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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/02/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed February 2, 2026 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, claims 1, 23, 27, and 41-42 are amended.
Claims 1, 23-38 and 40-42 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 23, 41-42 and 27 have been considered but are moot because new ground of rejection relies on the reference not applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the arguments.
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.
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.
Claims 1, 23-27 and 41-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US20220330075A1, hereinafter Yan) in view of in view of Jha et al. (WO2017119919A1, hereinafter Jha) and Akdeniz et al. (US20200252838A1, hereinafter Akdeniz).
For claim 1, Yan teaches a method performed by a first aerial user equipment (UE) ([Para. 0109], A terminal device (terminal equipment) in embodiments of this application may be an uncrewed aerial vehicle (unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV). [Para. 0121], features of this application may be implemented as a method), the method comprising: receiving, from a base station (BS), a configuration comprising at least one condition associated with transmission of a measurement report ([Para. 0126], a serving base station sends measurement configuration information to a terminal device. [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may include a reporting type (event-triggered reporting) and an event triggering configuration, [Para. 0130], An event type of a reported event configured in a reporting configuration is the event A3. When the cell signal quality of the neighboring cell is greater than the cell signal quality of the serving cell and the difference therebetween is greater than the preset reporting condition threshold, the terminal device may send a measurement report to the serving base station [Examiner’s Note: Event A3 is the condition]).
Although Yan teaches the terminal device receiving measurement configuration comprising the condition on transmission of measurement report and determining whether to transmit the report and transmitting the report based on the determining ([Para. 0184] [Para. 0201]). Jha more explicitly discloses wherein the configuration comprises an indicator to enable or disable the transmission of the measurement report to a second aerial UE; determining, based at least in part on the indicator enabling the transmission of the measurement report to the second aerial UE and the at least one condition being satisfied, whether to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE, and transmitting the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE based at least in part on a result of the determining.
Jha is directed to providing group handover for mission critical applications. More specifically, Jha teaches wherein the configuration comprises an indicator to enable or disable the transmission of the measurement report to a second aerial UE ([Para. 0091], the eNB can comprise a handover (HO) command component. [Para. 0094], The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications.[Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually [Examiner’s Note: The resource pool in RRC information is the indicator to enable transmission of measurement report to the group leader UE]), determining, based at least in part on the indicator enabling the transmission of the measurement report to the second aerial UE and the at least one condition being satisfied ([Para. 0094], The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications. [Examiner’s Note: The resource pool in RRC information is the indicator]. [Para. 0050], Each UE of the D2D/ProSe group can be configured to generate measurements of the network channels. [Para. 0051], UE devices can frequently measure channel qualities of current cell in addition to neighbor cells to decide HO trigger. [Para. 0052], A UE device in the D2D/ProSe group can request the source eNB to initiate D2D/ProSe group HO. [Para. 0053], UE devices in the group can trigger the D2D/ProSe group HO by using a D2D/ProSe group HO trigger as a BS configurable aggregate group HO trigger as well. [Para. 0054], Group triggers for the D2D/ProSe group HO can be configurable as aggregate group HO triggers. [Examiner’s Note: The group handover trigger is configured by the base station and triggers handover request]. [Para. 0055], The group HO trigger can occur in an event when link quality of any one UE device in the D2D/ProSe group falls below a threshold value [Examiner’s Note: The threshold value is the group handover trigger in the UE configuration. Link quality below the threshold is the condition being satisfied]. [Para. 0058], The D2D/ProSe group leader, then, sends aggregated group measurement report, which can include the measurement report from the device requesting HO. [Abstract], Aggregated measurement reports of channel link quality can be used to request or initiate the D2D group handover and be provided via a UE group leader or individually from UE devices of the D2D/ProSe group [Examiner’s Note: That the aggregated measurement report which includes the measurement report from the device requesting handover is used to request handover indicates that the device requests handover by the measurement report. The request is triggered by the threshold configured by the base station. Therefore, link quality below the threshold configured by the base station is the condition satisfied to trigger the transmission of measurement report]), whether to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE ([Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually. [Abstract], Aggregated measurement reports of channel link quality can be used to request or initiate the D2D group handover and be provided via a UE group leader or individually from UE devices of the D2D/ProSe group. [Para. 0042], An advantage of the D2D/ProSe communication mode by the group leader UE is that a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone can be experienced due to a shorter range of communications [Examiner’s Note: Receiving resource pool for group communication in a short range is a factor for determining to transmit the report via group leader. Choosing transmission of the report via group leader within a shorter range of communications or individually from UE indicates the determination]), and transmitting the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE based at least in part on a result of the determining ([Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually [Examiner’s Note: Transmission of the report via group leader or individually from UE is the determination]).
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 Yan, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the terminal device determining to transmit the measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, Yan and Jha do not explicitly disclose wherein the first aerial UE is a member aerial UE of an aerial UE swarm comprising a plurality of aerial UEs, and wherein the second aerial UE is a master aerial UE of the aerial UE swarm.
Akdeniz is directed to providing handover-related technology, apparatuses, and methods. More specifically, Akdeniz teaches wherein the first aerial UE is a member aerial UE of an aerial UE swarm comprising a plurality of aerial UEs ([Para. 0218] and [FIG. 19], as the swarm 1901 forms, a single device (e.g., 1902 a) of the swarm 1901 can become a swarm master 1902 a. Device 1902 a can begin to handle control communications 1910 for other member devices of the swarm 1901), and wherein the second aerial UE is a master aerial UE of the aerial UE swarm ([Para. 0218] and [FIG. 19], as the swarm 1901 forms, a single device (e.g., 1902 a) of the swarm 1901 can become a swarm master 1902 a. Once identified as the swarm master, device 1902 a can begin to handle control communications 1910 for other member devices of the swarm 1901.Control communications 1910 can include cell measurement reports).
