DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
This action is in response to amendments and remarks filed on 12/23/2025.
Claims 1-2, 5-9, 12-13, & 15-25 were pending. Claim 25 has been cancelled. Claim 26 has been added. Claims 1-2, 5-9, 12-13, 15-24, & 26 have been examined and are rejected.
Priority
This application is a 371 of PCT/CN2020/117598 filed 9/25/2020.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed in the communications above have been fully considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the combination of references being used in the current rejection.
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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2, 13, 15-16, & 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiong et al. (US 2018/0213379 A1) in view of Jung et al. (US 2021/0352689 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Xiong teaches:
A method performed by a first user equipment (UE); (utilizing relaying nodes to collect data or measurement reports from MTC devices to support a massive number of MTC devices in the network [Xiong: 0025-26]);
comprising:
receiving a plurality of measurement reports from one or more second UEs; (MTC UEs 120a-c report 440 measurements via PSSCH or separate sidelink physical channel to D2D relaying UE 130 [Xiong: 0053-54; Figs. 1 & 4]);
determining that a total number of collected reports reported by the plurality of measurement reports exceeds a configured threshold, wherein a cell reported by a measurement report comprises a cell whose measurement result is included in the measurement report; and transmitting, in response to determining that the total number of collected reports reported by the plurality of measurement reports exceeds the configured threshold, an aggregate measurement report which is based on the plurality of measurement reports; (D2D relaying UE 130 collects measurement reports from MTC UEs 120a-c, attempts to decode the measurement reports, and optionally performs post processing on the decoded data, wherein once measurement reports 460 from all the MTC UEs 120a-c are collected, the processed measurement report 470 is transmitted to the eNodeB 140 via PUSCH [Xiong: 0054-56; 0032]).
However, Xiong does not teach (where underlining indicates the portion of each limitation not taught):
determining that a total number of cells or a total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports exceeds a configured threshold… and transmitting, in response to determining that the total number of cells or the total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports exceeds the configured threshold, an aggregate measurement report.
In a similar field of endeavor involving providing measurement reports of a plurality of adjacent cells to a base station, Jung discloses:
determining that a total number of cells or a total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports exceeds a configured threshold… and transmitting, in response to determining that the total number of cells or the total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports exceeds the configured threshold, an aggregate measurement report; (when the number of cells currently included in the cellsTriggeredList is greater than or equal to numberOfTriggeringCells, transmission of the measurement report may be triggered [Jung: 0350-51; 0412]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xiong in view of Jung in order to utilize a number of cells exceeding a threshold as a reporting condition in the system of Xiong.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Xiong with Jung as doing so would reduce frequency of measurement report transmissions to the base station thereby improving network efficiency.
With regard to Claim 2, Xiong-Jung teaches:
The method of claim 1, further comprising:
transmitting the aggregate measurement report in response to a total number of the one or more second UEs exceeding a second configured threshold; (once measurement reports 460 from all the MTC UEs 120a-c are collected, the processed measurement report 470 is transmitted to the eNodeB 140 via PUSCH [Xiong: 0054-56; 0032]).
With regard to Claim 13, Xiong-Jung teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregate measurement report comprises at least one of a list of measurement results from plurality of measurement reports, or a processed measurement result based on the plurality of measurement reports; (D2D relaying UE 130 collects measurement reports from MTC UEs 120a-c, attempts to decode the measurement reports, and optionally performs post processing on the decoded data, wherein once measurement reports 460 from all the MTC UEs 120a-c are collected, the processed measurement report 470 is transmitted to the eNodeB 140 via PUSCH [Xiong: 0054-56; 0032]).
With regard to Claims 15-16 & 26, they appear substantially similar to the limitations recited by claims 1-2 and consequently do not appear to teach or further define over the citations provided for said claims. Accordingly, claims 15-16 & 26 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 1-2.
Claims 5-6, 17-18, & 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiong et al. (US 2018/0213379 A1) in view of Jung et al. (US 2021/0352689 A1) as applied to Claims 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Chai et al. (US 2014/0313920 A1).
