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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 January 16, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 6, 13, 17, 23, 25-26, 31, 35, 39, 50, and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wu et al. (US 2023/0362881 A1), hereinafter, Wu.
Regarding Claim 1, Wu teaches,
A method of handling a radio link failure, RLF, in a relayed radio communication relayed through a relay radio device between a remote radio device and a radio access network, RAN, the method being performed in a relay radio device, -Fig. 1, 6; Paragraph [0005, 0026] (Fig. 1 shows the wireless communication between a remote radio device and radio access network through a relay radio device. [0026] recites, “As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication system 100 includes UE 101, BS 102, and relay UE 103 for illustrative purpose.” [0005] recites, “The method may be performed by a relay UE. The method includes: establishing a Uu RRC connection of a link between the relay UE and a base station (BS); establishing a PC5 radio resource control (RRC) connection of a link between a UE and the relay UE; and transmitting a notification to the UE, wherein the notification is associated with at least one of: a radio link failure (RLF) of the link between the relay UE and the BS; a RLF recovery failure of the link between the relay UE and the BS; and a successful RLF recovery of the link between the relay UE and the BS.”)
the method comprising: determining an RLF in the relayed radio communication, the relayed radio communication comprising a sidelink, SL, between the remote radio device and the relay radio device, and a uplink, UL, and/or a downlink, DL, between the RAN and the relay radio device, -Fig. 1, Paragraph [0005, 0026-0027] (Fig. 1 shows communication between UE and RAN through relay UE with Uu link (both UL/DL) between relay UE and RAN (BS) and using PC5 link, i.e., sidelink between remote radio device and relay radio device. Also, RLF determination at the relay radio happens in the relay UE. [0005] recites, “The method may be performed by a relay UE. The method includes: establishing a Uu RRC connection of a link between the relay UE and a base station (BS); establishing a PC5 radio resource control (RRC) connection of a link between a UE and the relay UE; and transmitting a notification to the UE, wherein the notification is associated with at least one of: a radio link failure (RLF) of the link between the relay UE and the BS;….”PC5 link is sidelink and Uu link is (DL/UL) between relay UE and the RAN)
wherein determining the RLF comprises receiving a control message at the relay radio device, the control message being indicative of the RLF and configured to initiate at least one of a release, a reconfiguration, and a reestablishment of the relayed radio communication; -Paragraph [0136-0141] ([0136-0141] recites, “The BS transmits a RRC setup message to UE1 via the relay UE. The RRC setup message includes the response for UE1. (3) Step 3: The relay UE transmits a notification to UE1 based on at least one of the following conditions. The relay UE transmits a RLF notification to UE1 when: a RLF between relay UE and BS happens; or the relay UE is triggered to perform a fast MCG link recovery procedure; or the relay UE is triggered to perform a RRC re-establishment procedure. “)
and initiating, responsive to the responsive to the received control message, at least one of a release, a reconfiguration, and a reestablishment of the relayed radio communication, wherein the RLF is determined in at least one of: the sidelink, SL, between the remote radio device and the relay radio device; and the uplink, UL, and/or the downlink, DL, between the relay radio device and the RAN. -Paragraph [0087] ([0087] recites, “The relay UE may transmit the RLF notification after the relay UE performs a fast MCG link recovery procedure on the link between the relay UE and the BS. Alternatively, the relay UE may transmit the RLF notification after the relay UE performs a RRC re-establishment procedure on the link between the relay UE and the BS.”)
Regarding Claim 6, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Wu further teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed at and/or by at least one of: an adaptation layer of a protocol stack of the relayed radio communication; -Paragraph [0062] ([0062] recites, “ According to the 3GPP standard documents, an adaptation layer is supported over a PC5 link (i.e., a PC5 link between a relay UE and a remote UE) for Layer 2 (i.e., L2) UE-to-network relay scenario. For L2 UE-to-network relay scenario, the adaptation layer is put over a RLC sublayer for both control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) over the PC5 link. The sidelink service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) or the sidelink packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) and RRC are terminated between two Remote UEs, while RLC, MAC and PHY are terminated in each PC5 link.”)
