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 claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15-23 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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 7, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEON CALVO et al. (US 20230082166) in view of BISHARA (US 9065662).
Regarding claims 1, 5, LEON CALVO et al. (US 20230082166) teaches a method performed by a first user equipment (UE) (par. 42, 70, 71, device), the method comprising:
generating mapping information, wherein the mapping information comprises a set of mappings (par. 42, 70, 71, Two diverse sidelink pathways may be available to connect the transmitting device to the destination device. At step 310, the method then determines two or more wireless pathways to the destination device, each including one or more sidelinks. This may be achieved by the discovery and selection mechanism noted above, or any other suitable process. The discovery and selection method provides device information or identifiers for relay devices for each pathway), wherein the set of mappings comprises different index value corresponding to a destination Layer-2 identifier of one or more third UEs served by a second UE (par. 34, 42, 47, 48, 69, 70, 71, a unicast Layer 2 IndividualID or a multicast Layer 2 GroupID…The relay device may be configured to recognize a predetermined GroupID at the MAC layer. In either case it is possible to determine for example from a lookup table that the current device is not the destination device…determines whether it has a direct sidelink with the destination device, again this may be preconfigured and determined from a lookup table. If this is the case, at step 860 the method changes the group address of the packet to a predetermined IndividualID associated with the destination device and which will be recognized by the destination device), and wherein the mapping information is generated independently of a specific data packet (par. 34, 42, 47, 69, 70, 71, The discovery and selection method provides device information or identifiers for relay devices for each pathway);
providing the mapping information to the second UE prior to transmitting a first data packet (par. 38, 39, 44, 48, 70, 71, 73, The discovery and selection method provides device information or identifiers for relay devices for each pathway… This information may have been determined using the previously described discovery and selection method. Alternatively, the received packet may include an identifier for a next hop and if still active may be used as the sidelink on which the relay device transmits the packet. If the received packet does not include a duplication identifier and/or the destination identifier corresponds with the current device, then the device may further process the packet as normal, for example delivering to a PDCP layer);
generating the first data packet comprising sidelink data for a third UE (par. 44, 69, 70, 71, add a destination device identifier to the header information, for example E from FIG. 2, as well as other additional information including: for example the number of duplications of each packet; a source device identifier; a PDCP identifier; path information including a device identifier for the next sidelink hop and/or devices identifiers for all hops in the pathways…the transmitting device sends the same PDCP or other packet using multicasting to a group of other devices including the destination device and the relay devices determined to provide multiple pathways); and transmitting the first data packet from the first UE to the second UE (par. 70, 71, the transmitting device sends the same PDCP or other packet using multicasting to a group of other devices including the destination device and the relay devices determined to provide multiple pathways).
However, LEON CALVO does not teach wherein the set of mappings comprises a same source identity and a destination of one or more third UEs served by a second UE.
But, BISHARA (US 9065662) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the set of mappings comprises a same source identity and a destination of one or more third UEs served by a second UE (col. 4 lines 16-29, the switch determines whether the bridge table in the switch contains an entry for the IP multicast destination address and IP source address).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by FREDA in the system of LEON CALVO to provide mapping information to setup path routing between UEs.
The motivation would have been to differentiate the multicast traffics and prevent receiving all of the traffic sent to that IP multicast destination address from any IP source address, thus prevent unnecessarily burdening the port and the network.
Regarding claims 3, 18, LEON CALVO et al. (US 20230082166) teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the second UE is a relay node (fig. 1, 2, par. 70, 71, 72, relay device).
Regarding claims 7, 16, LEON CALVO et al. (US 20230082166) teaches the first UE of claim 5, wherein the source identity is a source layer 2 identifier of the first UE (par. 34, 42, 47, 69, 70, 71, a unicast Layer 2 IndividualID or a multicast Layer 2 GroupID).