With regard to Claim 5, Xiong-Jung teaches the method of claim 1, but does not teach:
wherein the configured threshold is based on a report type of the plurality of measurement reports.
In a similar field of endeavor involving reporting a measurement report, Chai discloses:
wherein the configured threshold is based on a report type of the plurality of measurement reports; (the measurement trigger may be event type or periodic, wherein when the first time to trigger expires for an event type trigger, the measurement report is reported immediately [Chai: 0106; 0111]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xiong-Jung in view of Chai in order to configure a threshold based on a report type in the system of Xiong-Jung.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Xiong-Jung with Chai as doing so would allow the measurement report to be reported immediately regardless of the state of the UE [Chai: 0114].
With regard to Claim 6, Xiong-Jung teaches the method of claim 1, but does not teach:
wherein the configured threshold is based on an event type of the plurality of measurement reports when the plurality of measurement reports are event triggered.
In a similar field of endeavor involving reporting a measurement report, Chai discloses:
wherein the configured threshold is based on an event type of the plurality of measurement reports when the plurality of measurement reports are event triggered; (the measurement trigger may be event type or periodic, wherein when the first time to trigger expires for an event type trigger, the measurement report is reported immediately [Chai: 0106; 0111]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xiong-Jung in view of Chai in order to configure a threshold based on a report type in the system of Xiong-Jung.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Xiong-Jung with Chai as doing so would allow the measurement report to be reported immediately regardless of the state of the UE [Chai: 0114].
With regard to Claims 17-18 & 22-23, they appear substantially similar to the limitations recited by claims 5-6 and consequently do not appear to teach or further define over the citations provided for said claims. Accordingly, claims 17-18 & 22-23 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 5-6.
Claims 7, 12, 19, & 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiong et al. (US 2018/0213379 A1) in view of Jung et al. (US 2021/0352689 A1) as applied to Claims 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Wei et al. (US 2019/0166640 A1).
With regard to Claim 7, Xiong-Jung teaches the method of claim 1, but does not teach:
transmitting both the aggregate measurement report and a measurement report of the first UE when a report trigger event for the first UE is fulfilled.
In a similar field of endeavor involving utilizing relay nodes to aggregate status reports from UE devices, Wei discloses:
transmitting both the aggregate measurement report and a measurement report of the first UE when a report trigger event for the first UE is fulfilled; (a relay node collects status reports from a plurality of served UEs for transmission to eNodeB, wherein besides the relayed traffic, the relay node may transmit its own data traffic comprising status reports to eNodeB [Wei: 0137-40; 0146]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xiong-Jung in view of Wei in order to transmit both the aggregate measurement report and a measurement report of the first UE when a report trigger event for the first UE is fulfilled in the system of Xiong-Jung.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Xiong-Jung with Wei as doing so would provide the eNodeB with additional report data which can be utilized for making networking determinations [Wei: 0142].
With regard to Claim 12, Xiong-Jung teaches the method of claim 1, but does not teach:
starting a timer if a first one of the plurality of measurement reports is received; and transmitting the aggregate measurement report if the timer expires.
In a similar field of endeavor involving utilizing relay nodes to aggregate status reports from UE devices, Wei discloses:
starting a timer if a first one of the plurality of measurement reports is received; and transmitting the aggregate measurement report if the timer expires; (after receiving a status report message, starting a timer to monitor a predetermined period in which more data may be received, wherein at the expiring of the timer, the relay device transmits a buffer status report message indicating that the relay device has data for transmission [Wei: 0054; 0042; 0097]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xiong-Jung in view of Wei in order to start a timer when receiving a first one of the at least one measurement report and transmit the aggregate measurement report when the timer expires in the system of Xiong-Jung.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Xiong-Jung with Wei as doing so would improve efficiency with which the data is communicated in instances in which the data is delay tolerant [Wei: 0042].
With regard to Claims 19 & 24, they appear substantially similar to the limitations recited by claims 7 & 12 and consequently do not appear to teach or further define over the citations provided for said claims. Accordingly, claims 19 & 24 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 7 & 12.
Claims 8 & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiong et al. (US 2018/0213379 A1) in view of Jung et al. (US 2021/0352689 A1) as applied to Claims 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Takahashi et al. (US 2023/0007521 A1).
