36, further comprising the UE receiving configuration information transmitted by a network function, the configuration information comprising MCG failure recovery configuration information for configuring the UE to initiate a fast MCG link recovery procedure in response to the UE detecting an MCG link failure. (“may initiate the fast MCG link recovery procedure”, Kim [0223]) (“the UE receives RRCReconfiguration message comprising reconfigurationWithSync for the PCell in response to the MCGFailureInformation message, the UE may determine that the fast MCG recovery succeeds”, Kim [0233])
As to claim 48 and 58 (claim 48 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 58):
Claim 48 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 36 from the perspective of the network node.
As to claim 52:
Kim discloses:
the method of claim 48, further comprising: the network function receiving from a user equipment (UE) master cell group (MCG) failure information that was transmitted by the UE as a result of the UE detecting a radio link failure with respect to the MCG (“The purpose of the MCG failure information procedure may comprise informing NR MN about an MCG failure the UE has experienced (i.e., MCG radio link failure)”, Kim [0223]),
The combination of Kim and Jang as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein the MCG failure information comprises at least one of: timing information indicating a time at which the RLF with respect to the MCG was detected, location information indicating the location of the UE at the time that the radio link failure with respect to the MCG was detected, UE mobility information, a list of equivalent PLMNs, EPLMNs, stored by the UE, measurement results that are not part of legacy MCG failure information, a tracking area code of the failed PCell and the source PCell, a C-RNTI used by the previous source PCell, a global cell identity of the failed PCell and the source PCell, or random-access related information.
However, Takahashi further teaches MCG failure information which includes:
wherein the MCG failure information comprises at least one of: timing information indicating a time at which the RLF with respect to the MCG was detected, location information indicating the location of the UE at the time that the radio link failure with respect to the MCG was detected, UE mobility information, a list of equivalent PLMNs, EPLMNs, stored by the UE, measurement results that are not part of legacy MCG failure information, a tracking area code of the failed PCell and the source PCell, a C-RNTI used by the previous source PCell, a global cell identity of the failed PCell and the source PCell, or random-access related information. (“Since the MCG failure information in the foregoing embodiment includes the positional information on the position of the terminal 200 at the time when the terminal 200 detected the failure”, Takahashi [0077])
Kim, Takahashi, and Jang are analogous because they pertain to RLF procedure.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include MCG failure information as described in Takahashi into Kim as modified by Jang. By modifying the method to include MCG failure information as taught by Takahashi, the benefits of extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), improving MCG failure reporting (Takahashi [0060]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
As to claim 53 and 61 (claim 53 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 61):
Kim discloses:
The method of claim 48, further comprising identifying a network node to which the MCG failure information pertains and transmitting at least part of the MCG failure information to: i) the identified network node and/or ii) a control node. (“The purpose of the MCG failure information procedure may comprise informing NR MN about an MCG failure the UE has experienced (i.e., MCG radio link failure)”, Kim [0223])
Claim(s) 37, 41, 43, 44, 49, 51, and 59 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Jang and Takahashi, as applied to claim 36 above, and further in view of Liu et al. US 20220141735 (hereinafter “Liu”)
As to claim 37:
The combination of Kim, Jang, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 36, wherein the RLF report comprises at least one of: timing information indicating a time at which the RLF with respect to the master cell group was detected, location information indicating the location of the UE at the time that the RLF with respect to the master cell group was detected, UE mobility information, a list of equivalent PLMNs (EPLMNs) stored by the UE, measurement results that are not part of legacy MCG failure information, a tracking area code of the failed PCell and the source PCell, a C-RNTI used by the previous source PCell, a global cell identity of the failed PCell and the source PCell, or random-access related information.
