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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/09/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the First Action on merits on 01/22/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The amendment to the claims filed on 04/21/2026 complies with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.121(c) and has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Arguments/Remarks filed 04/21/2026 regarding the independent claims have been fully considered but they are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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, 4-9, and 11-20, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsieh et al., U.S. Patent Application No. 2023/0046878 (hereinafter Hsieh), including the 3GPP technical documents referenced therein and updated before the effective filing date of the present application of 07/30/2020, and further in view of Deenoo et al., U.S. Patent Application No. 2021/0168678 (hereinafter Deenoo).
Regarding Amended Claim 1, Hsieh teaches a condition-based secondary node or primary secondary cell change method, applied in a terminal device (“conditional primary secondary cell (PSCell) addition or change procedures, and conditional secondary node addition or change procedures (which is PSCell addition or change procedures with SN change)” – See [¶0001] whereby “these procedures do not add or change the SN or PSCell, or perform the handover, until the UE determines that a condition is satisfied” – See [¶0066] and Figs. 3-4)
the method comprising:
receiving configuration information for changing a secondary node/primary secondary cell from a master node (“[t]he method further includes providing to the UE the conditional configuration information, and providing to the UE an indication of a procedure during which the UE is to apply the configuration if the condition is satisfied” – See [¶0016] and Fig. 3 showing the conditional configuration comes from the MN 104A); and
changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell based on the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell (“the wireless communication system 100 supports DC operation, including SN addition and SN change procedures” – See [¶0069] e.g., in “conditional PSCell change, . . . the UE 102 is initially in DC with the MN 104A (via a primary cell (PCell)) and the SN 106A (via a PSCell, not shown in FIG. 1, that is different than cell 126A). The SN 106A can provide a configuration for the C-PSCell 126A, for the UE 102” – See [¶0072] and Fig. 3);
wherein the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell comprises:
configuration information for a candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“The SN 106A can provide a configuration for the C-PSCell
126A, for the UE 102” – See id., and Fig, 1A, e.g., “the SN 106A can include 312 the C-SN configuration in a conditional configuration element, which can be an information element (IE), a field, or another suitable element” – See [¶0087], whereby C-SN/C-PSCell are candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell);
wherein the configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell comprises:
configuration information for at least one primary secondary cell in the candidate secondary node (as explained supra) and corresponding primary secondary cell condition configuration information (“The C-SN configuration can configure a C-PSCell and also may configure zero, one, or more C-SCells. The MN 104A then can include 528 the C-SN configuration in a conditional configuration and transmits 552 an RRC container message including the conditional configuration to the UE 10” – See [¶0111] and Fig. 5, whereby “the C-SN configuration can include an SCG-ConfigPartSCG-rl2 IE that configures the C-PSCell 126A and zero, one, or more C-SCells of the SN 106A” whereby “the C-SN configuration is an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message, with RRCConnectionReconfiguration IEs or ConfigPartSCG-rl2 IEs conforming to 3GPP TS 36.331. The full configuration indication can be a field or an IE conforming to 3GPP TS 36.331” – See [¶0099] referencing 3GPP TS36.331 V16.1.1 (2020-07), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification (Release 16)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 36.331) and “refer[ence is made] to the condition or a configuration in singular, but it will be understood that it can be one or multiple conditions or include one or multiple configuration parameters” – See [¶0113]), and
a default primary secondary cell (“the UE 102 does not immediately disconnect from the PSCell and attempt to connect to the C-PSCell 126A after receiving the configuration for the C-PSCell 126A” and may or may not “disconnect[] from the PSCell in order to connect to the C-PSCell 126A” – See [¶0074], i.e., the UE holds on to the current PSCell as the default PSCell; see also Deenoo infra; in addition, although “the MN 104A and C-SN 106A configure the C-PSCell 126A to the UE 102 at events 526, 528, 552 in advance, before the C-PSCell 126A becomes suitable for the UE 102,” the UE does not perform “immediate PSCell change procedure” until “the UE 102 detects 570 the corresponding condition” – See [¶0120] i.e., one RRCReconfiguration message may contain both a default/immediate PSCell change for the UE and the conditional PSCell change configuration so that if the condition fails the