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 Yan and Jha, so that the aerial UE is a member of an aerial UE swarm and a second aerial UE is the master of the swarm, as taught by Akdeniz. The modification would have allowed the system to improve to handover operations to increase throughput and efficiency (Akdeniz [Para. 0007]).
For claim 23, Yan teaches A first aerial user equipment (UE) for wireless communication FIG. 1], Communication system including terminal device 120. [FIG. 5], terminal device 500), comprising: at least one memory ([Para. 0282] and [FIG.5], memory); and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory ([Para. 0282] and [FIG.5], The memory is configured to store a computer program. The processor is configured to invoke the computer program from the memory) and configured to cause the first aerial UE to: receive, from a base station (BS), a configuration comprising at least one condition associated with transmission of a measurement report ([Para. 0126], a serving base station sends measurement configuration information to a terminal device. [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may include a reporting type (event-triggered reporting) and an event triggering configuration, [Para. 0130], An event type of a reported event configured in a reporting configuration is the event A3. When the cell signal quality of the neighboring cell is greater than the cell signal quality of the serving cell and the difference therebetween is greater than the preset reporting condition threshold, the terminal device may send a measurement report to the serving base station [Examiner’s Note: Event A3 is the condition]).
Although Yan teaches the terminal device receiving measurement configuration comprising the condition on transmission of measurement report and determining whether to transmit the report and transmitting the report based on the determining ([Para. 0184] [Para. 0201]). Jha more explicitly discloses wherein the configuration comprises an indicator to enable or disable the transmission of the measurement report to a second aerial UE; determine, based at least in part on the indicator enabling the transmission of the measurement report to the second aerial UE and the at least one condition being satisfied, whether to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE, and transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE based at least in part on a result of the determining.
Jha is directed to providing group handover for mission critical applications. More specifically, Jha teaches wherein the configuration comprises an indicator to enable or disable the transmission of the measurement report to a second aerial UE ([Para. 0091], the eNB can comprise a handover (HO) command component. [Para. 0094], The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications.[Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually [Examiner’s Note: The resource pool in RRC information is the indicator to enable transmission of measurement report to the group leader UE]), determine, based at least in part on the indicator enabling the transmission of the measurement report to the second aerial UE and the at least one condition being satisfied ([Para. 0094], The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications. [Examiner’s Note: The resource pool in RRC information is the indicator]. [Para. 0050], Each UE of the D2D/ProSe group can be configured to generate measurements of the network channels. [Para. 0051], UE devices can frequently measure channel qualities of current cell in addition to neighbor cells to decide HO trigger. [Para. 0052], A UE device in the D2D/ProSe group can request the source eNB to initiate D2D/ProSe group HO. [Para. 0053], UE devices in the group can also trigger the D2D/ProSe group HO by using a D2D/ProSe group HO trigger as a BS configurable aggregate group HO trigger as well. [Para. 0054], Group triggers for the D2D/ProSe group HO can be configurable as aggregate group HO triggers. [Examiner’s Note: The group handover trigger is configured by the base station and triggers handover request]. [Para. 0055], The group HO trigger can occur in an event when link quality of any one UE device in the D2D/ProSe group falls below a threshold value [Examiner’s Note: The threshold value is the group handover trigger in the UE configuration. Link quality below the threshold is the condition being satisfied]. [Para. 0058], The D2D/ProSe group leader, then, sends aggregated group measurement report, which can include the measurement report from the device requesting HO. [Abstract], Aggregated measurement reports of channel link quality can be used to request or initiate the D2D group handover and be provided via a UE group leader or individually from UE devices of the D2D/ProSe group [Examiner’s Note: That the aggregated measurement report which includes the measurement report from the device requesting handover is used to request handover indicates that the device requests handover by the measurement report. The request is triggered by the threshold configured by the base station. Therefore, link quality below the threshold configured by the base station is the condition satisfied to trigger the transmission of measurement report]), whether to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE ([Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually. [Abstract], Aggregated measurement reports of channel link quality can be used to request or initiate the D2D group handover and be provided via a UE group leader or individually from UE devices of the D2D/ProSe group. [Para. 0042], An advantage of the D2D/ProSe communication mode by the group leader UE is that a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone can be experienced due to a shorter range of communications [Examiner’s Note: Receiving resource pool for group communication in a short range is a factor for determining to transmit the report via group leader. Choosing transmission of the report via group leader within a shorter range of communications or individually from UE indicates the determination]), and transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE based at least in part on a result of the determining ([Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually [Examiner’s Note: Transmission of the report via group leader or individually from UE is the determination]).
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 apparatus of Yan, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the terminal device determining to transmit the measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, Yan and Jha do not explicitly disclose wherein the first aerial UE is a member aerial UE of an aerial UE swarm comprising a plurality of aerial UEs, and wherein the second aerial UE is a master aerial UE of the aerial UE swarm.
Akdeniz is directed to providing handover-related technology, apparatuses, and methods. More specifically, Akdeniz teaches wherein the first aerial UE is a member aerial UE of an aerial UE swarm comprising a plurality of aerial UEs ([Para. 0218] and [FIG. 19], as the swarm 1901 forms, a single device (e.g., 1902 a) of the swarm 1901 can become a swarm master 1902 a. Device 1902 a can begin to handle control communications 1910 for other member devices of the swarm 1901), and wherein the second aerial UE is a master aerial UE of the aerial UE swarm ([Para. 0218] and [FIG. 19], as the swarm 1901 forms, a single device (e.g., 1902 a) of the swarm 1901 can become a swarm master 1902 a. Once identified as the swarm master, device 1902 a can begin to handle control communications 1910 for other member devices of the swarm 1901.Control communications 1910 can include cell measurement reports).