a packet data convergence protocol, PDCP, layer of a protocol stack of the relayed radio communication; -Paragraph [0062] ([0062] recites, “ According to the 3GPP standard documents, an adaptation layer is supported over a PC5 link (i.e., a PC5 link between a relay UE and a remote UE) for Layer 2 (i.e., L2) UE-to-network relay scenario. For L2 UE-to-network relay scenario, the adaptation layer is put over a RLC sublayer for both control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) over the PC5 link. The sidelink service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) or the sidelink packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) and RRC are terminated between two Remote UEs, while RLC, MAC and PHY are terminated in each PC5 link.”)
a radio resource control, RRC, layer of a protocol stack of the relayed radio communication;
and a medium access control layer, MAC, layer of a protocol stack of the relayed radio communication. -Paragraph [0090] ([0090] recites, “In some embodiments, the notification is transmitted by at least one of: a MAC CE of the relay UE; RRC signaling of the relay UE; and a control PDU in an adaptation layer of the relay UE.”)
Regarding Claim 13, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Wu further teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the UL and/or the DL uses an Uu radio interface. -Fig. 1, Paragraph [0027] (Fig. 1 shows relay UE communicating with BS in both direction (DL/UL) over Uu interface. [0027] recites, “Relay UE 103 may be connected to BS 102 via a network interface, for example, a Uu interface as specified in 3GPP standard documents.”)
Regarding Claim 17, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Wu further teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein determining the RLF comprises detecting the RLF at the relay radio device. -Paragraph [0069-0070] ([0069-0070] recites, “The RLF notification may be transmitted from the relay UE in response to one of: (1) the relay UE detects a RLF in the link between the relay UE and the BS;”)
Regarding Claim 23, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Wu further teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the RLF is determined for the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device, -Paragraph [0006] ([0006] recites, “…and in response to detecting a PC5-signaling (PC5-S) link failure in the link between the UE and the relay UE, transmitting failure information to the BS.”)
and wherein the reconfiguration is performed or initiated for the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device. -Fig. 3, Paragraph [0046-0047] ([0046-0047] recites, “As shown in FIG. 3, in operation 301, UE 310 (e.g., UE 101a as illustrated and shown in FIG. 1) initiates a sidelink RRC reconfiguration procedure to UE 320 (e.g., relay UE 103 as illustrated and shown in FIG. 1) by transmitting RRCReconfigurationSidelink message to UE 320.
If the sidelink RRC reconfiguration procedure is successfully completed, in operation 302, UE 320 may transmit “a RRC reconfiguration complete sidelink message” to UE 310, e.g., RRCReconfigurationCompleteSidelink message as specified in 3GPP standard documents.”)
Regarding Claim 25, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Wu further teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein performing or initiating the reconfiguration of the SL comprises: transmitting a reconfiguration message to the remote radio device, the reconfiguration message being indicative of the reconfiguration of the SL. -Paragraph [0045-0048] ([0046] recites, “As shown in FIG. 3, in operation 301, UE 310 (e.g., UE 101a as illustrated and shown in FIG. 1) initiates a sidelink RRC reconfiguration procedure to UE 320 (e.g., relay UE 103 as illustrated and shown in FIG. 1) by transmitting RRCReconfigurationSidelink message to UE 320.” [0048] recites, “The purpose of a sidelink RRC reconfiguration procedure is to modify a PC5 RRC connection, e.g., to establish, modify, or release sidelink data radio bearers (DRBs), to configure NR sidelink measurement and reporting, and to configure sidelink channel state information (CSI) reference signal resources.”)
Regarding Claim 26, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Wu further teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the RLF is determined for the link between the relay radio device and the RAN, -Paragraph [0087] ([0087] recites, “….The relay UE may transmit the RLF notification after the relay UE detects a RLF in the link between the relay UE and the BS…”)
and wherein the reestablishment is performed or initiated for the link between the relay radio device and the RAN -Paragraph [0106] ([0106] recites, “In operation 802, a RRC relayed connection of the link between the UE and the BS is established. In operation 803, the UE performs a relay reselection procedure in response to “an expiry of a timer for a RRC relayed connection reconfiguration of a link between the UE and the BS” or “receiving a relay reselection indication from the BS.”)
Regarding Claim 31, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Wu further teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein performing or initiating at least one of the release, the reconfiguration, and the reestablishment comprises: transmitting, from the relay radio device to the RAN or the remote radio device, a report of the RLF, comprising the RLF of the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device -Paragraph [0184-0188] ([0184-0188] recites, “The relay UE may be triggered to report failure information to the BS based on one of the following conditions: 1. an expiry of the timer for keep-alive procedure; 2. an AS layer of the relay UE receives a PC5-S link failure from a PC5-S layer of the relay UE; and 3. the relay UE declares a sidelink RLF because of detecting the PC5-S link failure. The reported failure information could be a sidelink failure notification.”)