However, Liu further teaches RLF report which includes:
The method of claim 36, wherein the RLF report comprises at least one of: timing information indicating a time at which the RLF with respect to the master cell group was detected, location information indicating the location of the UE at the time that the RLF with respect to the master cell group was detected, UE mobility information, a list of equivalent PLMNs (EPLMNs) stored by the UE, measurement results that are not part of legacy MCG failure information, a tracking area code of the failed PCell and the source PCell, a C-RNTI used by the previous source PCell, a global cell identity of the failed PCell and the source PCell, or random-access related information. (“The RLF report may include one or more radio measurements, such as a C-RNTI of the master node and/or the secondary node, a cell identity, an indication of a cause of the RLF, time information, location information, the UE RLF report container, an indication of a beam, a service interruption time, a conditional handover failure report, another report, or a combination thereof”, Liu [0253])
Kim, Jang, Takahashi, and Liu are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report as described in Liu into Kim as modified by Jang and Takahashi. By modifying the method to include RLF report as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved system efficiency (Liu [0205]), extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), improving MCG failure reporting (Takahashi [0060]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
As to claim 41:
The combination of Kim, Jang, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 39, further comprising the UE transmitting a message comprising information indicating that the UE has stored one or more RLF reports.
However, Liu further teaches RLF report which includes:
The method of claim 39, further comprising the UE transmitting a message comprising information indicating that the UE has stored one or more RLF reports. (“includes an indication that one or more RLF reports may be available at the UE”, Liu [0180]))
Kim, Jang, Takahashi, and Liu are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report as described in Liu into Kim as modified by Jang and Takahashi. By modifying the method to include RLF report as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved system efficiency (Liu [0205]), extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), detailed reporting (Takahashi [0077]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
As to claim 43:
The combination of Kim, Jang, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 41, wherein the message comprising the information indicating that the UE has stored one or more RLF reports is an RRC Reconfiguration Complete, an RRC Reestablishment Complete, or an RRC Resume Complete.
However, Liu further teaches RLF report which includes:
The method of claim 41, wherein the message comprising the information indicating that the UE has stored one or more RLF reports (“includes an indication that one or more RLF reports may be available at the UE”, Liu [0180])) is an RRC Reconfiguration Complete, an RRC Reestablishment Complete, or an RRC Resume Complete. (“The UE may indicate via a flag to the cell that RLF information is available for reporting after the RRC connection setup in the reestablishment failure case. In some examples, the UE may include the flag in an RRC connection reestablishment complete message, an RRC connection setup complete message, an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message, another RRC message, or a combination thereof”, Liu [0252])
Kim, Jang, Takahashi, and Liu are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report as described in Liu into Kim as modified by Jang and Takahashi. By modifying the method to include RLF report as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved system efficiency (Liu [0205]), extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), detailed reporting (Takahashi [0077]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
As to claim 44:
The combination of Kim, Jang, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 41, further comprising: after transmitting the message comprising the information indicating that the UE has stored one or more RLF reports, receiving an RLF report request message; and in response to the RLF report request message the UE transmitting to the sender of the RLF report request message at least one of the one or more RLF reports.
However, Liu further teaches RLF report which includes:
The method of claim 41, further comprising: after transmitting the message comprising the information indicating that the UE has stored one or more RLF reports (“includes an indication that one or more RLF reports may be available at the UE”, Liu [0180])), receiving an RLF report request message; and in response to the RLF report request message (“The network may respond to the flag with a request that the UE report the RLF information using a UE information request”, Liu [0252]), the UE transmitting to the sender of the RLF report request message at least one of the one or more RLF reports. (“the UE 215-c may transmit an RLF report including RLF information to the cell 205-g”, Liu [0248])
Kim, Jang, Takahashi, and Liu are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report as described in Liu into Kim as modified by Jang and Takahashi. By modifying the method to include RLF report as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved system efficiency (Liu [0205]), extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), detailed reporting (Takahashi [0077]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
As to claim 49 and 59 (claim 49 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 59):
The combination of Kim, Jang, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 48, wherein the configuration information further comprises: radio link failure (RLF) configuration information for configuring the UE to generate and store an RLF report in response to the UE detecting the MCG link failure.