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 apparatus of Yan and Jha, so that the aerial UE is a member of an aerial UE swarm and a second aerial UE is the master of the swarm, as taught by Akdeniz. The modification would have allowed the system to improve to handover operations to increase throughput and efficiency (Akdeniz [Para. 0007]).
For claim 24, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein the configuration indicates a measurement report type (Yan [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may mainly include a reporting type (event-triggered reporting), … an event triggering configuration (corresponding configuration information obtained when the reporting type is the event-triggered reporting). The event triggering configuration may include the event type of the reported event), and wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the measurement report being the measurement report type (Yan [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may include a reporting type (event-triggered reporting) and an event triggering configuration, Yan [Para. 0130], An event type of a reported event configured in a reporting configuration is the event A3. Yan [Para. 0185], when the signal quality of the at least one neighboring cell meets a measurement report triggering condition, the terminal device determines to report the measurement report. Yan [Para. 0201], after determining to report the measurement report, the terminal device sends a measurement report corresponding to a first neighboring cell to the network device).
For claim 25, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 24. The references further teach wherein the measurement report type is event-based (Yan [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may mainly include a reporting type (event-triggered reporting), … an event triggering configuration (corresponding configuration information obtained when the reporting type is the event-triggered reporting). The event triggering configuration may include the event type of the reported event), wherein the configuration indicates at least one measurement event (Yan [Para. 0151] and [FIG. 2], S210: The network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device. Yan [Para. 0152], The measurement configuration information includes a first threshold. Yan [Para. 0184], the terminal device determines, based on a value relationship between the detection value and the first threshold, and signal quality of at least one neighboring cell, whether to report the measurement report includes: Yan [Para. 0185], when the signal quality of the at least one neighboring cell meets a measurement report triggering condition, the terminal device determines to report the measurement report), and wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the at least one measurement event being triggered (Yan [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may include a reporting type (event-triggered reporting) and an event triggering configuration, Yan [Para. 0130], An event type of a reported event configured in a reporting configuration is the event A3. Yan [Para. 0185], when the signal quality of the at least one neighboring cell meets a measurement report triggering condition, the terminal device determines to report the measurement report).
For claim 26, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 24. The references further teach wherein the measurement report type is time-based (Yan [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may mainly include a reporting type (the reporting type is periodic reporting), and a periodic reporting configuration (corresponding configuration information obtained when the reporting type is the periodic reporting)), wherein the configuration includes a time period (Yan [Para. 0127], The periodic reporting configuration may include the reporting interval), wherein the at least one condition is satisfied periodically based at least in part on the time period (Yan [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may mainly include a reporting type (the reporting type is periodic reporting), and a periodic reporting configuration (corresponding configuration information obtained when the reporting type is the periodic reporting). Yan [Para. 0202], in a validity period of the first timer, the terminal device no longer reports the measurement report. When a measurement report triggering condition corresponding to the second neighboring cell is met, after the first timer expires, the terminal device reports the measurement report corresponding to the second neighboring cell. The validity period is included in the measurement configuration information).
For claim 27, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein the at least processor (Yan [FIG. 5] processor 502) is further configured to cause the first aerial UE (Yan [FIG. 5]terminal device 500) to: determine the second aerial UE is the master aerial UE based at least in part on the configuration (Jha [Para. 0091]the eNB can comprise a handover (HO) command component. Jha [Para. 0094] The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications. Jha [Para. 0050]The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. Jha [Para. 0059] The D2D/ProSe group leader can collect the measurement reports from the UE devices via D2D/ProSe links. The D2D/ProSe group leader can aggregate measurement reports from other devices and send the results to the eNB [Examiner’s Note: That a group UE is to provide the report to group leader for aggregation and the group leader receives the report indicates that the UE determines that the receiving UE is the group leader UE. The determination of the group leader UE of a group is based on the configuration of the group. Both Yan and Akdeniz teach the aerial UE]), wherein the first aerial UE is enabled with a function of performing the transmission of the measurement report to the master aerial UE according to the indicator (Jha [Para. 0091]the eNB can comprise a handover (HO) command component. Jha [Para. 0094] The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications. Jha [Para. 0050]The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE).
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 apparatus of Yan and Akdeniz, so that the configuration enables a UE to determine to transmit measurement report to the group leader, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
For claim 41, Yan teaches a method performed by a base station (BS) ([Para. 0005], This application provides a radio resource management measurement method. [Para. 0113], The network device in embodiments of this application includes evolved NodeB that is configured to communicate with the terminal device), the method comprising: transmitting, to a first aerial user equipment (UE), a configuration comprising at least one condition associated with transmission of a measurement report to the BS or to a second aerial UE ([Para. 0126], a serving base station sends measurement configuration information to a terminal device. [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may include a reporting type (event-triggered reporting) and an event triggering configuration, [Para. 0130], An event type of a reported event configured in a reporting configuration is the event A3. When the cell signal quality of the neighboring cell is greater than the cell signal quality of the serving cell and the difference therebetween is greater than the preset reporting condition threshold, the terminal device may send a measurement report to the serving base station [Examiner’s Note: Event A3 is the condition]).
Although Yan teaches the terminal device receiving measurement configuration comprising the condition on transmission of measurement report and determining whether to transmit the report and transmitting the report based on the determining ([Para. 0184] [Para. 0201]). Jha more explicitly discloses and wherein the configuration comprises an indicator to enable or disable the transmission of the measurement report to a second aerial UE; and receiving the measurement report based at least in part on the indicator enabling the transmission of the measurement report to the second aerial UE and the at least one condition being satisfied.