UE remains connected to the default/immediately changed PSCell; see also 3GPP TS 36.331, specifying at page 388-398 the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message/Information Element providing, at page 391, the PSCellToAddMod structure that indicates radioResourceConfigCommonPSCell, radioResourceConfigDedicatedPSCell, and conditionalReconfiguration, including also, as described at page 396, the field nr-SecondaryCellGroupConfig indicating that “the network always includes this field upon MN handover to initiate an NR SCG reconfiguration with sync and key change,” required with SN/PSCell change, and “as specified in TS 38.331” infra; §5.3.10.3c, 3GPP TS 36.331 further provides at page 171 that “if the PSCell is part of the current UE configuration (i.e. PSCell modification),” e.g. configured by RRCConnectionReconfiguration with candidate C-PSCells as above, then “modify the PSCell configuration in accordance with the received radioResourceConfigDedicatedPSCell,” i.e., radio resources for another C-PSCell are used for random access only at the time when the default/current PSCell is modified, e.g., when a condition is fulfilled by another PSCell as in the example above);
wherein changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell based on the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell comprises:
determining whether each candidate cell in a target secondary node satisfies a condition for becoming a primary secondary cell of the target secondary node according to the configuration information for the at least one primary secondary cell in the candidate secondary node and the corresponding primary secondary cell condition configuration information (“conditional PSCell change can be that signal strength/quality, as measured by the UE 102 on a C-PSCell of the C-SN 106A, exceeds a certain threshold or otherwise corresponds to an acceptable measurement,” i.e., the condition configuration information, and “when the one or more measurement results that the UE 102 obtains on the C-PSCell 126A are above a threshold configured by the MN 104A or the C-SN 106A, or above a pre-determined or pre-configured threshold, the UE 102 may determine that the condition is satisfied,” i.e., the determination – See [¶0074]; in addition “A recent 3GPP document, R2-19l 4640, describes a data structure a base station can use to indicate a conditional configuration and a condition to be satisfied prior to applying the conditional configuration” – See [¶0010] whereby 3GPP TSG-RAN2 Meeting #108, R2-1914640, Title: “Running CR for Introduction of Even further Mobility enhancement in E-UTRAN”, Source: Ericsson, China Telecom, November 2019, (hereinafter R2-1914640) referencing 3GPP TS36.331, discloses at page 2 multiple candidate SNs/SCells whereby “[f]or conditional SN change, the source SN configuration can be used as the reference in generation of delta signaling for the candidate SNs” and “[f]or conditional PScell change, execution condition may be decided by MN (MN-initiated)”; at page 5 to “Use add/mod list + release list to configure multiple CHO candidate cells”; and at page 6 “Multiple CHO candidate cells can be sent in either one or multiple RRC messages” and “Separate CHO execution condition(s) can be configured for each individual candidate cells,” i.e., a configured CHO condition is configured–hence executed–for each candidate cell); and
determining, when a candidate cell in the target secondary node satisfies the corresponding primary secondary cell condition configuration information, the candidate cell as the primary secondary cell of the target secondary node (“The multiple configuration parameters can configure radio resources for the UE 102 to communicate with the SN 106A via the C-PSCell 126A and zero, one, or more candidate secondary cells (CSCells) of the SN 106A)” –See [¶0094] and “[i]f the UE 102 determines that the condition is satisfied, the UE 102 connects to the C-PSCell 126A. That is, the condition (or called triggering condition) triggers the UE 102 to connect to the C-PSCell 126A or to execute the C-SN configuration” – See [¶0100]; see also § 5.3.10.3c), and
determining, when no candidate cell in the target secondary node satisfies the corresponding primary secondary cell condition configuration information, the default primary secondary cell as the primary secondary cell of the target secondary node (“If the UE 102 does not determine that the condition is satisfied, the UE 102 does not connect to the C-PSCell 126A” – See id., therefore the UE remains with the current/previously configured/default PSCell; see also 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.1.0 (2020-07) “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16),” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331) providing, in § 5.3.5.8.2, at page 80-81, that “if the UE is in (NG)EN-DC: if the UE is unable to comply with (part of) the configuration included in the RRCReconfiguration message,” then “continue using the configuration used prior to the reception of RRCReconfiguration message,” i.e., prior to the conditional PSCell change configuration, and “the failure behaviour defined also applies in case the UE cannot comply with the embedded SCG configuration or with the combination of (parts of) the MCG and SCG configurations”); and
