DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed October 15, 2025 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, claims 1, 14. 19-20, and 33 have been amended.
Claims 1, 3-7, 9-12, 14, 16, 19-20, 22-23, and 33 are pending in this application.
In view of the amendment filed October 15, 2025, the previous objection to claim 14 has been withdrawn. Further, the previous rejection to claim 14 has been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/15/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. More specifically, although Applicant indicates that “for the same or similar reasons, neither Alternative #1 not Alternative #2 is disclosed by Kim” (see page 11). However, “same or similar reasons” as Worrall et al. cannot apply to Kim et al. since Applicant’s arguments against Worrall et al. cannot apply to Kim et al. Therefore, Applicant has not provided reasons why Kim et al. does not read on the limitations of amended claims 1 and 14.
Examiner respectfully submits that Kim et al., in combination of Worrall et al. teach the amended claims of 1 and 14, and they are addressed in this Office Action, below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 3 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Amended claim 1 and 20 recite “wherein the service transmission mode of the first bearer is determined by an RRC configuration information of the first bearer”. Claims 3 and 22 that depend on claims 1 and 20, respectively, recites the same limitation, i.e., “wherein the determining, by the terminal, the service transmission mode comprises: receiving, by the terminal, an RRC configuration information of the first bearer, and determining the service transmission mode of the first bearer according to the RRC configuration information”. Therefore, claims 3 and 22 do not further limit claims of 1 and 20, respectively.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claims 1, 3-5, 7, 9-10, 14, 16, 19-20, 22-23, and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Worrall et al. (EP 2587859) and further in view of Kim et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0392467).
Regarding Claim 1, Worrall et al. teaches A service processing method (Worrall et al. teaches means for improving congestion control on multicast frequency carriers of a communication system (para. [0020])), comprising: determining, by a terminal, a service transmission mode or an indication content of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) release message (Worrall et al. teaches that unicast and broadcast/multicast services each be associated with a bearer specifying the corresponding configuration, and that different bearers are mapped on some disjoint sub-frames allocated to unicast services, or to multicast services (para. [0009]); some unicast related bearers (para. [0039]) indicating that a service transmission mode is associated with a bearer; radio resource congestion information is signaled on a RRC configuration release message (para. [0045]); RRC connection release message carries radio resource congestion information that indicates that number of bearers left available for delivering unicast services is below a threshold value (para. [0072])); and reserving, by the terminal, a first bearer, according to the indication content or the service transmission mode, when the terminal releases an RRC connection (Worrall et al. teaches that a mobile terminal decides service prioritization and signals the network its interest to prioritize a multicast service over unicast (para. [0056])[Examiner’s Note: because a bearer is dedicated to a multicast or unicast service, by indicating prioritization, a bearer is reserved]; that the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection (para. [0039]). In response to the mobile terminal's priority message the communication network 100 decides to release the RRC connection such that the mobile terminal 110 gets able to receive its desired multicast service in RRC idle mode, see reference numeral 206 (para. [0072]; FIG. 2) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS channel is a first bearer, and prioritizing reads on “reserving” because in step 206 indicates the UE is able to receive MBMS in RRC idle mode after the RRC release, meaning bearers the UE prioritized were not released]), wherein the service transmission mode is a service transmission mode of the first bearer (Worrall et al. teaches that unicast and broadcast/multicast services each be associated with a bearer specifying the corresponding configuration, and that different bearers are mapped on some disjoint sub-frames allocated to unicast services, or to multicast services (para. [0009]); the network is informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection (para. [0038-0039]) [Examiner Note: Multicast is the service transmission mode of the first bearer]), wherein the reserving the first bearer, according to the service transmission mode, when the terminal releases the RRC connection comprises: reserving the first bearer, when the terminal releases the RRC connection, in a case that the service transmission mode comprises a first transmission mode (Worrall