Jha is directed to providing group handover for mission critical applications. More specifically, Jha teaches and wherein the configuration comprises an indicator to enable or disable the transmission of the measurement report to a second aerial UE ([Para. 0091], the eNB can comprise a handover (HO) command component. [Para. 0094] The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications.[Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually [Examiner’s Note: The resource pool in RRC information is the indicator to enable transmission of measurement report to the group leader UE]), and receiving the measurement report based at least in part on the indicator enabling the transmission of the measurement report to the second aerial UE and the at least one condition being satisfied ([Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually [Examiner’s Note: Transmission of the report via group leader or individually from UE is the determination]. [Para. 0094], The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications. [Para. 0053], UE devices in the group can also trigger the D2D/ProSe group HO by using a D2D/ProSe group HO trigger as a BS configurable aggregate group HO trigger as well. [Para. 0054], Group triggers for the D2D/ProSe group HO can be configurable as aggregate group HO triggers. [Para. 0055], The group HO trigger can occur in an event when link quality of any one UE device in the D2D/ProSe group falls below a threshold value. [Abstract], Aggregated measurement reports of channel link quality can be used to request or initiate the D2D group handover and be provided via a UE group leader or individually from UE devices of the D2D/ProSe group).
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 Yan, so that the base station receives measurement report based on threshold and resource pool configured in the UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the terminal device determining to transmit the measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, Yan and Jha do not explicitly disclose wherein the first aerial UE is a member aerial UE of an aerial UE swarm comprising a plurality of aerial UEs, and wherein the second aerial UE is a master aerial UE of the aerial UE swarm.
Akdeniz is directed to providing handover-related technology, apparatuses, and methods. More specifically, Akdeniz teaches wherein the first aerial UE is a member aerial UE of an aerial UE swarm comprising a plurality of aerial UEs ([Para. 0218] and [FIG. 19], as the swarm 1901 forms, a single device (e.g., 1902 a) of the swarm 1901 can become a swarm master 1902 a. Device 1902 a can begin to handle control communications 1910 for other member devices of the swarm 1901), and wherein the second aerial UE is a master aerial UE of the aerial UE swarm ([Para. 0218] and [FIG. 19], as the swarm 1901 forms, a single device (e.g., 1902 a) of the swarm 1901 can become a swarm master 1902 a. Once identified as the swarm master, device 1902 a can begin to handle control communications 1910 for other member devices of the swarm 1901.Control communications 1910 can include cell measurement reports).
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 Yan and Jha, so that the aerial UE is a member of an aerial UE swarm and a second aerial UE is the master of the swarm, as taught by Akdeniz. The modification would have allowed the system to improve to handover operations to increase throughput and efficiency (Akdeniz [Para. 0007]).
For claim 42, Yan teaches a base station (BS) for wireless communication ([FIG. 7], network device 700), comprising: at least one memory ([FIG. 7], memory 7021); and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory ([FIG. 7], memory 7021 and processor 7022) configured to cause the BS to: transmit, to a first aerial user equipment (UE), a configuration comprising at least one condition associated with transmission of a measurement report to the BS or to a second aerial UE ([Para. 0126], a serving base station sends measurement configuration information to a terminal device. [Para. 0127], the reporting configuration may include a reporting type (event-triggered reporting) and an event triggering configuration, [Para. 0130], An event type of a reported event configured in a reporting configuration is the event A3. When the cell signal quality of the neighboring cell is greater than the cell signal quality of the serving cell and the difference therebetween is greater than the preset reporting condition threshold, the terminal device may send a measurement report to the serving base station [Examiner’s Note: Event A3 is the condition]).
Although Yan teaches the terminal device receiving measurement configuration comprising the condition on transmission of measurement report and determining whether to transmit the report and transmitting the report based on the determining ([Para. 0184] [Para. 0201]). Jha more explicitly discloses and wherein the configuration comprises an indicator to enable or disable the transmission of the measurement report to a second aerial UE; and receive the measurement report based at least in part on the indicator enabling the transmission of the measurement report to the second aerial UE and the at least one condition being satisfied.
Jha is directed to providing group handover for mission critical applications. More specifically, Jha teaches and wherein the configuration comprises an indicator to enable or disable the transmission of the measurement report to a second aerial UE ([Para. 0091], the eNB can comprise a handover (HO) command component. [Para. 0094] The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications.[Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually [Examiner’s Note: The resource pool in RRC information is the indicator to enable transmission of measurement report to the group leader UE]), and receive the measurement report based at least in part on the indicator enabling the transmission of the measurement report to the second aerial UE and the at least one condition being satisfied ([Para. 0050], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. In addition, the aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually [Examiner’s Note: Transmission of the report via group leader or individually from UE is the determination]. [Para. 0094], The handover command component can generate a group handover command and enable communication of the group handover command to the plurality of UEs of the D2D/ProSe group, wherein the group handover command comprises RRC information comprising a radio resource pool allocated to the D2D/ProSe group to enable the D2D/ProSe communications. [Para. 0053], UE devices in the group can also trigger the D2D/ProSe group HO by using a D2D/ProSe group HO trigger as a BS configurable aggregate group HO trigger as well. [Para. 0054], Group triggers for the D2D/ProSe group HO can be configurable as aggregate group HO triggers. [Para. 0055], The group HO trigger can occur in an event when link quality of any one UE device in the D2D/ProSe group falls below a threshold value. [Abstract], Aggregated measurement reports of channel link quality can be used to request or initiate the D2D group handover and be provided via a UE group leader or individually from UE devices of the D2D/ProSe group).
