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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
The amended claim 1 overcomes Li’448 in view of Vutukuri due to this limitation “a relay node configured to identify a service supported by the relay node when connected to the base station based on a first set of one or more services supported by the base station and on a second set of one or more services supported by the relay node;”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dees et al. (US 20220369215; hereinafter “Dees”).
Regarding claim 17, Dees discloses:
A communications node for use in a mobile telecommunications network ([0186] A mobile device UE that has lost its connection to the 5G Core Network and is unable to re-establish it, starts the procedure of eProSe eRelay Discovery model B using eRelay Open Discovery.), wherein the communications node is configured to connect to the mobile telecommunication network via a wireless interface provided by a relay node ([0186] A mobile device UE that has lost its connection to the 5G Core Network and is unable to re-establish it, starts the procedure of eProSe eRelay Discovery model B using eRelay Open Discovery.) and wherein the relay node is configured to relay communications for the communications node via a base station of the mobile telecommunication network when connected to the base station ([0190] Using the selected eRelay UE, the mobile device continues the 5G Core Network attachment procedure where the communication is relayed by the selected eRelay UE at L2 … Based on this procedure the Base Station (gNB) initiates the registration of the UE to the 5G Core Network which includes the connection to one or more network slices), the communications node comprising:
processing circuitry configured to:
identify a requested service to be requested; ([0186] it (e.g., mobile device UE) sends a PC5_DISCOVERY message on sidelink (SL) spectrum of type eRelay Discovery Solicitation to request nearby eRelay UEs (which may also be called eProSe UE-to-Network relay UEs) to respond with relay information … The eRelay Discovery Solicitation message may include an additional element ‘Requested NSSAI’ which is a list of one or more slice IDs (that is, a list of S-NSSAI) that the mobile device would like to be connected to via an eRelay UE.)
notify first capability information to a capability assessment function, wherein the capability information comprises at least an identifier for the requested service; ([0187] Subsequently, each eRelay UE reports the received information/request including Requested NSSAI from the mobile device to the ProSe Function using a transfer request message such as for example MATCH_REPORT over the PC3 interface or the 5G equivalent thereof.)
when the requested service matches a service supported by the relay node when connected to the base station and identified by the relay node based on a first set of one or more services supported by the base station and on a second set of one or more services supported by the relay node, and when the base station reports that sufficient resources are available for providing the supported service, use the requested service via the relay node and via the base station. (Examiner’s Note: for the limitation, please add the following comment: The contested conditional step is performed by unclaimed actors (relay node and base station) and therefore is not attributable to the claimed communications node. As written, this limitation cannot be given patentable weight as an act performed by the claimed communications node.)
Regarding claim 18 depending on claim 17, Dees discloses:
wherein the processing circuity is configured to implement the capability assessment function and is further configured to: receive relay capability information from the relay node, wherein the relay capability information comprises an identifier for the service supported by the relay node when connected to the base station; determine whether the supported service matches the requested service; and when the supported service matches the requested service, request the use of the service via the relay node. (Examiner’s Note: for the limitation, please add the following comment: The contested conditional step is performed by unclaimed actors (relay node and base station) and therefore is not attributable to the claimed communications node. As written, this limitation cannot be given patentable weight as an act performed by the claimed communications node.)
Regarding claim 19 depending on claim 17, Dees discloses:
wherein the relay capability information is received in a discovery message, system information, or a radio resource control message. (Examiner’s Note: for the limitation, please add the following comment: The contested conditional step is performed by unclaimed actors (relay node and base station) and therefore is not attributable to the claimed communications node. As written, this limitation cannot be given patentable weight as an act performed by the claimed communications node.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-16, and 20 are allowed.
Conclusion
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/NHU PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479