et al. teaches that since the UE wishes to prioritize multicast/ MBMS services over unicast services it may transmit a corresponding priority or priority change message to the communication network and that communication network decides to release the RRC connection such that the mobile terminal 110 gets able to receive its desired multicast service in RRC idle mode, see reference numeral 206 (para. [0072]; FIG. 2) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS channel is a first bearer, and prioritizing reads on “reserving” because in step 206 indicates the UE is able to receive MBMS in RRC idle mode after the RRC release, meaning bearers the UE prioritized were not released and further that multicast is the service transmission mode of the first bearer]), wherein the first transmission mode is multicast, groupcast, or broadcast (Worrall et al. teaches that the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection. After the RRC connection release the mobile terminal may continue to receive the multicast service of interest. That is to say, the means for controlling the data exchange may be operable to uninterruptedly receive the multicast service even when the mobile transceiver is instructed to change from a RRC connected state to a RRC idle state, or vice versa (para. [0039]) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS is a first transmission mode]), or, wherein the reserving the first bearer, according to the indication content, when the terminal releases the RRC connection comprises: reserving the first bearer, when the terminal releases the RRC connection, in a case that the to-be-reserved bearer indicated by the indication content is a bearer of a service transmission mode comprising a first transmission mode; wherein the first transmission mode is multicast, groupcast, or broadcast.
Although teaching that unicast and broadcast/multicast services each be associated with a bearer specifying the corresponding configuration as noted above, Worrall et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the service transmission mode of the first bearer is determined by an RRC configuration information of the first bearer. Kim et al. teaches such a limitation.
Kim et al. is directed to method and apparatus for supporting MBS in wireless communication system. More specifically, Kim et al. teaches that a second RRC message is defined as an RRC release message that includes configuration information about a unicast bearer, a multicast bearer, or an MBS bearer for receiving the MBS (para. [0276][0277]). Further, Kim et al. teaches that a bearer via which each MBS is received is configured in the RRC message, and an indicator indicating whether the bearer corresponds to a unicast bearer or a multicast bearer is configured (para. [0528]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. so that the service transmission mode of the first bearer is determined by an RRC configuration information of the first bearer, as taught by Kim et al. The modification would have allowed the system to support the MBS according to mobility of a terminal, thus reducing transmission delays of MBS data (see Kim et al., para. [0011][0213]).
Regarding Claim 3, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. teach The method according to claim 1, and further, the reference teach wherein the determining, by the terminal, the service transmission mode comprises: receiving, by the terminal, an RRC configuration information of the first bearer (Kim et al. teaches that the base station or the network may transmit a second RRC message to the UE in order to support or configure the MBS, for the UE, and that the second RRC message may be a newly defined RRC message for an MBS, or may be defined as an RRCRelease message, an RRCReconfiguration message, or previous other RRC messages (para. [0276]; FIG. 1K); he second RRC message includes configuration information for the MBS, MBS configuration information or bearer configuration information indicated by the UE in the first RRC message, or configuration information about a unicast bearer, a multicast bearer, or an MBS bearer for receiving the MBS (para. [0277])), and determining the service transmission mode of the first bearer according to the RRC configuration information (Kim et al. teaches that the second RRC message may include configuration information for the MBS, MBS configuration information or bearer configuration information indicated by the UE in the first RRC message, or configuration information about a unicast bearer, a multicast bearer, or an MBS bearer for receiving the MBS (para. [0277]; FIG. 1K); a bearer via which each MBS is received is configured in the RRC message, and an indicator indicating whether the bearer corresponds to a unicast bearer or a multicast bearer is configured (para. [0528])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. so that RRC configuration indicates first bearer according to the RRC configuration, as taught by Kim et al. The modification would have allowed the system to support the MBS according to mobility of a terminal, thus reducing transmission delays of MBS data (see Kim et al., para. [0011][0213]).