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 apparatus of Yan, so that the base station receives measurement report based on threshold and resource pool configured in the UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the terminal device determining to transmit the measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, Yan and Jha do not explicitly disclose wherein the first aerial UE is a member aerial UE of an aerial UE swarm comprising a plurality of aerial UEs, and wherein the second aerial UE is a master aerial UE of the aerial UE swarm.
Akdeniz is directed to providing handover-related technology, apparatuses, and methods. More specifically, Akdeniz teaches wherein the first aerial UE is a member aerial UE of an aerial UE swarm comprising a plurality of aerial UEs ([Para. 0218] and [FIG. 19], as the swarm 1901 forms, a single device (e.g., 1902 a) of the swarm 1901 can become a swarm master 1902 a. Device 1902 a can begin to handle control communications 1910 for other member devices of the swarm 1901), and wherein the second aerial UE is a master aerial UE of the aerial UE swarm ([Para. 0218] and [FIG. 19], as the swarm 1901 forms, a single device (e.g., 1902 a) of the swarm 1901 can become a swarm master 1902 a. Once identified as the swarm master, device 1902 a can begin to handle control communications 1910 for other member devices of the swarm 1901.Control communications 1910 can include cell measurement reports).
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 apparatus of Yan and Jha, so that the aerial UE is a member of an aerial UE swarm and a second aerial UE is the master of the swarm, as taught by Akdeniz. The modification would have allowed the system to improve to handover operations to increase throughput and efficiency (Akdeniz [Para. 0007]).
Claims 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US20220330075A1, hereinafter Yan) in view of Jha et al. (WO2017119919A1, hereinafter Jha) and Akdeniz et al. (US20200252838A1, hereinafter Akdeniz), and further in view of Park et al. (US20200314940A1, hereinafter Park).
For claim 28, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein the at least processor (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502) is further configured to cause the first aerial UE (Yan [FIG. 5], terminal device 500) to: receive location information from the second aerial UE.
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz do not explicitly disclose wherein the at least processor is further configured to cause the first aerial UE to: receive location information from the second aerial UE.
Park is directed to providing operation method of sidelink TX UE for transmitting RRC message related to RLF after RRC resumption in wireless communication system. More specifically, Park teaches wherein the at least processor is further configured to cause the first aerial UE to: receive location information from the second aerial UE ([Para. 0262], the transmitting UE may inform the receiving UE of the location of the transmitting UE by SCI [Examiner Note: Although transmitting UE informs the location of the transmitting UE, similarly the receiving UE can transmit the location]).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may receive location of another UE, as taught by Park. The modification would have allowed the system to provide reliability (Park [Para. 0019]).
For claim 29, Yan, Jha, Akdeniz and Park teach the first aerial UE of claim 28. The references further teach wherein the location information is included in a sidelink control information (Park [Para. 0262], the transmitting UE may inform the receiving UE of the location of the transmitting UE by SCI), a media access control-control element (MAC-CE) or a sidelink radio resource control (RRC) signaling.
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may receive location of another UE in SCI, as taught by Park. The modification would have allowed the system to provide reliability (Park [Para. 0019]).
Claims 30-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US20220330075A1, hereinafter Yan) in view of Jha et al. (WO2017119919A1, hereinafter Jha), Akdeniz et al. (US20200252838A1, hereinafter Akdeniz) and Park et al. (US20200314940A1, hereinafter Park), and further in view of Nguyen et al. (US20200021941A1, hereinafter Nguyen).
For claim 30, Yan, Jha, Akdeniz and Park teach the first aerial UE of claim 28. The references further teach wherein to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE (Jha [Para. 50], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. The aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually), the at least one processor is configured to (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502).
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 apparatus of Yan, Akdeniz and Park, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
The references further teach calculate a distance between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE based at least in part on the location information (Park [0262], the transmitting UE may inform the receiving UE of the location of the transmitting UE by SCI related to the PSSCH. The receiving UE may estimate or obtain the Tx-Rx distance based on the locations of the receiving UE and the transmitting UE [Examiner Note: Although the receiving UE estimates the Tx-Rx distance, similarly, the transmitting UE can estimate the Tx-Rx distance]), and transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the distance being less than a threshold (Yan [Para. 0201], after determining to report the measurement report, the terminal device sends a measurement report corresponding to a first neighboring cell to the network device. Yan [Para. 0151] The network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may receive location of another UE and estimate the distance between the two UEs, as taught by Park. The modification would have allowed the system to provide reliability (Park [Para. 0019]).
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, and estimating the distance between the UE and another UE based on the location of the second UE, Yan, Jha, Akdeniz and Park do not explicitly disclose and transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the distance being less than a threshold, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the distance being less than the threshold.
Nguyen is directed to providing relaying for vehicular communications. More specifically, Nguyen teaches and transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the distance being less than a threshold ([Para. 0070], the UE 505 may determine a distance between the UE 505 and a neighbor UE. [Para. 0071], if the distance is less than or equal to the second threshold, then the UE 505 may select that neighbor UE as a potential relaying UE due to a higher likelihood of successful reception of the P2P communication by the neighbor UE. [Para. 0110] and [FIG. 8], the UE may selectively relay the P2P communication based at least in part on determining whether to relay the P2P communication), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the distance being less than the threshold ([Para. 0061], the UE 505 may receive information from a base station that indicates a pathloss associated with a location of the UE 505. The UE 505 may determine whether the P2P communication is to be relayed based at least in part on the pathloss parameter. [Para. 0071], if the distance is less than or equal to the second threshold, then the UE 505 may select that neighbor UE as a potential relaying UE due to a higher likelihood of successful reception of the P2P communication by the neighbor UE).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha, Akdeniz and Park, so that the UE may transmit measurement report to another UE when the distance between the two UEs is within a threshold, as taught by Nguyen. The modification would have made further improvement in LTE and NR technologies with selectively relay the P2P communication (Nguyen [Para. 0005 and 0011]).