Regarding Claim 35, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Wu further teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein performing or initiating at least one of the release, the reconfiguration, and the reestablishment comprises: transmitting, from the relay radio device to the remote radio device , an indication of the RLF, being indicative of the RLF of the link between the relay radio device and the RAN. -Paragraph [0008] ([0008] recites, “the notification received from the relay UE is associated with at least one of: a RLF of the link between the relay UE and the BS; a RLF recovery failure of the link between the relay UE and the BS; and a successful RLF recovery of the link between the relay UE and the BS.”)
Claim 39 is essentially same as Claim 1 except for Claim 1 is viewed from Relay/Remote radio device perspective, while Claim 39 is viewed from network (RAN) perspective. Also, Claim 1 has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of Claim 1. Claim 39 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 1.
Claim 50 is the apparatus claim corresponding to the method Claim 1 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of Claim 1. Claim 50 is rejected under the same rational as claim 1.
Wu further teaches,
A relay radio device for handling a radio link failure, RLF, in a relayed radio communication relayed through a relay radio device between a remote radio device and a radio access network, RAN, the relay radio device comprising a memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions -Fig. 10; Paragraph [0194-0196]
Claim 52 is the apparatus claim corresponding to the method Claim 39 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of Claim 39. Claim 52 is rejected under the same rational as claim 39.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu in view of UCHIYAMA et al. (Patent No: US20190320361A1), hereinafter, UCHIYAMA.
Regarding Claim 3, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, Wu does not explicitly mention,
The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing radio link monitoring, RLM, wherein the RLF is detected as a result of the RLM.
However, in an analogous invention UCHIYAMA teaches,
The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing radio link monitoring, RLM, wherein the RLF is detected as a result of the RLM. -Fig. 8; Paragraph [0094-0102][0110] (Fig. 8 shows radio link monitoring (RLM) and radio link failure (RLF) in time domain. [0094] recites, “Next, RLM in mobile relay communication will be described. In an environment in which mobile relay communication is performed, each terminal device (i.e., the relay terminal 100C and the remote terminal 200C, continuously executes measurement of the communication quality of a predetermined radio link.” [0110] recites, “..In FIG. 8, an example of a case in which a transition is made from an in-synchronization (in-sync) state to an out-of-synchronization (out-of-sync) state is illustrated. Specifically, in a case in which the radio link quality becomes lower than the threshold value Qout, a physical layer of a terminal device reports out-of-synchronization (out-of-sync) to an upper layer. In a case in which the radio link quality does not exceed the threshold value Qin at the next evaluation timing, the physical layer of the terminal device reports out-of-synchronization (out-of-sync, to the upper layer. In a case in which out-of-synchronization (out-of-sync) is continuously reported a predetermined number of times (N310, N313) set using a parameter relating to Radio Link Failure (RLF), the upper layer determines that there is a problem in the physical layer and starts an RLF timer (T310, T313). In a case in which in-synchronization (in-sync) is continuously reported a predetermined number of times (N311, N314) set using a parameter relating to RLF before the RLF timer expires, the upper layer determines that the problem of the physical layer has been recovered and stops the RLF timer (T310, T313). Meanwhile, in a case in which the RLF timer has expired, RLF occurs, and the terminal device withdraws from an RRC connection (RRC_CONNECTED) mode or re-establishes connection. In addition, in a case in which the RLF timer (T310) of a primary cell has expired, transmission power of the terminal device is turned off within 40 ms. In addition, in a case in which the RLF timer (T313) of a primary secondary cell has expired, transmission power of the primary secondary cell is turned off within 40 ms.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of UCHIYAMA to include “performing radio link monitoring, RLM, wherein the RLF is detected as a result of the RLM.” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve the quality of the backhaul link [0122].
Regarding Claim 4, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, Wu does not explicitly mention,
The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a RLM of at least one of: the relayed radio communication; the SL between the remote radio device and the relay radio device; and the UL and/or the DL between the relay radio device and the RAN.