initiating a random access procedure towards the primary secondary cell of the target secondary node (“[w]hen the C-PSCell 126A becomes suitable for the UE 102 (i.e., the UE 102 detects 570 the corresponding condition), the UE 102 performs the random access procedure with the C-PSCell to quickly change PSCell (i.e., change SN), in contrast to the immediate PSCell change procedure” – See [¶0120]);
wherein when an original configuration before the changing is New Radio-Dual Connectivity (NR-DC), release condition configuration information for a source secondary node/primary secondary cell is determined based on a measurement result of a serving cell (“the UE 102 is initially in DC with the MN 104A (via a primary cell (PCell)) and the SN 106A (via a PSCell, not shown in FIG. 1A, that is different than cell 126A)” – See [¶0072] and both MN and SN RATs may use NR; “the UE 102 does not connect to the C-PSCell 126A until the UE 102 determines that a certain condition is satisfied” – See [¶0073], e.g., “the condition associated with conditional SN addition or conditional PSCell change can be that signal strength/quality, as measured by the UE 102 on a C-PSCell of the C-SN 106A, exceeds a certain threshold
or otherwise corresponds to an acceptable measurement” – See [¶0074]; “The UE 102 determines 570 a condition ( or conditions) for connecting to the C-PSCell 126A is satisfied and initiates 570 a random access procedure on the C-PSCell 126A in response to the detection” and “[t]he UE 102 (if the UE 102 is in DC) may disconnect from the SN 106B (i.e., the PSCell and all of SCell(s) of the SN 106B if configured) in response to the initiation or the detection” – See [¶0113], i.e., the condition configuration information comprises the UE to release the source secondary node/primary secondary cell when the condition is fulfilled, when, in other cases, it may not release until the random access is successful – See 3GPP 36.331 describing, at page 656-659, the MobilityControlInfo IE indicating “parameters relevant for network controlled mobility to/within E UTRA” comprising the makeBeforeBreakSCG parameter that “[i]ndicates that the UE shall continue uplink transmission/downlink reception with the source cell(s) before performing the first transmission through PRACH”).
Although Hsieh does not explicitly teach a release of the condition configuration information for a source secondary node/primary secondary cell, Hsieh references “3GPP specification TS 37.340 vl5.7.0 describes procedures for a UE to add or change an SN in DC scenarios” – See [¶0007], whereby 3GPP TS 37.340 V16.2.0 (2020-07) “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and NR; Multi-connectivity; Stage 2 (Release 16),” published July 2020 (hereinafter 3GPP TS 37.340) specifies, in §10.6, at page 47, that a “Conditional PSCell Change (CPC) is defined as a PSCell change that is executed by the UE when execution condition(s) is met. The UE starts evaluating the execution condition(s) upon receiving the CPC configuration, and stops evaluating the execution condition(s) once PSCell change is triggered” and “Once the CPC procedure is executed successfully, the UE releases all stored CPC configurations” including “Upon the release of SCG, the UE releases the stored CPC configurations.” Therefore, the release of the condition configuration information for CPC is standardized in 3GPP.
As explained above, Hsieh does not explicitly teach the configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell comprises a default primary secondary cell.
Deenoo, like Hsieh, teaches the conditional reconfiguration of a UE connected in NR-DC using RRC Reconfiguration messages1 (WTRUs “may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs” – See [¶0057] whereby a supplementary uplink (SUL) “may be configured for both a primary cell (PCell) (e.g., in NR standalone mode) and for a PSCell in NR-NR DC” – See [¶0081] and “[t]he WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell” – See [¶0003] using whereby “[a]fter receiving a reconfiguration message implicitly or explicitly associated with a condition (i.e., a conditional reconfiguration), a WTRU may verify and store the reconfiguration, may start to monitor a condition (i.e., a trigger condition) and may apply the reconfiguration when the trigger condition is satisfied” and the “conditional reconfiguration can also be referred to as a conditional handover (CHO), and these terms are used interchangeably” – See [¶0078]) based on measurements (“a WTRU may be configured with CHO trigger conditions associated with a specific measurement quantity” – See [¶0104] wherein “Table 1 includes examples the steps that a WTRU may perform upon reception of a RRC reconfiguration message”– See [¶0154]). Deenoo further teaches the configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell comprises a default primary secondary cell (“the WTRU may be configured during Scell addition or modification as to whether the Scell should be considered as a default CHO candidate” e.g., like in Hsieh, “a WTRU may assume that a primary Scell (PScell) is an implicit CHO candidate,” or “a WTRU may be configured during SCG addition or modification, or cell group configuration, as to whether the Scell should be considered as a default CHO candidate”– See [¶0108] whereby “the WTRU may be configured with rules to determine to which target cell to CHO when these satisfied trigger conditions are associated with different candidate cells” – See [¶0109] e.g., to CHO to the default Scell as PSCell when PSCell condition fails for all Scells).