For claim 31, Yan, Jha, Akdeniz and Park teach the first aerial UE of claim 28. The references further teach wherein to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE (Jha [Para. 50], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. The aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually), the at least one processor is configured to (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502).
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 apparatus of Yan, Akdeniz and Park, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
The references further teach calculate a distance between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE based at least in part on the location information (Park [0262], the transmitting UE may inform the receiving UE of the location of the transmitting UE by SCI related to the PSSCH. The receiving UE may estimate or obtain the Tx-Rx distance based on the locations of the receiving UE and the transmitting UE), and transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the distance being equal to or greater than a threshold (Yan [Para. 0201], after determining to report the measurement report, the terminal device sends a measurement report corresponding to a first neighboring cell to the network device. Yan [Para. 0151] The network device sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may receive location of another UE and estimate the distance between the two UEs, as taught by Park. The modification would have allowed the system to provide reliability (Park [Para. 0019]).
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, and estimating the distance between the UE and another UE based on the location of the second UE, Yan, Jha, Akdeniz and Park do not explicitly disclose and transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the distance being equal to or greater than a threshold, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the distance being greater than or equal to the threshold.
Nguyen is directed to providing relaying for vehicular communications. More specifically, Nguyen teaches and transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the distance being equal to or greater than a threshold ([Para. 0070], the UE 505 may determine a distance between the UE 505 and a neighbor UE. [Para. 0071], if the distance is greater than or equal to a second threshold, then the UE 505 may not select that neighbor UE as a potential relaying UE due to a large distance between the UE 505 and the neighbor UE. [Examiner’s Note: When the distance between two UEs is greater than a threshold, the measurement report of one UE may not be relayed through another UE, and the measurement report can only be transmitted to the base station as Yan teaches]), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the distance being greater than or equal to the threshold ([Para. 0061], the UE 505 may receive information from a base station that indicates a pathloss associated with a location of the UE 505. The UE 505 may determine whether the P2P communication is to be relayed based at least in part on the pathloss parameter. [Para. 0071], if the distance is greater than or equal to a second threshold, then the UE 505 may not select that neighbor UE as a potential relaying UE due to a large distance between the UE 505 and the neighbor UE, which may reduce the likelihood of successful reception of the P2P communication by the neighbor UE).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha, Akdeniz and Park, so that the UE may not transmit measurement report to another UE when the distance between the two UEs is outside a range, as taught by Nguyen. The modification would have would have made further improvement in LTE and NR technologies with selectively relay the P2P communication (Nguyen [Para. 0005 and 0011]).
Claim 32 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US20220330075A1, hereinafter Yan) in view of Jha et al. (WO2017119919A1, hereinafter Jha) and Akdeniz et al. (US20200252838A1, hereinafter Akdeniz), and further in view of Tseng et al. (US20200145867A1, hereinafter Tseng).
For claim 32, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE (Jha [Para. 50], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. The aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually), the at least one processor is configured to (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502).
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 apparatus of Yan and Akdeniz, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz do not explicitly disclose transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE being associated with a same serving cell, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE being associated with the same serving cell.
Tseng is directed to providing sidelink measurement reporting in next generation wireless networks. More specifically, Tseng teaches transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE being associated with a same serving cell ([Para. 0047] a serving cell contributes in grouping the UEs to exchange sidelink data. [Para. 0097] the serving cell configures the value of SL measurement configuration for an in-coverage SL-group, indicating UE is aware of whether the other UE in the group is served by the same serving cell. [Para. 0062] and [FIG. 1], a UE delivering a sidelink measurement report to another UE in a coverage area of a cell. [Para. 0063], the UEs 110 and 120 may have been grouped together to exchange sidelink packets with each other), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE being associated with the same serving cell ([Para. 0097] the serving cell configures the value of SL measurement configuration for an in-coverage SL-group. [Para. 0062], a UE delivering a sidelink measurement report to another UE in a coverage area of a cell).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may transmit measurement report to another UE connected to the same serving cell, as taught by Tseng. The modification would have would have allowed the system to improve accuracy of measurement and reduce power consumption (Tseng [Para. 0003 and 0004]).
Claim 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US20220330075A1, hereinafter Yan) in view of Jha et al. (WO2017119919A1, hereinafter Jha) and Akdeniz et al. (US20200252838A1, hereinafter Akdeniz), and further in view of Kim et al. (US20230152413A1, hereinafter Kim).
For claim 33, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE (Jha [Para. 50], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. The aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually); the at least one processor is configured to (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502): transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE being associated with different serving cells (Yan [Para. 0201], after determining to report the measurement report, the terminal device sends a measurement report corresponding to a first neighboring cell to the network device).
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 apparatus of Yan and Akdeniz, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz do not explicitly disclose transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE being associated with different serving cells, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE being associated with the different serving cells.
Kim is directed to providing method and apparatus for positioning terminal in wireless communication system. More specifically, Kim teaches transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE being associated with different serving cells ([Para. 0279], The base station 2804 may transmit beam information of the terminal 2808 to the target terminal 2802. [Para. 0280], the terminal 2802 may assume completion of synchronization with the neighbor base station 2806 and receive a PRS from the neighbor base station 2806. [Para. 0281] and [FIG. 28], the terminal may calculate a PRS measurement value based on a PRS received from the serving base station 2804, the neighbor base station 2806 and the another terminal 2808, indicating that the first UE is aware that the serving cell of the second UE is different. [Para. 0281] and [FIG. 28], the terminal transmits the calculated PRS measurement value to the serving base station), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE being associated with the different serving cells ([Para. 0278], The serving base station 2804 may transmit, to the terminal 2802, PRS information of the serving base station 2804. The serving base station 2804 may transmit, to the terminal 2802, PRS information of the neighbor base station 2806. [Para. 0281], the terminal may calculate a PRS measurement value based on a PRS received from the serving base station 2804, the neighbor base station 2806 and the another terminal 2808, indicating that the first UE is aware that the serving cell of the second UE is different).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may determine its serving cell and the serving cell of another UE, as taught by Kim. The modification would have would have allowed to position a terminal and support vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (Kim [Para. 0005 and 0006]).