Regarding claims 12, 20, LEON CALVO et al. (US 20230082166) teaches a first user equipment (UE) (par. 42, 70, 71, device), comprising:
At least one memory (par. 42, 70, 71, device); and
At least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the first UE (par. 42, 70, 71, device) to:
generating mapping information, wherein the mapping information comprises a set of mappings (par. 42, 70, 71, Two diverse sidelink pathways may be available to connect the transmitting device to the destination device. At step 310, the method then determines two or more wireless pathways to the destination device, each including one or more sidelinks. This may be achieved by the discovery and selection mechanism noted above, or any other suitable process. The discovery and selection method provides device information or identifiers for relay devices for each pathway), wherein the set of mappings comprises different index value corresponding to a destination Layer-2 identifier of one or more third UEs served by a second UE (par. 34, 42, 47, 69, 70, 71, a unicast Layer 2 IndividualID or a multicast Layer 2 GroupID…The relay device may be configured to recognize a predetermined GroupID at the MAC layer. In either case it is possible to determine for example from a lookup table that the current device is not the destination device…determines whether it has a direct sidelink with the destination device, again this may be preconfigured and determined from a lookup table. If this is the case, at step 860 the method changes the group address of the packet to a predetermined IndividualID associated with the destination device and which will be recognized by the destination device), and wherein the mapping information is generated independently of a specific data packet (par. 34, 42, 47, 69, 70, 71, The discovery and selection method provides device information or identifiers for relay devices for each pathway);
providing the mapping information to the second UE prior to transmitting a first data packet (par. 38, 39, 44, 48, 70, 71, 73, The discovery and selection method provides device information or identifiers for relay devices for each pathway… This information may have been determined using the previously described discovery and selection method. Alternatively, the received packet may include an identifier for a next hop and if still active may be used as the sidelink on which the relay device transmits the packet. If the received packet does not include a duplication identifier and/or the destination identifier corresponds with the current device, then the device may further process the packet as normal, for example delivering to a PDCP layer);
generate header information for the first data packet (par. 44, 69, 70, 71), wherein the header information indicates a destination identifier corresponding to a third UE (par. 44, 69, 70, 71, add a destination device identifier to the header information, for example E from FIG. 2, as well as other additional information including: for example the number of duplications of each packet; a source device identifier; a PDCP identifier; path information including a device identifier for the next sidelink hop and/or devices identifiers for all hops in the pathways…the transmitting device sends the same PDCP or other packet using multicasting to a group of other devices including the destination device and the relay devices determined to provide multiple pathways);
generate the first data packet comprising the header information and sidelink data for the third UE (par. 44, 69, 70, 71); and
transmit the first data packet from the first UE to a second UE (par. 70, 71, the transmitting device sends the same PDCP or other packet using multicasting to a group of other devices including the destination device and the relay devices determined to provide multiple pathways).
However, LEON CALVO does not teach wherein the set of mappings comprises a same source identity and a destination of one or more third UEs served by a second UE.
But, BISHARA (US 9065662) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the set of mappings comprises a same source identity and a destination of one or more third UEs served by a second UE (col. 4 lines 16-29, the switch determines whether the bridge table in the switch contains an entry for the IP multicast destination address and IP source address).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by FREDA in the system of LEON CALVO to provide mapping information to setup path routing between UEs.
The motivation would have been to differentiate the multicast traffics and prevent receiving all of the traffic sent to that IP multicast destination address from any IP source address, thus prevent unnecessarily burdening the port and the network.
Regarding claims 13, 21, LEON CALVO et al. (US 20230082166) teaches the first UE of claim 12, wherein the second UE is a relay node (fig. 1, 2, par. 70, 71, 72, relay device).
Regarding claims 15, 22, LEON CALVO et al. (US 20230082166) teaches the first UE of claim 12, wherein the header information comprises a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) header (par. 69, 70, The indicator may be a predetermined bit or flag in the PDCP PDU header).