However, Liu further teaches RLF report which includes:
The method of claim 48, wherein the configuration information further comprises: radio link failure (RLF) configuration information for configuring the UE to generate and store an RLF report in response to the UE detecting the MCG link failure. (“To address certain network topologies, a wireless communication system may be configured to have UEs report details about RLF events.”, Liu [0203]) (“includes an indication that one or more RLF reports may be available at the UE”, Liu [0180])
Kim, Jang, Takahashi, and Liu are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report as described in Liu into Kim as modified by Jang and Takahashi. By modifying the method to include RLF report as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved system efficiency (Liu [0205]), extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), detailed reporting (Takahashi [0077]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
As to claim 51:
The combination of Kim, Jang, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 49, wherein the RLF configuration information further comprises information specifying the type of information to be included in an RLF report.
However, Liu further teaches RLF information which includes:
The method of claim 49, wherein the RLF configuration information further comprises information specifying the type of information to be included in an RLF report. (“The RLF information may include information about directional beams, information about a master node and a secondary node in a dual-connectivity procedure, information associated conditional handover procedures, or information about service time interruptions, or a combination thereof”, Liu [0243])
Kim, Jang, Takahashi, and Liu are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report as described in Liu into Kim as modified by Jang and Takahashi. By modifying the method to include RLF report as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved system efficiency (Liu [0205]), extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), detailed reporting (Takahashi [0077]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 42 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Liu, Jang, and Takahashi, as applied to claim 41 above, and further in view of Park et al. US 20190215756 (hereinafter “Park”)
As to claim 42:
The combination of Kim, Jang, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 41, further comprising: prior to the expiration of a timer, receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message, wherein the step of the UE transmitting the message comprising the information indicating that the UE has stored one or more RLF reports comprises the UE transmitting said message in response to the RRC message.
However, Liu further teaches RLF report indication which includes:
The method of claim 41, further comprising:(“includes an indication that one or more RLF reports may be available at the UE”, Liu [0180])) (“The UE may indicate via a flag to the cell that RLF information is available for reporting after the RRC connection setup in the reestablishment failure case. In some examples, the UE may include the flag in an RRC connection reestablishment complete message, an RRC connection setup complete message, an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message, another RRC message, or a combination thereof”, Liu [0252])
Kim, Jang, Takahashi, and Liu are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report as described in Liu into Kim as modified by Jang and Takahashi. By modifying the method to include RLF report as taught by Liu, the benefits of improved system efficiency (Liu [0205]), extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), detailed reporting (Takahashi [0077]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
The combination of Kim, Jang, Liu, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 41, further comprising: prior to the expiration of a timer, receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message,
However, Park further teaches RRC messaging prior to timer expiry which includes:
The method of claim 41, further comprising: prior to the expiration of a timer, receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message, (“The timer t310 may stop: at a time that the wireless device receives a certain number (e.g., N311) consecutive in-sync indications from lower layers (e.g., for a primary cell); after or based on triggering a handover procedure; after or based on initiating an RRC connection reestablishment procedure; and/or the like”, Park [0247])
Kim, Jang, Liu, Takahashi, and Park are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report generation based on timer expiry as described in Park into Kim as modified by Liu, Jang, and Takahashi. By modifying the method to include RLF report generation based on timer expiry as taught by Park, the benefits of improved communication (Park [0220]), improved system efficiency (Liu [0205]), extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), detailed reporting (Takahashi [0077]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 46 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Takahashi and Jang, as applied to claim 36 above, and further in view of Hwang et al. US 20220295318 (hereinafter “Hwang”)
As to claim 46:
The combination of Kim, Jang, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 36, wherein storing the RLF report comprises storing the RLF report such that the RLF report overwrites a previously stored RLF report.