Claims 34-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US20220330075A1, hereinafter Yan) in view of Jha et al. (WO2017119919A1, hereinafter Jha) and Akdeniz et al. (US20200252838A1, hereinafter Akdeniz), and further in view of Hong et al. (US20200029384A1, hereinafter Hong).
For claim 34, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE (Jha [Para. 50], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. The aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually), the at least one processor is configured to (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502).
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 apparatus of Yan and Akdeniz, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz do not explicitly disclose measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the BS; and transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the RSRP being less than a threshold value, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the RSRP being less than the threshold value.
Hong is directed to providing Method for performing path reselection in wireless communication system and apparatus therefor. More specifically, Hong teaches measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the BS ([Para. 0231], the remote UE performs a path reselection. [Para. 0235], If measured RSRP of a selected cell is higher than the RSRP threshold, ...); and transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the RSRP being less than a threshold value ([Para. 0235] and [FIG. 8], If measured RSRP of a selected cell is higher than the RSRP threshold, the remote UE selects the Uu link. Otherwise, the remote UE selects the sidelink. [Para. 0246] The remote UE transmits/receives data that can be relayed by the relay UE (e.g., in case of PC5)), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the RSRP being less than the threshold value ([Para. 0227], the criteria of path reselection thresholds (either Uu or PC5) are configured from the eNB. [Para. 0235], If measured RSRP of a selected cell is higher than the RSRP threshold, the remote UE selects the Uu link. Otherwise, the remote UE selects the sidelink).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may transmit measurement report to another UE when RSRP of the selected cell is less than a threshold, as taught by Hong. The modification would have allowed the system to reselecting a path performing a radio link failure (RLF) recovery procedure when a link failure occurs (Hong [Para. 0004]).
For claim 35, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE (Jha [Para. 50], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. The aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually), the at least one processor is configured to (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502).
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 apparatus of Yan and Akdeniz, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz do not explicitly disclose measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the BS; and transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the RSRP being equal to or greater than a threshold value, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the RSRP being equal to or greater than the threshold value.
Hong is directed to providing Method for performing path reselection in wireless communication system and apparatus therefor. More specifically, Hong teaches measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the BS ([Para. 0231], the remote UE performs a path reselection. [Para. 0235], If measured RSRP of a selected cell is higher than the RSRP threshold, ...); and transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the RSRP being equal to or greater than a threshold value ([Para. 0235] and [FIG. 8], If measured RSRP of a selected cell is higher than the RSRP threshold, the remote UE selects the Uu link. [Para. 0248], the remote UE transmits/receives data to/from the eNB), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the RSRP being equal to or greater than the threshold value ([Para. 0227], the criteria of path reselection thresholds (either Uu or PC5) are configured from the eNB. [Para. 0235], If measured RSRP of a selected cell is higher than the RSRP threshold, the remote UE selects the Uu link).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may transmit measurement report to the BS when RSRP of the selected cell is not less than a threshold, as taught by Hong. The modification would have allowed the system to reselecting a path performing a radio link failure (RLF) recovery procedure when a link failure occurs (Hong [Para. 0004]).
For claim 36, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE (Jha [Para. 50], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. The aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually), the at least one processor is configured to (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502).
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 apparatus of Yan and Akdeniz, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz do not explicitly disclose measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE; and transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the RSRP being equal to or greater than a threshold value, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the RSRP being equal to or greater than the threshold value.
Hong is directed to providing Method for performing path reselection in wireless communication system and apparatus therefor. More specifically, Hong teaches measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE ([Para. 0231], the remote UE performs a path reselection. [Para. 0234], if measured Sidelink-RSRP is higher than a RSRP threshold, ...); and transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the RSRP being equal to or greater than a threshold value ([Para. 0234] and [FIG. 8], if measured Sidelink-RSRP is higher than a RSRP threshold, the remote UE selects a sidelink path. [Para. 0246] The remote UE transmits/receives data that can be relayed by the relay UE (e.g., in case of PC5)), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the RSRP being equal to or greater than the threshold value ([Para. 0227], the criteria of path reselection thresholds (either Uu or PC5) are configured from the eNB. [Para. 0234], if measured Sidelink-RSRP is higher than a RSRP threshold, the remote UE selects a sidelink path)
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may transmit measurement report to another UE when Sidelink-RSRP is not less than a threshold, as taught by Hong. The modification would have allowed the system to reselecting a path performing a radio link failure (RLF) recovery procedure when a link failure occurs (Hong [Para. 0004]).
For claim 37, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE (Jha [Para. 50], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. The aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually), the at least one processor is configured to (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502).
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 apparatus of Yan and Akdeniz, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz do not explicitly disclose measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE; and transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the RSRP being less than a threshold value, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the RSRP being less than the threshold value.