However, in an analogous invention UCHIYAMA teaches,
The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a RLM of at least one of: the relayed radio communication; -Paragraph [0091] ([0091] recites, “For example, a communication device serving as a subject of RLM executes monitoring of communication quality (i.e., RLM) targeting a serving cell in an RRC connected state. Here, the communication device shifts to RLF in a case in which, for example, the communication quality of a link subjected to RLM is degraded and it is determined that it is difficult to satisfy a predetermined level of reliability.”)
the SL between the remote radio device and the relay radio device; -Paragraph [0147] ([0147] recites, ”…technique of estimating the communication quality of the sidelink will be described below with respect to cases in which the remote terminal 200C performs RLM of the sidelink and the relay terminal 100C performs RLM of the sidelink.”)
and the UL and/or the DL between the relay radio device and the RAN -Paragraph [0094-0096] ([0094] recites, “RLM in mobile relay communication will be described. In an environment in which mobile relay communication is performed, each terminal device (i.e., the relay terminal 100C and the remote terminal 200C, continuously executes measurement of the communication quality of a predetermined radio link.” [0095] recites, “As a specific example, the relay terminal 100C may measure the communication quality of a downlink (i.e., a backhaul link) with the base station 100A. …”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of UCHIYAMA to include “performing a RLM of at least one of: the relayed radio communication; the SL between the remote radio device and the relay radio device; and the UL and/or the DL between the relay radio device and the RAN.” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve the quality of the backhaul link [0122].
Claims 14-15, 20-21, 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu in view of Xu et al. (Patent No: US 2021/0051758 A1), hereinafter, Xu.
Regarding Claim 14, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, Wu does not explicitly mention,
The method of claim 1, wherein the radio communication comprises at least two segments, and wherein the release, the reconfiguration, or the reestablishment of the relayed radio communication is performed or initiated on at least one or each of the segments.
However, Xu teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the radio communication comprises at least two segments, and wherein the release, the reconfiguration, or the reestablishment of the relayed radio communication is performed or initiated on at least one or each of the segments. -Paragraph [0112-0113] (Depending on which link RLF occurs, release, reconfiguration or the reestablishment occurs in the SL or Uu link or on both segments. [0112] recites,”..in case a remote UE's RRC message transmission fails due to link failure between the relay UE and the network, the relay UE may detect the RLC failure and trigger radio link failure (RLF). In the Uu link, the relay UE may perform a RRC connection reestablishment procedure or a secondary cell group (SCG) failure recovery procedure. With respect to the relay link, the relay UE may send the remote UE a Uu link failure indication, or may send a suspend relay link indication to the remote UE (and potentially any other remote UEs linked to the relay UE), or may close the relay link directly.” [0113] recites, “The remote UE may perform link reselection based on the Uu link failure. For example, if the ongoing procedure was for establishment/reestablishment/resume, the remote UE may retry the procedure in the newly selected link. “)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of Xu to include “the release, the reconfiguration, or the reestablishment of the relayed radio communication is performed or initiated on at least one or each of the segments.” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to supporting low cost and /or low power consumption wireless device [0006].
Regarding Claim 15, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, Wu does not explicitly mention,
The method of Claim 1, wherein the release, the reconfiguration, or the reestablishment is performed for at least one of: the SL between the remote radio device and the relay radio device; and the UL and/or the DL between the relay radio device and the RAN
However, in an analogous invention, Xu teaches,
The method of Claim 1, wherein the release, the reconfiguration, or the reestablishment is performed for at least one of: the SL between the remote radio device and the relay radio device; and the UL and/or the DL between the relay radio device and the RAN -Paragraph [0112] ([0112] recites, “… in case a remote UE's RRC message transmission fails due to link failure between the relay UE and the network, the relay UE may detect the RLC failure and trigger radio link failure (RLF). In the Uu link, the relay UE may perform a RRC connection reestablishment procedure or a secondary cell group (SCG) failure recovery procedure. With respect to the relay link, the relay UE may send the remote UE a Uu link failure indication, or may send a suspend relay link indication to the remote UE (and potentially any other remote UEs linked to the relay UE), or may close the relay link directly”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of Xu to include “the release, the reconfiguration, or the reestablishment is performed for at least one of: the SL between the remote radio device and the relay radio device; and the UL and/or the DL between the relay radio device and the RAN.” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to supporting low cost and /or low power consumption wireless device [0006].