However, Hwang further teaches RLF report storage and maintenance which includes:
The method of claim 36, wherein storing the RLF report comprises storing the RLF report such that the RLF report overwrites a previously stored RLF report. (“When the UE receives the UEInformationRequest message, the UE may transmit the RLF report to the BS via UEInformationResponse message, and when a lower layer confirms a successful delivery of the UEInformationResponse message, the UE may delete the RLF report from its internal memory”, Hwang [0340])
Kim, Jang, Takahashi, and Hwang are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF report storage and maintenance as described in Hwang into Kim as modified by Takahashi and Jang. By modifying the method to include RLF report storage and maintenance as taught by Hwang, the benefits of extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), enhanced coverage (Hwang [0071]), improving MCG failure reporting (Takahashi [0060]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 50 and 60 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Jang, Takahashi, and Liu, as applied to claim 49 above, and further in view of Kim et al. US 20140023032 (hereinafter “Kim2”)
As to claim 50 and 60 (claim 50 is the method claim for the apparatus in claim 60):
The combination of Kim, Jang, Liu, and Takahashi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 49, wherein the RLF configuration information comprises information indicating a maximum number of RLF reports.
However, Kim2 further teaches maximum number of RLF report which includes:
The method of claim 49, wherein the RLF configuration information comprises information indicating a maximum number of RLF reports. (“the UE may store all of the reports. In order to reduce signaling overhead, it is possible to reduce the number of RLF reports to be stored or restrict the number of RLF reports to a predetermined value”, Kim2 [0051])
Kim, Jang, Takahashi, Liu, and Kim2 are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include maximum number of RLF report as described in Kim2 into Kim as modified by Jang, Liu, and Takahashi. By modifying the method to include maximum number of RLF report as taught by Kim2, the benefits of improved communication efficiency (Kim2 [0006]), improved system efficiency (Liu [0205]), extended RLF report (Jang [0234]), detailed reporting (Takahashi [0077]), and improved mobility robustness (Kim [0250]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 54, 55, 62, and 63 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. US 20200107390 (hereinafter “Hwang2”) in view of Kim et al. US 20220256634 (hereinafter “Kim3”) and in further view of Liu et al. US 20220141735 (hereinafter “Liu”)
As to claim 54, 62 and 63 (claim 54 is the method claim for the apparatus in claims 62 and 63):
Hwang2 discloses:
A method, the method comprising: a secondary node receiving a first master cell group (MCG) failure message transmitted by a user equipment (UE), the first MCG failure message indicating that the UE has detected a radio link failure (RLF) of a radio link that was previously established between the UE and a master node, and the first MCG failure message comprising MCG failure information; (“Upon detecting the MN failure, the UE 10 may transmit an MCG failure information to the SN gNB 30 over the SCG SRB at step S305. In this case, the SN gNB 30 may transmit a reestablishment required message including the information received from the UE to the MN eNB. The MCG failure indication may include serving and neighboring cell measurement results (cell IDs and measurement values) obtained through measurement in the MN cell 20.”, Hwang2 [0074])
the secondary node, in response to receiving the first MCG failure message transmitted by the UE, using the MCG failure information included in the first MCG failure message to obtain a network address othe master node for which the UE has detected the RLF; (“Upon detecting the MN failure, the UE 10 may transmit an MCG failure information to the SN gNB 30 over the SCG SRB at step S305. In this case, the SN gNB 30 may transmit a reestablishment required message including the information received from the UE to the MN eNB. The MCG failure indication may include serving and neighboring cell measurement results (cell IDs and measurement values) obtained through measurement in the MN cell 20.”, Hwang2 [0074]) (Examiner’s Note: cell ID maps to “address” and the SN must know the “address” of the master node since it transmits this information to the MN)
after obtaining the network address of the master node using the MCG failure information included in the first MCG failure message, the secondary using the obtained address to transmit to the maser node a second MCG failure message comprising a least a part of the MCG failure information included in the first MCG failure message; the master node receiving the second MCG failure message; (“Upon detecting the MN failure, the UE 10 may transmit an MCG failure information to the SN gNB 30 over the SCG SRB at step S305. In this case, the SN gNB 30 may transmit a reestablishment required message including the information received from the UE to the MN eNB. The MCG failure indication may include serving and neighboring cell measurement results (cell IDs and measurement values) obtained through measurement in the MN cell 20.”, Hwang2 [0074]) (Examiner’s Note: cell ID maps to “address” and the SN must know the “address” of the master node since it transmits this information to the MN)
Hwang2 as described above does not explicitly teach:
after receiving the second MCG failure message master node transmitting to the UE a radio resource control (RRC) message;
and the master node receiving an RRC response message transmitted by the UE in response to the RRC message transmitted to the UE, wherein the RRC response message comprises information indicating that the UE has stored one or more radio link failure (RLF) reports.