Hong is directed to providing Method for performing path reselection in wireless communication system and apparatus therefor. More specifically, Hong teaches measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE ([Para. 0231], the remote UE performs a path reselection. [Para. 0234], if measured Sidelink-RSRP is higher than a RSRP threshold, ...); and transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the RSRP being less than a threshold value ([Para. 0234] and [FIG. 8], if measured Sidelink-RSRP is higher than a RSRP threshold, the remote UE selects a sidelink path. Otherwise, the remote UE selects the Uu link. [Para. 0248], the remote UE transmits/receives data to/from the eNB), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the RSRP being less than the threshold value ([Para. 0227], the criteria of path reselection thresholds (either Uu or PC5) are configured from the eNB. [Para. 0234], if measured Sidelink-RSRP is higher than a RSRP threshold, the remote UE selects a sidelink path. Otherwise, the remote UE selects the Uu link).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may transmit measurement report to the BS when Sidelink-RSRP is less than a threshold, as taught by Hong. The modification would have allowed the system to reselecting a path performing a radio link failure (RLF) recovery procedure when a link failure occurs (Hong [Para. 0004]).
For claim 38, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein to transmit the measurement report to the BS or to the second aerial UE (Jha [Para. 50], The UEs of the D2D/ProSe group can further provide the measurements to the UE group leader via the one or more D2D/ProSe channels in order to aggregate the group link measurements. The aggregate link quality measurement reporting can be generated to the eNB via the group leader UE or from UEs individually), the at least one processor is configured to (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502).
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 apparatus of Yan and Akdeniz, so that the UE may determine to transmit measurement report to the base station or group leader UE, as taught by Jha. The modification would have allowed a higher data rate than a cellular network communication mode alone, traffic offload from congested cell and limit interference (Jha [Para. 0042]).
Although teaching the UE receiving measurement configuration and transmitting measurement report to the base station or a second UE, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz do not explicitly disclose measure a first Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the BS; measure a second RSRP of a link between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE; and transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the first RSRP being less than the second RSRP, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the first RSRP being less than the second RSRP; or transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the second RSRP being less than the first RSRP, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the second RSRP being less than the first RSRP.
Hong is directed to providing Method for performing path reselection in wireless communication system and apparatus therefor. More specifically, Hong teaches measure a first Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the BS ([Para. 0231], the remote UE performs a path reselection. [Para. 0235] If measured RSRP of a selected cell is higher than the RSRP threshold, ...); measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a link between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE ([Para. 0231], the remote UE performs a path reselection. [Para. 0234], if measured Sidelink-RSRP is higher than a RSRP threshold, ...); and transmit the measurement report to the second aerial UE based at least in part on the first RSRP being less than the second RSRP ([Para. 0237] and [FIG. 8], If measured RSRP of the selected cell is lower than measured sidelink quality between the remote UE and the relay UE, the UE selects the sidelink. [Para. 0236], If measured RSRP of the selected cell is lower than a threshold, and sidelink quality (e.g. Sidelink-RSRP) between the remote UE and a relay UE is higher than another threshold, … [Para. 0248], the remote UE transmits/receives data to/from the eNB), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the first RSRP being less than the second RSRP ([Para. 0227], the criteria of path reselection thresholds (either Uu or PC5) are configured from the eNB. [Para. 0237], If measured RSRP of the selected cell is lower than measured sidelink quality between the remote UE and the relay UE, the UE selects the sidelink), or transmit the measurement report to the BS based at least in part on the second RSRP being less than the first RSRP ([Para. 0237], If measured RSRP of the selected cell is lower than measured sidelink quality between the remote UE and the relay UE, the UE selects the sidelink. Otherwise, the remote UE selects the Uu link), wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based at least in part on the second RSRP being less than the first RSRP ([Para. 0227], the criteria of path reselection thresholds (either Uu or PC5) are configured from the eNB. [Para. 0237], If measured RSRP of the selected cell is lower than measured sidelink quality between the remote UE and the relay UE, the UE selects the sidelink. Otherwise, the remote UE selects the Uu link).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may transmit measurement report to another UE when RSRP of the selected cell is less than Sidelink-RSRP, otherwise to the base station, as taught by Hong. The modification would have allowed the system to reselecting a path performing a radio link failure (RLF) recovery procedure when a link failure occurs (Hong [Para. 0004]).
Claim 40 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (US20220330075A1, hereinafter Yan) in view of Jha et al. (WO2017119919A1, hereinafter Jha), and Akdeniz et al. (US20200252838A1, hereinafter Akdeniz), and further in view of Nguyen et al. (US20200021941A1, hereinafter Nguyen).
For claim 40, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz teach the first aerial UE of claim 23. The references further teach wherein the at least one processor (Yan [FIG. 5], processor 502) is further operable to cause the first aerial UE to refrain from transmitting an additional measurement report based at least in part on a distance between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE satisfying a threshold value (Yan [0181], the terminal device is prevented from reporting the measurement report frequently when the signal quality of the serving cell is good).
Although teaching the UE refraining from transmitting measurement reports unnecessarily frequently, Yan, Jha and Akdeniz do not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first aerial UE to refrain from transmitting an additional measurement report based at least in part on a distance between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE satisfying a threshold value.
Nguyen is directed to providing relaying for vehicular communications. More specifically, Nguyen teaches wherein the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first aerial UE to refrain from transmitting an additional measurement report based at least in part on a distance between the first aerial UE and the second aerial UE satisfying a threshold value ([Para. 0072], the UE 505 may not identify UE 510 as a relaying UE because the distance between the UE 505 and the UE 510 is too small, which may result in sub-optimal gains in range).
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 apparatus of Yan, Jha and Akdeniz, so that the UE may refrain from transmission through another UE when the distance between the two UEs is too small, as taught by Nguyen. The modification would have made further improvement in LTE and NR technologies with selectively relay the P2P communication (Nguyen [Para. 0005 and 0011]).
Conclusion
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/S.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
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