Thus, Hsieh and Deenoo each teaches conditional Scell/PSCell/SCG configuration change with multiple candidates and multiple conditions for a UE in NR-DC original configuration. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have understood that the explicit default Scell configuration taught in Deenoo could have been used for default PSCell configuration information because both references use 3GPP standards specified RRC reconfiguration messages. Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to carry out the combination through techniques known in the art. Finally, the combination achieves the predictable result of reduction of RRC signaling overhead, as taught by Deenoo:[¶0108].
Therefore, Amended Claim 1 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Claim 2, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Hsieh further teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell further comprises
addition condition configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“the conditional configuration controller 152 may be configured to support RRC messaging associated with . . . secondary node addition/modification procedures” – See [¶0056]),
and the addition condition configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell comprises:
addition condition configuration information configured for each individual candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“additional base station[s are] considered in immediate and conditional handover scenarios” – See [¶0059] and FIG. 1B, showing one or more distributed units (DUs), whereby each DU can be associated with a candidate C-SN configuration information which is added, e.g., as shown in Fig. 5 at step 522 and 526, wherein each C-SN “can include an indication of the condition which UE 102 detects 570 in the conditional configuration element, in the C-SN configuration, the conditional configuration, the RRC reconfiguration message or the RRC container message” – See [¶0119]; and “it will be understood that it can be one or multiple conditions or include one or multiple configuration parameters” – See [¶0113], whereby “UE 102 may then monitor whether a [respective] condition is met for [each] additional candidate” – See [¶0066]; see also 3GPP TS 38.331:380-382 (disclosing the CondReconfigToAddModList Information Element, “a list of conditional reconfigurations to add or modify, with for each entry the condReconfigId and the associated condExecutionCond and condRRCReconfig” for each candidate up to maxNrofCondCells-r16, each condition configuration information uniquely identified by condReconfigId-r16, from 1 to maxNrofCondCells-r16, the CondReconfigToAddModList representing the “[l]ist of the configuration of candidate SpCells to be added or modified for CHO or CPC,” and the condReconfigToRemoveList the “[l]ist of the configuration of candidate SpCells to be removed”; furthermore, maxNrofCondCells-r16 is defined as “INTEGER ::= 8-- Max number of conditional candidate SpCells” – See id., at page 786); see also Deenoo:[¶0109](“ WTRU may be configured with one or more candidate cells for CHO, and each candidate cell may be associated with one or more trigger conditions”)
Therefore, Claim 2 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Amended Claim 4, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Hsieh further teaches the condition-based secondary node or primary secondary cell change method of claim 1 further comprising, prior to receiving the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell (“the UE 102 can operate 504 in DC with the MN 104A and the SN 106A” – See [¶0109] and Fig. 5):
transmitting a measurement result of the terminal device to the master node, the measurement result being used to generate the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell (“The MN 104A can determine 520 that it should configure the base station 106A as a C-SN for the purposes of a CSAC procedure, so that the UE 102 can start using the SN 106A instead of the SN 106B when the UE detects that articulated conditions are satisfied” whereby “[t]he MN 104A can determine to do so based on measurement result(s) from the UE 102” – See [¶0110].; furthermore, the “condition can be that a signal strength/quality, as measured by the UE 102 on the candidate cell 126A of the candidate base station 106A, is ‘good’ enough” or “above a pre-determined or pre-configured threshold” – See [¶0065], whereby “the SN 106A may send the RRC reconfiguration message [with the configuration information for changing the SN] to the MN 104A and, in tum, the MN 104A transmits the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE 102. The SN 106A may transmit the configuration in response to one or more measurement results received from the UE 102 via the SRB, or in response to one or more measurement results obtained by the SN 106A from measurements on signals received from the UE 102, for example” – See [¶0072], whereby the “one or more measurement results [are] received from the UE 102 via the MN 104A” when no SRB is established between the UE and the SN 106A – See [¶0087]).
Therefore, Amended Claim 4 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Amended Claim 5, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Hsieh further teaches wherein when an original configuration before the changing is the NR-DC, and a target configuration after the changing is NR-DC (see, e.g., PSCell change scenario in Fig. 3 and SN change scenario in Fig. 5),
the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell is based on Event A4, or based on Event A3, or based on Event A5, or based on Event A3 and Event A5 (e.g., in PSCell change scenario, “[t]he SN 106A at some point determines 310 that it should generate a full C-SN configuration for the UE 102, configuring a C-PSCell 126A. The SN 106A can make this determination based on one or more measurement results received from the UE 102 via the MN 104A . . . or obtained by the SN 106A from measurements on signals, control channels or data channels received from the UE 102, for example, or another suitable event” – See [¶0087]). Although Hsieh teaches that “the RAN in some cases also may provide multiple measurement configurations (as described in 3GPP specification 38.331 vl5.4.0 for example) for different respective procedures” – See [¶0012] and §5.5.4, 3GPP TS 38.331: 149-152 describes measurement events A3-A5 with reference to a neighboring serving cell becoming better than a SpCell, Hsieh does not name the measurement events as A3-A5.