Regarding Claim 4, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. discloses The method according to claim 3, and further the references disclose wherein the RRC configuration information indicates that the service transmission mode of the first bearer is one of following: the first transmission mode; the first transmission mode and a second transmission mode; or the second transmission mode (Kim et al. teaches that a base station or a network supports an MBS for a UE in an RRC connected mode, an RRC inactive mode, or an RRC idle mode by configuring the MBS by using system information, an RRC message, or a control message for an MBS channel or a structure of a bearer that is established for the UE to receive the MBS (para. [0207]; FIG. 1G); a bearer via which each MBS is received is configured in the RRC message, and an indicator indicating whether the bearer corresponds to a unicast bearer or a multicast bearer is configured (para. [0528])), wherein the first transmission mode is multicast, groupcast, or broadcast (Kim et al. teaches that a bearer via which each MBS is received is configured in the RRC message, and an indicator indicating whether the bearer corresponds to a unicast bearer or a multicast bearer is configured (para. [0528])), and the second transmission mode is unicast (Kim et al. teaches that a bearer via which each MBS is received is configured in the RRC message, and an indicator indicating whether the bearer corresponds to a unicast bearer or a multicast bearer is configured (para. [0528])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. so that RRC configuration indicates the transmission mode of the first bearer to be multicast, as taught by Kim et al. The modification would have allowed the system to support the MBS according to mobility of a terminal, thus reducing transmission delays of MBS data (see Kim et al., para. [0011][0213]).
Regarding Claim 5, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. teach The method according to claim 3, and further the references disclose wherein the RRC configuration information indicates the service transmission mode of the first bearer through bearer configuration or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) configuration (Kim et al. teaches that a second RRC message is defined as an RRC release message that includes configuration information about a unicast bearer, a multicast bearer, or an MBS bearer for receiving the MBS (para. [0276][0277]); that a bearer via which each MBS is received is configured in the RRC message, and an indicator indicating whether the bearer corresponds to a unicast bearer or a multicast bearer is configured (para. [0528])); or the RRC configuration information explicitly or implicitly indicates the service transmission mode of the first bearer through Radio Link Control (RLC) configuration or logical channel configuration (Kim et al. teaches that that a base station configures a bearer for the UE, by distinguish between a multicast bearers for the MBS and a unicast bearer for the UE, by configuring an additional ID or indicator (para. [0201]); the base station or the network may transmit a second RRC message 1 k-15 to the UE (para. [0276]; FIG. 1K); the second RRC message may be transmitted by including some of the following configuration information for supporting the MBS, the first ID (for example, the TMGI) or the second ID (for example, the session identity) or the RNTI for the MBS may be configured or broadcast for each bearer (or a bearer ID), each logical channel, each piece of RLC configuration information, or each piece of PDCP configuration information (para. [0282]))
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. so that RRC configuration indicates first bearer through RLC configuration, as taught by Kim et al. The modification would have allowed the system to support the MBS according to mobility of a terminal, thus reducing transmission delays of MBS data (see Kim et al., para. [0011][0213]).
Regarding Claim 7, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. teach The method according to claim 1, and further, the references teach wherein the indication content indicates at least one of following: a bearer to be released, or a bearer to be reserved (Worrall et al. teaches that RRC connection release message carries radio resource congestion information that indicates that number of bearers left available for delivering unicast services is below a threshold value (para. [0072]), indicating that bearer to be reserved; the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection (para. [0039]); if the mobile terminal prioritizes multicast over unicast, the mobile terminal may not attempt to establish a RRC connection on the congested multicast/MBMS frequency carrier while the congestion indicator timer is still running (para. [0032])), wherein the bearer to be released comprises: a bearer to be released in which a service transmission mode comprises a first transmission mode (Worrall et al. teaches that it is left to network implementation whether to release a RRC connection or some or all Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) bearers. If the mobile terminal requests for a unicast service during the radio resource congestion, this may imply a change of the user's interest to the network. If the mobile terminal is not interested in the multicast/MBMS frequency anymore, the network has the opportunity to handover the mobile terminal to another non-congested frequency carrier (para. [0059]) [Examiner Note: Prioritization of unicast services will result in release of all bearers such as multicast which is the transmission mode of the first bearer]), wherein the first transmission mode is multicast, groupcast, or broadcast (Worrall et al. teaches that the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection. After the RRC connection release the mobile terminal may continue to receive the multicast service of interest. That is to say, the means for controlling the data exchange may be operable to uninterruptedly receive the multicast service even when the mobile transceiver is instructed to change from a RRC connected state to a RRC idle state, or vice versa (para. [0039]) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS channel is a first transmission mode]).