With regard to Claim 8, Xiong-Jung teaches:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the aggregate measurement report or a measurement report of the first UE when a report trigger event for the first UE is fulfilled; (once measurement reports 460 from all the MTC UEs 120a-c are collected, the processed measurement report 470 is transmitted to the eNodeB 140 via PUSCH [Xiong: 0054-56; 0032]).
However, Xiong-Jung does not teach (where underlining indicates the portion of each limitation not taught):
transmitting, based on an additional condition, the aggregate measurement report or a measurement report of the first UE when a report trigger event for the first UE is fulfilled.
In a similar field of endeavor involving transmitting measurement reports, Takahashi discloses:
transmitting, based on an additional condition, the aggregate measurement report or a measurement report of the first UE when a report trigger event for the first UE is fulfilled; (in response to a UE 200 determining that a trigger condition specifying that the number of neighboring cells observed by the UE 200 exceeds a threshold (for example, numOfTriggerCell), the UE 200 transmits a measurement report [Takahashi: 0088; 0092; Fig. 7]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xiong-Jung in view of Takahashi in order to transmit, based on an additional condition, the aggregate measurement report or a measurement report of the first UE when a report trigger event for the first UE is fulfilled in the system of Xiong-Jung.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Xiong-Jung with Takahashi as doing so would suppress frequent transmission of measurement reports for NR cells [Takahashi: 0096].
With regard to Claim 20, it appears substantially similar to the limitations recited by claim 8 and consequently does not appear to teach or further define over the citations provided for said claim. Accordingly, claim 20 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 8.
Claims 9 & 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiong et al. (US 2018/0213379 A1) in view of Jung et al. (US 2021/0352689 A1) in view of Takahashi et al. (US 2023/0007521 A1) as applied to Claims 8 and 20 above, and further in view of Goyal et al. (US 2022/0295442 A1).
With regard to Claim 9, Xiong-Jung-Takahashi teaches the method of claim 8, but does not teach:
transmit the aggregate measurement report when the total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports is larger than the total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports of the first UE.
In a similar field of endeavor involving receiving measurement reports from a plurality of UEs, Goyal discloses:
transmit the aggregate measurement report when the total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports is larger than the total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports of the first UE; (an anchor WTRU (i.e. first UE) may receive measurement report transmissions from one or more target WTRUs (i.e. second UEs), wherein the anchor WTRU may be triggered to report received measurement reports and/or associated measurements to the network base station, and wherein the anchor WTRU may include (e.g., may only include) the reports of the target WTRU(s) for which the measurement value changed by more than the threshold [Goyal: 0144]. Examiner notes that the total number of different cells received in measurement reports from the target WTRUs is greater than the total number of different cells provided in the measurement report from the anchor WTRU in instances where measurement values for some of the cells do not change by more than the threshold and thus are not included in the report).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xiong-Jung-Takahashi in view of Goyal in order to transmit the aggregate measurement report when the total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports is larger than the total number of different cells reported by the plurality of measurement reports of the first UE in the system of Xiong-Jung-Takahashi.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Xiong-Jung-Takahashi with Goyal as doing so would increase communication efficiency by setting a minimum amount of change required for transmitting measurement report values to the network.
With regard to Claim 21, it appears substantially similar to the limitations recited by claim 9 and consequently does not appear to teach or further define over the citations provided for said claim. Accordingly, claim 21 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 9.
Conclusion
Applicant’s amendment necessitated any new grounds of rejection presented in this office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Dalsgaard et al. (US 2015/0319667 A1) which teaches a UE performs one or more measurements of candidate cell(s), evaluates one or more events related to the one or more measurements to determine if an event is fulfilled, and in response starts the time-to-trigger for that event, wherein if the event is still fulfilled during the time-to-trigger period and when it elapses the UE determines that sending of related measurement report is triggered [Dalsgaard: 0080-81].
In the case of amendments, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and support, for ascertaining the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AUSTIN J MOREAU whose telephone number is (571) 272-5179. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 - 6:00 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Gillis can be reached on 571-272-7952. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AUSTIN J MOREAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2446