Deenoo also teaches measurement events trigger/condition based change of the SN/PSCell (“Example events satisfying CHO execution conditions for a given target include Ax events, where . . . A3 indicates that a neighbor cell has become better by an offset than a SpCell, A4 indicates that a neighbor cell has become better than a threshold, A5 indicates that an SpCell has become worse than a first threshold and a neighbor cell has become better than a second threshold” – See [¶0140] whereby a person of ordinary skills in the art knows that a spCell may be a PSCell of a SCG – See, e.g., Table 1)
Therefore, Amended Claim 5 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Claim 6, dependent from Claim 2, Hsieh further teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell based on the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell comprises:
initiating a random access procedure towards the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell corresponding to the addition condition configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell when a current condition satisfies the addition condition configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“the base station 104A may perform a conditional SN addition procedure to configure the base station 106A as a candidate SN (C-SN) for the UE 102” – See [¶0070] and Fig. 5; “[i]f the UE 102 determines that condition is satisfied, the UE 102 may perform a random access procedure with the CSN 106A to connect to the C-SN 106A. Once the UE 102 successfully completes the random access procedure, the base station 106A becomes an SN for the UE 102, and the C-PSCell (e.g., cell 126A) becomes a PSCell for the UE 102” – See [¶0071]).
While Hsieh does not explicitly teach a conditional release of the source secondary node/primary secondary cell, 3GPP TS 36.331 specifies, at page 659, the parameter makeBeforeBreakSCG indicating the condition release of the SN/PSCell based on a successful random access on the added SN/PSCell (“the UE shall continue uplink transmission/ downlink reception with the source cell(s) before performing the first transmission through PRACH to the target intra-frequency PSCell”; accord Hsieh:¶0090](“The UE 102 may disconnect from the PSCell (the former cell via which the UE 102 communicated 302 with the SN 106A) upon detecting 370 that the condition has been satisfied, upon initiating 370 the random access procedure, or at another suitable time,” e.g., when the RA is successful). In addition, 3GPP TS 37.340 teaches, at page 47 that “[o]nce the CPC procedure is executed successfully, the UE releases all stored CPC configurations” including “[u]pon the release of SCG, the UE releases the stored CPC configuration” whereby the release of and SCG happens when the PSCell is released and not replaced by any other Scell, as known in the art – See id. at page 373 (“The SeNB can request to release the PSCell only if it also chooses a new PSCell”)
Therefore, Claim 6 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Amended Claim 7, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Hsieh further teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell further comprises at least one of: a secondary cell group counter; or an identity of at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“the C-SN configuration includes a group configuration (CellGroupConfig) IE that configures the C-PSCell 126A as well as zero, one, or more C-SCells of the SN 106A,” i.e., “the C-SN configuration is an RRCReconfiguration message, with RRCReconfiguration IEs or CellGroupConfig IEs conforming to 3GPP TS 38.331. The full configuration indication may be a field or an IE conforming to 3GPP TS 38.331” – See [¶0099] whereby 3GPP TS 38.331:366-371 defines the CellGroupConfig IE as “used to configure a master cell group (MCG) or secondary cell group (SCG)” including the field spCellConfig containing the “[p]arameters for the SpCell of this cell group (PCell of MCG or PSCell of SCG)” for a “NR PSCell change (EN-DC),” and the spCellConfig contains the field servCellIndex indicating the “[s]erving cell ID of a PSCell”; furthermore, the “IE CellGroupId is used to identify a cell group. Value 0 identifies the master cell group. Other values identify secondary cell groups,” i.e., a counter for secondary cell group).