Claim(s) 2, 6, 9, 17, 19, 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEON CALVO et al. (US 20230082166) and BISHARA (US 9065662) as applied to claims 1, 5, 12, 20 above, and further in view of FREDA et al. (US 20230180313 as supported by provisional app. 63007148 filed on 04/08/2020).
Regarding claims 2, 6, LEON CALVO et al. (US 20230082166) teaches teaches the method of claim 1, a logical channel identity or a sidelink radio bearer identity (par. 56, 90, 97, LCID Logical Channel ID or SLRB Sidelink Radio Bearer).
However, LEON CALVO does not teach wherein the index is a logical channel identity or a sidelink radio bearer identity.
But, FREDA et al. (US 20230180313) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the index is a logical channel identity or a sidelink radio bearer identity (par. 121, This may be applicable to the WTRU-to-WTRU relay scenario, where a WTRU may configure multiple hops of a relayed link, or a relay and remote WTRU, by transmitting the configuration for the different destined WTRUs in the same RRC message).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by FREDA in the system of LEON CALVO and BISHARA to provide mapping information to setup path routing between UEs.
The motivation would have been to reduce signaling between the two WTRUs, but may result in inconsistent QoS parameters in the case where the WTRUs are under coverage of different base stations (e.g., gNB).
Regarding claims 9, 17, LEON CALVO does not teach the first UE of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the first UE to transmit the mapping information via higher layer signaling or within a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).
But, FREDA et al. (US 20230180313) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the first UE to transmit the mapping information via higher layer signaling or within a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (par. 205, 211, wherein the first relay information as mapping information is attached to the packet by an adapter layer header; par. 213, RRC signaling (higher layer signaling)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by FREDA in the system of LEON CALVO and BISHARA to provide mapping information to setup path routing between UEs.
The motivation would have been to reduce signaling between the two WTRUs, but may result in inconsistent QoS parameters in the case where the WTRUs are under coverage of different base stations (e.g., gNB).
Regarding claims 19, 23, LEON CALVO does not teach the first UE of claim 12, wherein providing the mapping information to the second UE comprises transmitting the mapping information via higher layer signaling or within a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).
But, FREDA et al. (US 20230180313) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein providing the mapping information to the second UE comprises transmitting the mapping information via higher layer signaling or within a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (par. 205, 211, wherein the first relay information as mapping information is attached to the packet by an adapter layer header; par. 213, RRC signaling (higher layer signaling)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by FREDA in the system of LEON CALVO and BISHARA to provide mapping information to setup path routing between UEs.
The motivation would have been to reduce signaling between the two WTRUs, but may result in inconsistent QoS parameters in the case where the WTRUs are under coverage of different base stations (e.g., gNB).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WANG (US 20220361267) teaches Relay UE 502 assigns one or more specific logical channels over PC5 for relaying purpose. Alternatively, a specific relay channel ID is defined with one-to-one mapping between logical channel ID and PC5 relay channel ID (par. 34); The SUI report clearly describes the pair of Remote UE-Relay UE, the role of both UEs and the identities of both UEs (par. 45, 46); Remote UE 701 maintains the mapping relation between end-to-end Sidelink Radio Bearer (i.e. SLRB) ID and Relay channel ID for relay channel between remote UE 701 and relay UE 702. Remote UE 703 maintains the mapping relation between end-to-end Sidelink Radio Bearer (i.e. SLRB) ID and Relay channel ID for relay channel between remote UE 703 and relay UE 702. Relay UE 702 maintains the mapping relation between remote UE 701-relay UE 702 Relay channel ID and remote UE 703-relay UE 702 Relay channel ID (par. 47).
GUO (US 20200022089) teaches one SL_ID can be mapped to one sidelink connection that is identified by a ID of transmitter UE and ID of receiver UE or receiver UE group (par. 326).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THINH D TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3934. The examiner can normally be reached mon-fri 9-6.
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/THINH D TRAN/for /Thinh Tran/, Patent Examiner of Art Unit 2466 05/16/2026
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