Regarding Claim 9, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. teach The method according to claim 7, and further, the references teach wherein the reserving the first bearer, according to the indication content, when the terminal releases the RRC connection comprises: reserving the first bearer, when the terminal releases the RRC connection, in a case that the bearer to be released indicated by the indication content does not comprise the first bearer or reserving the first bearer, when the terminal releases the RRC connection, in a case that the bearer to be reserved indicated by the indication content comprises the first bearer (Worrall et al. teaches that in case of a RRC connection release the mobile terminal may be informed via the radio resource congestion information comprising the "congestion indicator" and "congestion indicator timer". after the RRC connection release the mobile terminal may continue to receive the multicast service of interest. That is to say, the means for controlling the data exchange may be operable to uninterruptedly receive the multicast service even when the mobile transceiver is instructed to change from a RRC connected state to a RRC idle state, or vice versa (para. [0039]) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS channel is a first bearer, and prioritizing reads on “reserving” because in step 206 indicates the UE is able to receive MBMS in RRC idle mode after the RRC release, meaning bearers the UE prioritized were not released]).
Regarding Claim 10, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. teach The method according to claim 7, and further, the references teach further comprising: releasing a second bearer, when the terminal releases the RRC connection, in a case that the bearer to be released indicated by the indication content comprises the second bearer or releasing the second bearer, when the terminal releases the RRC connection, in a case that the bearer to be reserved indicated by the indication content does not comprise the second bearer (Worrall et al. teaches that unicast and broadcast/multicast services is each associated with a bearer (para. [0009]); the mobile terminal decides to prioritize multicast over unicast such that the mobile terminal is able to receive multicast/MBMS service without interruption (para. [0038]); the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection. [Examiner Note: Unicast related bearer is a second bearer])); a service transmission mode of the second bearer comprises the first transmission mode (Worrall et al. teaches that unicast and broadcast/multicast services each be associated with a bearer specifying the corresponding configuration, and that different bearers are mapped on some disjoint sub-frames allocated to unicast services, or to multicast services (para. [0009]); that MBMS/multicast data can be provided on some allocated or associated sub-frames or time slots while unicast service data can be scheduled on the remaining sub-frames or time slots of a radio frame (para. [0009]), indicating the service transmission mode of the bearer can be either multicast or unicast), wherein the first transmission mode is multicast, groupcast, or broadcast (Worrall et al. teaches that the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection. After the RRC connection release the mobile terminal may continue to receive the multicast service of interest. That is to say, the means for controlling the data exchange may be operable to uninterruptedly receive the multicast service even when the mobile transceiver is instructed to change from a RRC connected state to a RRC idle state, or vice versa (para. [0039]) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS channel is a first transmission mode]).