Therefore, Amended Claim 7 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Amended Claims 8 and 20, Hseih further teaches the method applied in a master node and/or in a candidate secondary node (“the base station 104A in a scenario 300 operates as an MN, and the base station 106A operates as a SN. Initially, the UE 102 operates 302 in DC with the MN 104A and the SN 106A” – See [¶0086] and Fig.3, and “conditional configuration related to an SN can pertain to a conditional SN addition/change or conditional PSCell addition/change” – See [¶0042], and “the SN 106A may transmit an RRC reconfiguration message including the configuration via the SRB to the UE 102,” i.e., the method is applied to the candidate SN, or “[i]f the UE 102 does not have an SRB or the SN 106A determines to transmit the configuration via the MN 104A, the SN 106A may transmit the configuration for the C-PSCell 126A to the UE 102 via the MN 104A” whereby “the SN 106A may send the RRC reconfiguration message to the MN 104A and, in tum, the MN 104A transmits the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE 102” whereby the configuration is “in response to one or more measurement results received from the UE 102” – See [¶0072]), whereby the configuration information for changing a secondary node/primary secondary cell to a terminal device meets all the limitations recited with the same language in Amended Claim 1. Because Amended Claim 1 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo, Amended Claims 8 and 20 are obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Claims 9 and 11-12, dependent from Amended Claim 8, they merely repeat the same limitations of the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell as recited in Claims 2, 7 and 4, respectively, as amended, using the same language, here only recited from the perspective of the master node/MN. Because Claims 2, 4, 7, and 8, as amended, are obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo, Claims 9 and 11-12, as amended, are also obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Amended Claim 13, dependent from Claim 12, Hsieh teaches the method of claim 12 further comprising:
determining at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell and generating addition condition configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“the base station 104A,” i.e., the MN, as shown in Fig. 5, “may perform a conditional SN addition procedure to configure the base station 106A as a candidate SN (C-SN) for the UE 102” and “the UE 102 receives the configuration for the C-SN 106A” – See [¶0070]); and transmitting, to the at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell, at least one of:
the measurement result of terminal device (“The SN 106A at some point determines 310 that it should generate a full C-SN configuration for the UE 102, configuring a C-PSCell 126A . . . based on one or more measurement results received from the UE 102 via the MN 104A” – See [¶0087]);
a condition addition indication for the candidate secondary node/primary secondar cell (e.g., steps 520 and 522 in Fig. 5) that notifies the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell to generate the configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell based on the measurement result of the terminal device (“the MN 104A can send 522 an SN Request message to the C-SN 106A for the CSAC . . . the MN 104A can indicate to the base station 106A in the SN Request message that the base station 106A is requested to be a C-SN for the UE 102. In response to the SN Request message, the C-SN 106A can determine 524 that it should generate a C-SN configuration for the CSAC” – See [¶0110]; and “the condition associated with conditional SN addition or conditional PSCell change can be that signal strength/quality, as measured by the UE 102 on a C-PSCell of the C-SN 106A, exceeds a certain threshold or otherwise corresponds to an acceptable measurement” – See [¶0074]);
an identity of at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (the field servCellIndex indicating the “[s]erving cell ID of a PSCell”, as explained in Regarding Claim 7, supra); or
a key of the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“The multiple configuration parameters may configure radio resources for the UE 102 to communicate with the C-SN 106A via the C-PSCell 126A and zero, one, or more C-SCells of the C-SN 106A” including “measurement configuration and/or a security configuration” – See [¶0117]; furthermore, “3GPP specification TS 37.340 vl5.7.0 describes procedures for a UE to add or change an SN in DC scenarios” – See [¶0007], whereby 3GPP TS 37.340, at page 47, discloses that, in a PSCell change, “a S-KgNB (for EN-DC, NGEN-DC and NR-DC) or S-KeNB (for NE-DC) update is required when the procedure is initiated by the SN or including the SgNB Security Key / SN Security Key when the procedure is initiated by the MN”).
Therefore, Amended Claim 13 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Claim 14, dependent from Claim 13, Hsieh further discloses receiving the configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell transmitted by the at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“The SN 106A then can include the conditional configuration in suitable message such as an RRC reconfiguration message and transmit 350 the message to the MN 104A. The MN 104A in tum can transmit 352 the RRC reconfiguration message with the conditional configuration to the UE 102” – See [¶0087] and Figs. 3 and 5).
Therefore, Claim 14 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Amended Claim 15, dependent from Claim 9, Hsieh further teaches
determining at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell based on a measurement result of the terminal device (“the condition may be satisfied if one or more measurement results obtained by the UE 102 (when performing measurements on the C-PSCell) are above a threshold that is configured by the MN 104A” – See [¶0071]),
and transmitting, to the at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell, at least one of:
the measurement result of the terminal device (“one or more measurement results received from the UE 102 via the MN 104A” for the C-SN to generate the C-SN configuration for the UE – See [¶0087]); or
configuration information indication that notifies the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell to generate the addition condition configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“the MN 104A can send 522 an SN Request message to the C-SN 106A for the CSAC” and “the MN 104A can indicate to the base station 106A in the SN Request message that the base station 106A is requested to be a C-SN for the UE 102. In response to the SN Request message, the C-SN 106A can determine 524 that it should generate a C-SN configuration for the CSAC,” i.e., a conditional SN addition or change – See [¶0110] and Fig. 5) and/or the configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell based on the measurement result of the terminal device.