However, Kim3 further teaches the master node transmitting a RRC message after receiving second MCG failure message which includes:
after receiving the second MCG failure message master node transmitting to the UE a radio resource control (RRC) message; (FIG. 27 shows the UE receiving RRC message from MCG via SCG after the master node receives “second” MCG failure information via SCG, Kim3)
Hwang2 and Kim3 are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the master node transmitting a RRC message after receiving second MCG failure message as described in Kim3 into Hwang2. By modifying the method to include the master node transmitting a RRC message after receiving second MCG failure message as taught by Kim3, the benefits of relaying MCG failure messages (Kim2 [FIG. 27]) and improved MCG failure reporting (Hwang2 [0074]) are achieved.
The combination of Hwang2 and Kim3 as described above does not explicitly teach:
and the master node receiving an RRC response message transmitted by the UE in response to the RRC message transmitted to the UE, wherein the RRC response message comprises information indicating that the UE has stored one or more radio link failure (RLF) reports
However, Liu further teaches master node and UE exchanging RRC message to transfer RLF report which includes:
and the master node receiving an RRC response message transmitted by the UE in response to the RRC message transmitted to the UE, wherein the RRC response message comprises information indicating that the UE has stored one or more radio link failure (RLF) reports. (“Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving an RRC message that includes an indication that one or more RLF reports may be available at the UE, where receiving the RLF report may be based on receiving the RRC message that includes the indication.”, Liu [0071]) (“At 620, the cell 610 may transmit, and the UE 605 may receive, an RRC connection reestablishment message based on the RRC connection reestablishment request message. At 625, the UE 605 may transmit, and the cell 610 may receive, the RRC connection reestablishment complete message. The RRC connection reestablishment complete message may be transmitted based on receiving the RRC connection reestablishment message. In some examples, the RRC connection reestablishment complete message may include an indication that one or more RLF reports are available at the UE 605 to report to the network.”, Liu [0298-0299])
Hwang2, Liu, and Kim3 are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include master node and UE exchanging RRC message to transfer RLF report as described in Liu into Hwang2 as modified by Kim3. By modifying the method to include master node and UE exchanging RRC message to transfer RLF report as taught by Liu, the benefits of relaying MCG failure messages (Kim2 [FIG. 27]), improved MCG failure reporting (Hwang2 [0074]), and improved RLF reporting (Liu [0298-0299]) are achieved.
As to claim 55:
The combination of Hwang2 and Kim3 as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 54, further comprising: after receiving the RRC response message, transmitting to the UE an RLF report request message; and after transmitting the RLF report request message, receiving at least one RLF report transmitted by the UE.
However, Liu further teaches RLF reporting which includes:
The method of claim 54, further comprising: after receiving the RRC response message, the master node transmitting to the UE an RLF report request message; and after transmitting the RLF report request message, the master node receiving at least one RLF report transmitted by the UE. (“the UE 605 may include the flag in an RRC connection reestablishment complete message, an RRC connection setup complete message, an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message, another RRC message, or a combination thereof. The cell 610 may respond to the flag by transmitting a UE information request message to the UE 605. The UE information request message may include a request that the UE 605 report the RLF information in an RLF report. The UE 605 may transmit a UE information response message including the RLF report based on the UE information request message”, Liu [0296])
Hwang2, Liu, and Kim3 are analogous because they pertain to handling RLF.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF reporting as described in Liu into Hwang2 as modified by Kim3. By modifying the method to include RLF reporting as taught by Liu, the benefits of relaying MCG failure messages (Kim2 [FIG. 27]), improved MCG failure reporting (Hwang2 [0074]), and improved RLF reporting (Liu [0298-0299]) are achieved.
Conclusion
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/A.C.K./
Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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