Regarding Claim 14, Worrall et al. teaches An information indication method (Worrall et al. teaches means for improving congestion control on multicast frequency carriers of a communication system (para. [0020])), comprising: transmitting, by a network device, an RRC message to a terminal (Worrall et al. teaches that RRC connection release message carries radio resource congestion information that indicates that number of bearers left available for delivering unicast services is below a threshold value (para. [0030][0072])), wherein one or more bits in the RRC message are used to indicate a service transmission mode or an indication content of an RRC release message as the transmitted RRC message (Worrall et al. teaches that unicast and broadcast/multicast services each be associated with a bearer specifying the corresponding configuration, and that different bearers are mapped on some disjoint sub-frames allocated to unicast services, or to multicast services (para. [0009]); some unicast related bearers (para. [0039]) indicating that a service transmission mode is associated with a bearer; radio resource congestion information is signaled on a RRC configuration release message (para. [0045]); RRC connection release message carries radio resource congestion information that indicates that number of bearers left available for delivering unicast services is below a threshold value (para. [0072])), wherein a first bearer is reserved, according to the indication content or the service transmission mode, when an RRC connection is released (Worrall et al. teaches that a mobile terminal decides service prioritization and signals the network its interest to prioritize a multicast service over unicast (para. [0056])[Examiner’s Note: because a bearer is dedicated to a multicast or unicast service, by indicating prioritization, a bearer is reserved]; that the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection (para. [0039]). In response to the mobile terminal's priority message the communication network 100 decides to release the RRC connection such that the mobile terminal 110 gets able to receive its desired multicast service in RRC idle mode, see reference numeral 206 (para. [0072]; FIG. 2) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS channel is a first bearer, and prioritizing reads on “reserving” because in step 206 indicates the UE is able to receive MBMS in RRC idle mode after the RRC release, meaning bearers the UE prioritized were not released]), and the service transmission mode is a service transmission mode of a first bearer (Worrall et al. teaches that unicast and broadcast/multicast services each be associated with a bearer specifying the corresponding configuration, and that different bearers are mapped on some disjoint sub-frames allocated to unicast services, or to multicast services (para. [0009]); the network is informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection (para. [0038-0039]) [Examiner Note: Multicast is the service transmission mode of the first bearer]), wherein the first bearer is reserved, when the RRC connection is released, in a case that the service transmission mode comprises a first transmission mode (Worrall et al. teaches that since the UE wishes to prioritize multicast/ MBMS services over unicast services it may transmit a corresponding priority or priority change message to the communication network and that communication network decides to release the RRC connection such that the mobile terminal 110 gets able to receive its desired multicast service in RRC idle mode, see reference numeral 206 (para. [0072]; FIG. 2) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS channel is a first bearer, and prioritizing reads on “reserving” because in step 206 indicates the UE is able to receive MBMS in RRC idle mode after the RRC release, meaning bearers the UE prioritized were not released and further that multicast is the service transmission mode of the first bearer]), wherein the first transmission mode is multicast, groupcast, or broadcast (Worrall et al. teaches that the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection. After the RRC connection release the mobile terminal may continue to receive the multicast service of interest. That is to say, the means for controlling the data exchange may be operable to uninterruptedly receive the multicast service even when the mobile transceiver is instructed to change from a RRC connected state to a RRC idle state, or vice versa (para. [0039]) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS is a first transmission mode]), or, the first bearer is reserved, when the RLRC connection is released, in a case that the to-be- reserved bearer indicated by the indication content is a bearer of a service transmission mode comprising a first transmission mode: wherein the first transmission mode is multicast, groupcast, or broadcast.
Although teaching that unicast and broadcast/multicast services each be associated with a bearer specifying the corresponding configuration as noted above, Worrall et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the service transmission mode of the first bearer is determined by an RRC configuration information of the first bearer. Kim et al. teaches such a limitation.
Kim et al. is directed to method and apparatus for supporting MBS in wireless communication system. More specifically, Kim et al. teaches that a second RRC message is defined as an RRC release message that includes configuration information about a unicast bearer, a multicast bearer, or an MBS bearer for receiving the MBS (para. [0276][0277]). Further, Kim et al. teaches that a bearer via which each MBS is received is configured in the RRC message, and an indicator indicating whether the bearer corresponds to a unicast bearer or a multicast bearer is configured (para. [0528]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. so that the service transmission mode of the first bearer is determined by an RRC configuration information of the first bearer, as taught by Kim et al. The modification would have allowed the system to support the MBS according to mobility of a terminal, thus reducing transmission delays of MBS data (see Kim et al., para. [0011][0213]).