Therefore, Amended Claim 15 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Amended Claim 16, dependent from Claim 15, Hsieh further teaches the method according to claim 15, further comprising:
receiving the addition condition configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell and/or the configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell transmitted by the at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“The C-SN 106A can transmit 526 the SN Request Acknowledge message to the MN 104A in response to the SN Addition Request message” – See [¶0111]) the information transmitted by the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell comprising at least one of:
the addition condition configuration information for the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell;
configuration information for a primary secondary cell in the candidate secondary node; or
the configuration information for the at least one primary secondary cell in the candidate secondary node and the corresponding primary secondary cell condition configuration information (“The C-SN configuration can configure a C-PSCell and also may configure zero, one, or more C-SCells. The MN 104A then can include 528 the C-SN configuration in a conditional configuration and transmits 552 an RRC container message including the conditional configuration to the UE 102” – See id. and Fig. 5).
Therefore, Amended Claim 16 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Claim 17, dependent from Amended Claim 13, Hsieh further teaches the method according to claim 13, further comprising:
transmitting, by the master node, the key of the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell to the at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell – See 3GPP TS 37.340:44 (in a PSCell change, “a S-KgNB (for EN-DC, NGEN-DC and NR-DC) or S-KeNB (for NE-DC) update is required when the procedure is initiated by the SN or including the SgNB Security Key / SN Security Key when the procedure is initiated by the MN”). Because Hsieh references 3GPP TS 37.340 procedures, Claim 17 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Amended Claim 18, dependent from Amended Claim 8, Hsieh further teaches the method according to claim 8, further comprising:
transmitting, to each candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell (“the base station 106A may provide a configuration of an additional candidate” and the “UE 102 may then monitor whether a second condition is met for the additional candidate” – See [¶0066]; see also Shi: [¶0126] (“[i]n an embodiment with 3 target PSCell candidates, the MN may associate indexes 1, 2, and 3 respectively to the 3 target PSCell candidates”)) at least one of:
a measurement result of the terminal device (“one or more measurement results received from the UE 102 via the MN 104A” for the candidate C-SN to generate “full C-SN configuration for the UE 102, configuring a C-PSCell”– See [¶0087]; see also Shi:[¶0107] (“the MN may also transmit measurement results related to the target SN to the target SN”)),
an identity of at least one candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell; or
a key of the candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell – See 3GPP TS 37.340:47(describing PSCell change, whereby “a security key change is not required (only possible in EN-DC, NGEN-DC and NR-DC)” but “[i]f a security key change is required . . . SN Security Key” is included by the MN); see also id.:31(“The MN sends the SN Modification Request message” wherein “a new SN Security Key is included”).
Therefore, Claim 18 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Regarding Claim 19, dependent from Amended Claim 18, Hsieh further teaches the method according to claim 18, further comprising: receiving the following transmitted by each candidate secondary node/primary secondary cell:
configuration information for a primary secondary cell in the candidate secondary node (“The C-SN 106A can transmit 526 the SN Request Acknowledge message to the MN 104A in response to the SN Addition Request message. The C-SN configuration can configure a C-PSCell and also may configure zero, one, or more C-SCells” – See [¶0111]) or
the configuration information for the at least one primary secondary cell in the candidate secondary node and the corresponding primary secondary cell condition configuration information.