Regarding Claim 20, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, Wu does not explicitly mention,
The method of claim1, further comprises performing or initiating the release of the relayed radio communication, wherein performing or initiating the release of the relayed radio communication comprises: implicitly indicating the release to at least one of; the remote radio device, and the RAN
However, Xu teaches
The method of claim1, further comprises performing or initiating the release of the relayed radio communication, wherein performing or initiating the release of the relayed radio communication comprises: implicitly indicating the release to at least one of; the remote radio device, and the RAN -Fig. 13; Paragraph [0110] ([0110] recites, “FIG. 13 illustrates aspects of an example scenario in which a gNB releases a remote RRC connection with a remote UE via a relay UE, according to some embodiments. As shown, in the illustrated scenario, in 1308, a remote UE 1302 and a relay UE 1304 may each be connected with each other and have RRC connections with a gNB 1306. In 1310, the gNB 1306 may provide a RRC release message to the relay UE 1304 using a relay SRB. The RRC release message may include identification information for the remote UE 1302, as well as relay link configuration information, bearer configuration information, Uu data radio bearer configuration information, mapping configuration information, and/or any of various information in support of releasing the remote RRC connection between the gNB 1306 and the remote UE 1302. In 1312, the relay UE 1304 may provide a RRC release message to the remote UE 1302, including at least some of the information received from the gNB 1306, such as any information needed by the remote UE 1302 as part of releasing the remote RRC connection between the gNB 1306 and the remote UE 1302 (e.g., relay link configuration information, bearer configuration information). In 1314, the remote UE 1302 may enter idle mode as a result of the remote RRC connection being released. Note that the remote UE 1302 could alternatively be released to inactive mode, at least according to some embodiments.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of Xu to include “initiating the release of the relayed radio communication, wherein performing or initiating the release of the relayed radio communication comprises: implicitly indicating the release to at least one of; the remote radio device, and the RAN.” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to supporting low cost and /or low power consumption wireless device [0006].
Regarding Claim 21, Wu and Xu combination teach the limitations of Claim 20.
Wu further teaches,
The method of claim 20, wherein the indication comprises a radio inactivity of the relay radio device causing expiry of an inactivity timer at the at least one of the remote radio device, and the RAN -Paragraph [0074, 0089] ([0074] recites, “In some further embodiments, the notification is a recovery failure notification. For instance, in response to failing to complete a RRC re-establishment procedure on the link between the relay UE and the BS, the relay UE transmits the recovery failure notification. Alternatively, in response to an expiry of a timer for a transmission of a RRC re-establishment request message, the relay UE transmits the recovery failure notification. For instance, if timer T301 expires, the relay UE transmits the recovery failure notification.”)
Regarding Claim 28, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, Wu does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 1, wherein performing or initiating the reestablishment comprises: transmitting, from the relay radio device to the changed network node, a configuration information indicative of a configuration of the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device
However, Xu teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein performing or initiating the reestablishment comprises: transmitting, from the relay radio device to the changed network node, a configuration information indicative of a configuration of the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device -Fig. 15; Paragraph [0116] ([0116] recites, “In particular, FIG. 15 illustrates aspects of an example scenario in which remote RRC connection establishment fails due to link failure between a relay UE and a gNB, according to some embodiments. As shown, in the illustrated scenario, in 1508, a remote UE 1502 may provide a RRC connection request to a relay UE 1504. In 1510, the remote UE 1502 and the relay UE 1504 may be connected. In 1512, the relay UE 1504 may provide a RRC connection request to a gNB 1506 using a relay SRB and indicating identification information for the remote UE 1502” After RLF between relay UE and gNB, RRC connection procedure follows the same way as request from Remote UE to relay UE and to gNB. It is easily understandable to an ordinary person with skill in the art that the configuration information might be transmitted from relay UE to the changed gNB in case of handover to another cell (gNB) serving the relay UE (radio device))
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of Xu to include “reestablishment comprises: transmitting, from the relay radio device to the changed network node, a configuration information indicative of a configuration of the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to supporting low cost and /or low power consumption wireless device [0006].
Regarding Claim 29, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 28.
Although implicit, Wu does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 28, wherein performing or initiating the reestablishment further comprises: receiving, from the changed network node in response to the configuration information, a reconfiguration information indicative of a reconfiguration of the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device.