Regarding Claim 16, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. teach The method according to claim 14, wherein the RRC message comprises: RRC configuration information (Kim et al. teaches that The second RRC message may be transmitted by including some of the following configuration information for supporting the MBS (para. [0278])); wherein the RRC message comprises the RRC release message (Kim et al. teaches that the base station or the network may transmit a second RRC message 1 k-15 to the UE to support or configure the MBS, for the UE (1 k-15). The second RRC message may be a newly defined RRC message for an MBS, or may be defined as an RRCRelease message, an RRCReconfiguration message, or previous other RRC messages (para. [0276]; FIG. 1K)) and the indication content indicates at least one of following: a bearer to be released, or a bearer to be reserved (Worrall et al. teaches that RRC connection release message carries radio resource congestion information that indicates that number of bearers left available for delivering unicast services is below a threshold value (para. [0072]), indicating that bearer to be reserved; the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection (para. [0039]); if the mobile terminal prioritizes multicast over unicast, the mobile terminal may not attempt to establish a RRC connection on the congested multicast/MBMS frequency carrier while the congestion indicator timer is still running (para. [0032])), wherein the bearer to be released comprises: a bearer to be released in which the service transmission mode comprises the first transmission mode (Worrall et al. teaches that it is left to network implementation whether to release a RRC connection or some or all Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) bearers. If the mobile terminal requests for a unicast service during the radio resource congestion, this may imply a change of the user's interest to the network. If the mobile terminal is not interested in the multicast/MBMS frequency anymore, the network has the opportunity to handover the mobile terminal to another non-congested frequency carrier (para. [0059]) [Examiner Note: Prioritization of unicast services will result in release of all bearers such as multicast which is the transmission mode of the first bearer]), wherein the first transmission mode is multicast, groupcast, or broadcast (Worrall et al. teaches that the network may be informed about the mobile terminal's priority decision, such that the network may decide either to release some unicast related bearers but to keep the mobile terminal in connected mode, or to release the mobile terminal's (dedicated) RRC connection. After the RRC connection release the mobile terminal may continue to receive the multicast service of interest. That is to say, the means for controlling the data exchange may be operable to uninterruptedly receive the multicast service even when the mobile transceiver is instructed to change from a RRC connected state to a RRC idle state, or vice versa (para. [0039]) [Examiner Note: multicast/MBMS channel is a first transmission mode]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. so the RRC message comprises RRC configuration information, as taught by Kim et al. The modification would have allowed the system to support the MBS according to mobility of a terminal, thus reducing transmission delays of MBS data (see Kim et al., para. [0011][0213]).
Regarding Claim 19, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. teach The method according to claim 14, and further, the references teach further comprising: receiving service information reported by the terminal corresponding to the first transmission mode, when the terminal establishes or restores an RRC connection (Worrall et al. teaches that the mobile terminal or UE 110 is in a RRC connected mode at the beginning of the illustrated message sequence, see reference numeral 202. Since the UE 110 wishes to prioritize multicast/ MBMS services over unicast services it may transmit a corresponding priority or priority change message to the communication network 100 (or the base station transceiver 120 thereof), see step 204 (para. [0072]; FIG. 2)), in a case that the service transmission mode of the first bearer comprises the first transmission mode (Worrall et al. teaches that after the RRC connection release the mobile terminal may continue to receive the multicast service of interest (para. [0039]) [Examiner Note: The first transmission mode is multicast/MBMS transmission mode]).
Regarding Claims 20 and 22-23, Claims 20 and 22-23 are directed to apparatus claims and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claims 1 and 3-4. Therefore, claims 20 and 22-23 are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claims 1 and 3-4.