Therefore, Claim 19 is obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
In sum, Claims 1-2, 4-9, and 11-20, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as obvious over Hsieh in view of Deenoo.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Shi et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0159756 referenced in the previous Office action;
Xiao et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0177497 disclosing that a PCell can be configured by default to be associated with a logical channel having a smaller, smallest, larger, or largest logical channel identity (or an RLC entity corresponding to the logical channel);
Selvaganapathy et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0369181 teaching conditional handover in a dual connectivity systems;
Wu et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0394578 disclosing managing conditional configurations, which enable a UE to determine whether, when the UE receives a conditional configuration from a base station of a RAN, the UE should add the received configuration as a new configuration, or instead use the received configuration to modify an existing configuration;
Wu, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0236786, disclosing conditional SCG change information, whereby one or more target cells of an SCG meet a condition corresponding to triggering target cell change;
Wu, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0345315, disclosing conditional configuration during a conditional procedure with SCG failure;
Narayanan Thangaraj et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2026/0129706 WTRU is configured with a conditional reconfiguration which includes a trigger condition and a configured target cell;
Ishii, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0386195, disclosing conditional secondary cell configurations whereby each of the conditional secondary cell configurations may comprise an identity of a candidate primary secondary cell, each of the conditional secondary cell configurations being associated with at least one triggering condition, the candidate primary secondary cell being used for Dual-Connectivity;
Chiba et al., U.S. Patent US 10123242, discloses a method comprising receiving, from a source primary cell, mapping information as part of a handover procedure from the source primary cell and providing said mapping information to a secondary cell for use in associating a connection request with a user equipment associated with the secondary cell, whereby mapping information in one of a secondary node addition request message and a secondary node modification request message;
Zhang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20210092655, disclosing a trigger condition configuration method, in a terminal device, including receiving configuration information of a trigger condition and configuration information of a trigger event that are sent by a network-side device, where an association relationship exists between the configuration information of the trigger condition and the configuration information of the trigger event.
Chang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20200068536, discloses a method in DC wireless communication, wherein the configuration information for changing the secondary node/primary secondary cell further comprises a secondary cell group counter;
3GPP TS36.331 V16.1.1 (2020-07), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification (Release 16)”, published July 224, 024, available at https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/tsg_ran/WG2_RL2/Specifications/202007_final_specs_after_RAN_88?sortby=daterev;
3GPP TS 38.331 V16.1.0 (2020-07) “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16),” published 2020-07-24;
3GPP TS 37.340 V15.9.0 (2020-07) “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and NR; Multi-connectivity; Stage 2 (Release 15),” published July 24, 2020; available at https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/tsg_ran/WG2_RL2/Specifications/202007_final_specs_after_RAN_88?sortby=daterev;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #110 electronic, R2-2006379, CR 0210 to 37.340, Title:” Introduction of Conditional PSCell Change for intra-SN without MN involvement,” Source: CATT, June 2020;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #110 electronic, R2-200xxxx, Title: “Report from [AT110-e][209][LTE/NR MOB] CHO and CPC issues,” Source: Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell; June 2020;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #107bis, R2-1912297, Title: “Conditional NR PSCell addition/change procedures,” Source: Qualcomm, October 2019 discloses multiple candidate PSCells and measurement events used for configuring the conditional NR PSCell change execution criteria are A3/A5-like criteria for NR-DC;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #109e; R2-2000901; Title: “Summary document for Conditional PSCell Change for intra-SN in AI 6.9.4”; Source: CATT (summary rapporteur); March 2020, lists various proposals specific to conditional SN/PSCell change, including suggested changes to § 6.2.2 of TS 38.331 RRCReconfiguration-IEs field descriptions;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #109bis-e, R2-2003581, Agenda Item: 6.9.4.2 UE capabilities for Conditional PSCell change for intra-SN, Title: “Discussion on UE capabilities for CPC,” Source: Huawei, HiSilicon, April 2020;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #109bis-e; R2-2003038, Agenda Item: 6.9.4 Conditional PSCell addition/change; Title: “Remaining issue for conditional PSCell change,” Source: Ericsson, April 2020;
3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #109bis-e, R2-2003849, Agenda item: 6.9.4.1, Title: "Report of [AT109bis-e][209][NR MOB] Resolution to remaining open issues of CPC," Source: CATT (offline discussion rapporteur), April 2020;
3GPP TSG-RAN2 Meeting #108, R2-1914640, Title: Running CR for Introduction of Even further Mobility enhancement in E-UTRAN; Source: Ericsson, China Telecom, November 2019;
3GPP TSG-RAN2 Meeting #108, R2-1914834, Title: Running CR for NR mobility on CHO ([107bis#54]); Source: Intel Corporation, November 20219.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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.
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/L.G.G./ Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
1 Hsieh teaches “handover procedures involve conditions associated with the UE, and 3GPP contributions
R2-1914640 and R2-1914834 describe conditional handover” – See [¶0006] and “3GPP specification TS 37.340 vl5.7.0 describes procedures for a UE to add or change an SN in DC scenarios . . . as "immediate" SN addition and SN change procedures” – See [¶0007]. However, 3GPP TS 37.340, i.e., Rel-16, also describes Conditional PSCell (CPC or CPAC) procedures.
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