However, Xu teaches,
The method of claim 28, wherein performing or initiating the reestablishment further comprises: receiving, from the changed network node in response to the configuration information, a reconfiguration information indicative of a reconfiguration of the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device. -Fig. 15; Paragraph [0116] ([0116] recites, “In particular, FIG. 15 illustrates aspects of an example scenario in which remote RRC connection establishment fails due to link failure between a relay UE and a gNB, according to some embodiments… In 1514, the gNB 1506 may provide a RRC connection setup message to the relay UE 1504 using the relay SRB.” As shown in Fig. 15 (1514) the Relay SRB consists many parameters including Remote UE ID, relay link (SL) configuration, bearer configuration, Uu DRB configuration, mapping configuration etc. In case of Uu link RLF and also in case of cell level handover (not shown in the figure), same request and response for reestablishment of RRC connection occur with the changed network node (1532))
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of Xu to include “receiving, from the changed network node in response to the configuration information, a reconfiguration information indicative of a reconfiguration of the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to supporting low cost and /or low power consumption wireless device [0006].
Regarding Claim 30, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, Wu does not explicitly teach,
The method of claim 1, wherein the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device is maintained during the reestablishment.
However, Xu teaches
The method of claim 1, wherein the SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device is maintained during the reestablishment. -Paragraph [0112] ([0112] recites, “Thus, in case a remote UE's RRC message transmission fails due to link failure between the relay UE and the network, the relay UE may detect the RLC failure and trigger radio link failure (RLF). In the Uu link, the relay UE may perform a RRC connection reestablishment procedure or a secondary cell group (SCG) failure recovery procedure. With respect to the relay link, the relay UE may send the remote UE a Uu link failure indication” As explained above SL between relay UE and remote UE is maintained and Uu failure indication might be sent to remote UE from relay UE during reestablishment.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of Xu to include “SL between the relay radio device and the remote radio device is maintained during the reestablishment” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to supporting low cost and /or low power consumption wireless device [0006].
Claims 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu in view of UCHIYAMA and further in view of Xu.
Regarding Claim 27, Wu teaches the limitations of Claim 1
Although implicit, Wu does not explicitly mention,
The method of claim 1, wherein the reestablishment is a radio resource control, RRC, reestablishment, and/or wherein the reestablishment is initiated by the relay radio device, and/or wherein the reestablishment comprises a change of a network node of the RAN serving the relay radio device.
However, in an analogous invention UCHIYAMA teaches,
and/or wherein the reestablishment comprises a change of a network node of the RAN serving the relay radio device. -Fig. 17; (Fig. 17 shows handover from one relay terminal to another based on RRM measurements. It is easily understandable to an ordinary person in the field of the art that when the RRM measurements from a network node serving a relay node falls below some threshold, similar handover process will happen and reestablishment (handover) will occur with another network node to serve the relay node)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of UCHIYAMA to include “and/or wherein the reestablishment comprises a change of a network node of the RAN serving the relay radio device.” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve the quality of the backhaul link [0122].
Wu and UCHIYAMA combination do not explicitly teach,
The method of claims 1, wherein the reestablishment is a radio resource control, RRC, reestablishment, and/or wherein the reestablishment is initiated by the relay radio device,
However, Xu teaches
The method of claims 1, wherein the reestablishment is a radio resource control, RRC, reestablishment, and/or wherein the reestablishment is initiated by the relay radio device, -Fig. 11; Paragraph [0108] ([0108] recites, “ FIG. 11 illustrates aspects of an example scenario in which a single remote UE attempts to reestablish a RRC connection with a gNB via a relay UE, according to some embodiments. As shown, in the illustrated scenario, in 1108, a remote UE 1102 and a relay UE 1104 may be connected. In 1110, the remote UE 1102 may provide a RRC reestablishment request to the relay UE 1104. In 1112, the relay UE 1104 may provide a RRC reestablishment request to a gNB 1106 using a relay SRB and indicating identification information for the remote UE 1102.”
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR A RELAY RESELECTION AND DATA TRANSMISSION HANDLING PROCEDURE IN A UE-TO-NETWORK RELAY SCENARIO” proposed by Wu with the concept of Xu to include “the reestablishment is a radio resource control, RRC, reestablishment, and/or wherein the reestablishment is initiated by the relay radio device” One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to supporting low cost and /or low power consumption wireless device [0006].
Response to Argument(s)
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED SAIFUDDIN whose telephone number is (703)756-4581. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-6:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KHALED M KASSIM can be reached on 571-270-3770. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AHMED SAIFUDDIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/ABDULLAHI AHMED/Examiner, Art Unit 2475