Regarding Claim 33, Claim 33 is directed to an apparatus claim and it does not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim 14. Therefore, claim 33 is also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim 14.
Claims 6 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Worrall et al. (EP 2587859) Kim et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0392467), and further in view of Zong et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0013500).
Regarding Claim 6, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. teach The method according to claim 5, and further, the references teach wherein the RLC configuration or logical channel configuration is used for explicitly indicating a service transmission mode of an RLC entity or a logical channel; or in a case that no logical channel is configured for the RLC configuration, the RLC configuration implicitly indicates that the service transmission mode of the RLC entity or the logical channel is the first transmission mode (Kim et al. teaches that a base station configures a bearer for the UE, by distinguishing between a multicast bearer for the MBS and a unicast bearer for the MBS by configuring an additional ID or indicator (para. [0201]); that the UE 1 j-01 may receive system information 1 j-05 from a gNB 1 j-02 in the RRC idle mode, the RRC inactive mode, or the RRC connected mode and may identify pieces of configuration information for the MBS from the system information (para. [0231]). Configuration information about the MBS supported by a current cell. According to another method, the first ID (for example, the TMGI) or the second ID (for example, the session identity) or the RNTI for the MBS may be configured or broadcast for each bearer (or a bearer ID), each logical channel, each piece of RLC configuration information, or each piece of PDCP configuration information (para. [0235])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. so that RLC configuration indicates a service transmission mode, as taught by Kim et al. The modification would have allowed the system to support the MBS according to mobility of a terminal, thus reducing transmission delays of MBS data (see Kim et al., para. [0011][0213]).
Although teaching that a base station configures a bearer by configuring additional ID or indicator (Kim et al., [0201][0235]) as noted above, the references do not explicitly teach wherein the RLC configuration or logical channel configuration is used for explicitly indicating a service transmission mode of an RLC entity or a logical channel; or in a case that no logical channel is configured for the RLC configuration, the RLC configuration implicitly indicates that the service transmission mode of the RLC entity or the logical channel is the first transmission mode. Zong et al. teaches such a limitation.
Zong et al. is directed to radio bearer configuration method, apparatus, and system. More specifically, Zong et al. teaches that the configuration information of the multicast radio bearer includes one or both of the following: an identifier of the multicast radio bearer and an identifier of a first logical channel to which the multicast radio bearer is mapped (para. [0232]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. so that the RLC configuration or logical channel configuration is used for explicitly indicating a service transmission mode of an RLC entity or a logical channel, as taught by Zong et al. The modification would have allowed the system to reduce complexity of processing the data of the multicast service (see Zong et al., para. [0005]).
Regarding Claim 11, the combined teachings of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. teach The method according to claim 1, and further teaches wherein the reserving the first bearer, in a case that the service transmission mode of the first bearer comprises at least one of the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode, comprising: reserving a configuration associated with a first logical channel in the first bearer, and releasing a configuration associated with a second logical channel in the first bearer (Worrall et al. teaches that a mobile terminal decides service prioritization and signals the network its interest to prioritize a multicast service over unicast (para. [0056]); RRC connection release message carries radio resource congestion information that indicates that number of bearers left available for delivering unicast services is below a threshold value (para. [0072]); Kim et al. teaches that a base station configures a bearer for the UE, by distinguishing between a multicast bearer for the MBS and a unicast bearer for the MBS by configuring an additional ID or indicator (para. [0201]); configure a logical channel ID for each MBS (para. [0201])[Examiner’s note: Configuration is associated with a bearer and a certain bearer is reserved or released based on priority]).
Although teaching the references do not explicitly teach that the additional ID is a logical channel, and thus do not explicitly teach wherein the reserving the first bearer, in a case that the service transmission mode of the first bearer comprises at least one of the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode, comprising: reserving a configuration associated with a first logical channel in the first bearer and releasing a configuration associated with a second logical channel in the first bearer, wherein the service transmission mode of the first logical channel is the first transmission mode, and the service transmission mode of the second logical channel is the second transmission mode; or wherein the method further comprises reporting service information corresponding to the first transmission mode to a network side, when the terminal establishes or restores the RRC connection, in a case that the service transmission mode of the first bearer comprises the first transmission mode. Zong et al. teaches such a limitation.
Zong et al. is directed to radio bearer configuration method, apparatus, and system. More specifically, Zong et al. teaches wherein the reserving the first bearer, in a case that the service transmission mode of the first bearer comprises at least one of the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode, comprising: reserving a configuration associated with a first logical channel in the first bearer and releasing a configuration associated with a second logical channel in the first bearer (Zong et al. teaches configuration information of the multicast radio bearer includes one or both of the following: an identifier of the multicast radio bearer and an identifier of a first logical channel to which the multicast radio bearer is mapped (para. [0232]); regardless of whether the base station sends the data of the multicast/broadcast service to the first terminal in a point-to-multipoint (multicast) mode or a point-to-point (unicast) mode, the base station sends the data of the multicast/broadcast service on the multicast radio bearer (para. [0008]), indicating multiple logical channels in a radio bearer), and, wherein the service and the transmission mode of the first logical channel is the first transmission mode (Zong et al. teaches that the first logical channel is a logical channel corresponding to the multicast radio bearer (para. [0232])), and the service transmission mode of the second logical channel is the second transmission mode (Zong et al. teaches that a base station configures first MAC entity for the terminal 1 to receive the data of the multicast/broadcast service 1, and configure a second MAC entity for terminal 1 to receive the data of the unicast service (para. [0240]); an identifier of a logical channel associated with a radio bearer corresponding to the second MAC entity is the same as an identifier of a logical channel associated with a radio bearer corresponding to the first MAC entity (para. [0245])); or wherein the method further comprises reporting service information corresponding to the first transmission mode to a network side, when the terminal establishes or restores the RRC connection, in a case that the service transmission mode of the first bearer comprises the first transmission mode.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. so that a configuration associated with a first logical channel in the first bearer is reserved and a configuration associated with a second logical channel in the first bearer is released, as taught by Zong et al. The modification would have allowed the system to support different transmission modes (see Zong et al., para. [0004]).
Regarding Claim 12, the combined teachings of Worrall et al., Kim et al., and Zong et al. teach The method according to claim 11, wherein the configuration associated with the first logical channel comprises: at least one or more of an RLC entity associated with the first logical channel, a Medium Access Control (MAC) configuration associated with the first logical channel, or a radio resource associated with the first logical channel (Zong et al. teaches that a base station configures first MAC entity for the terminal 1 to receive the data of the multicast/broadcast service 1, and configure a second MAC entity for terminal 1 to receive the data of the unicast service (para. [0240]); an identifier of a logical channel associated with a radio bearer corresponding to the second MAC entity is the same as an identifier of a logical channel associated with a radio bearer corresponding to the first MAC entity (para. [0245])); the configuration associated with the second logical channel comprises: at least one or more of the RLC entity associated with the second logical channel, the MAC configuration associated with the second logical channel, or the radio resource associated with the second logical channel (Zong et al. teaches that a base station configures first MAC entity for the terminal 1 to receive the data of the multicast/broadcast service 1, and configure a second MAC entity for terminal 1 to receive the data of the unicast service (para. [0240]); an identifier of a logical channel associated with a radio bearer corresponding to the second MAC entity is the same as an identifier of a logical channel associated with a radio bearer corresponding to the first MAC entity (para. [0245])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Worrall et al. and Kim et al. so that the configuration associated with the logical channel comprises at least one or more of the RLC entity associated with the logical channel, the MAC configuration associated with the logical channel, or the radio resource associated with the logical channel, as taught by Zong et al. The modification would have allowed the system to support different transmission modes (see Zong et al., para. [0004]).
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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/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
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