DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 23 March 2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 9, and 16 are currently amended; claims 2, 3, 14, 17, and 18 are cancelled; claims 4-8, 10-13, 15, 19, and 20 are previously presented; claims 21-25 have been added. Claims 1, 4-13, 15, 16, and 19-25 are pending and ready for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of 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, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 8-11, 14, 16-19, 22, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kahtava et al. (US 2017/0374575 A1), hereafter referred Kahtava, in view of Ouchi et al. (US 9,699,738 B2), hereafter referred Ouchi.
Regarding claim 1, Kahtava teaches a data transmission method, comprising:
receiving, by a second control apparatus, first indication information from a first control apparatus (Kahtava, [0010] and [0014]; receive, at a relay node measurement instructions from the base station, wherein the measurement instructions comprise a list identifying at least the first relay node for measuring link quality, such that the link quality between the mobile node and the relay node is measured. The relay node is the second control apparatus, the base station is the first control apparatus, and the list identifying the first relay node is the first indication information);
receiving, by the second control apparatus, parameter configuration information from the first control apparatus (Kahtava, [0014]; receive, at a relay node measurement instructions from the base station, wherein the measurement instructions also comprise timing information identifying a timing for measuring link quality with the first relay node. The timing information is the parameter configuration information);
generating first data (Kahtava, [0012]-[0014]; generating a sounding signal at the first relay node. The sounding signal is the first data).
configuring, by the second control apparatus, a transmission parameter based on the parameter configuration information (Kahtava, [0012]-[0014]; identifying a timing for measuring link quality with the first relay node. The timing is the transmission parameter); and
transmitting, by the second control apparatus, the first data to at least one terminal device based on the first indication information and the transmission parameter (Kahtava, [0060]-[0062]; the relay node RN1 emits a sounding signal to the mobile node according to the timing information transmitted by the base station),
wherein measurement of link quality between the second control apparatus and the at least one terminal device is based on whether the second control apparatus successfully transmitted the first data to the at least one terminal device (Kahtava, [0062]; the terminals may make measurements based on the sounding signals).
Kahtava does not expressly teach wherein the transmission parameter comprises at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a coding rate, or a transmit power used for the first data.
However, Ouchi teaches wherein the transmission parameter comprises at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a coding rate, or a transmit power used for the first data (Ouchi, Column 11, lines 8-63; timing synchronization with the SRS can be configured with a transmit power to perform transmission of the SRS).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava to include the above recited limitations as taught by Ouchi in order to carry out simultaneous transmission of a reference signal while maintaining a quality of a channel in accordance with transmit power control (Ouchi, Column 2, lines 25-35).
Regarding claim 9, Kahtava teaches a data transmission method, comprising:
sending first indication information to a second control apparatus, wherein the first indication information indicates to measure link quality between the second control apparatus and at least one terminal device (Kahtava, [0010] and [0014]; receive, at a relay node measurement instructions from the base station, wherein the measurement instructions comprise a list identifying at least the first relay node for measuring link quality, such that the link quality between the mobile node and the relay node is measured. The relay node is the second control apparatus, the base station is the first control apparatus, the list identifying the first relay node is the first indication information, and the mobile node is the terminal device).
sending parameter configuration information to the second control apparatus (Kahtava, [0014]; receive, at a relay node measurement instructions from the base station, wherein the measurement instructions also comprise timing information identifying a timing for measuring link quality with the first relay node. The timing information is the parameter configuration information), wherein the parameter configuration information configures a transmission parameter (Kahtava, [0012]-[0014]; identifying a timing for measuring link quality with the first relay node. The timing is the transmission parameter); and
receiving feedback information from at least one first terminal device (Kahtava, [0010]; the mobile node reports a link quality indicator to the base station for each discovered relay node for which the measured link quality is above a threshold), wherein the feedback information indicates that the at least one first terminal device successfully received the first data from the second control apparatus, wherein a measurement of the link quality between the second control apparatus and the at least one terminal device is based on the feedback information, and wherein the at least one terminal device comprises the at least one first terminal device (Kahtava, [0010] and [0060]-[0062]; the terminals may make measurements based on the sounding signals, the relay node RN1 emits a sounding signal to the mobile node according to the timing information transmitted by the base station).
Kahtava does not expressly teach wherein the transmission parameter comprises at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a coding rate, or a transmit power used for the first data.
However, Ouchi teaches wherein the transmission parameter comprises at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a coding rate, or a transmit power used for the first data (Ouchi, Column 11, lines 8-63; timing synchronization with the SRS can be configured with a transmit power to perform transmission of the SRS).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava to include the above recited limitations as taught by Ouchi in order to carry out simultaneous transmission of a reference signal while maintaining a quality of a channel in accordance with transmit power control (Ouchi, Column 2, lines 25-35).
Regarding claim 16, Kahtava teaches a data transmission method, comprising:
receiving parameter configuration information from a first control apparatus (Kahtava, [0014]; receive, at a relay node measurement instructions from the base station, wherein the measurement instructions also comprise timing information identifying a timing for measuring link quality with the first relay node. The timing information is the parameter configuration information), wherein the parameter configuration information configures a transmission parameter (Kahtava, [0012]-[0014]; identifying a timing for measuring link quality with the first relay node. The timing is the transmission parameter);
configuring, by at least one terminal device, the transmission parameter based on the parameter configuration information (Kahtava, [0012]-[0014]; identifying a timing for measuring link quality with the first relay node. The timing is the transmission parameter);
receiving the first data from a second control apparatus (Kahtava, [0060]-[0062]; the relay node RN1 emits a sounding signal to the mobile node according to the timing information transmitted by the base station); and
sending feedback information to the first control apparatus (Kahtava, [0010]; the mobile node reports a link quality indicator to the base station for each discovered relay node for which the measured link quality is above a threshold),
wherein a measurement of link quality between the second control apparatus and at least one terminal device is based on the feedback information, wherein the at least one terminal device comprises a target terminal device, and wherein the feedback information indicates that the target terminal device successfully received the first data from the second control apparatus (Kahtava, [0010] and [0060]-[0062]; the terminals may make measurements based on the sounding signals, the relay node RN1 emits a sounding signal to the mobile node according to the timing information transmitted by the base station).
Kahtava does not expressly teach wherein the transmission parameter comprises at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a coding rate, or a transmit power used for the first data.
However, Ouchi teaches wherein the transmission parameter comprises at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a coding rate, or a transmit power used for the first data (Ouchi, Column 11, lines 8-63; timing synchronization with the SRS can be configured with a transmit power to perform transmission of the SRS).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava to include the above recited limitations as taught by Ouchi in order to carry out simultaneous transmission of a reference signal while maintaining a quality of a channel in accordance with transmit power control (Ouchi, Column 2, lines 25-35).
Regarding claims 4 and 11, Kahtava in view of Ouchi teaches the method of claim 1 and the method of claim 10 above. Further, Kahtava teaches further comprising receiving first relay configuration information from the first control apparatus, wherein the first relay configuration information configures a target terminal device for the second control apparatus, and wherein the at least one terminal device comprises the target terminal device (Kahtava, [0010] and [0054]; generate a measurement report by, for each of the one or more relay nodes identified in the list and different from the mobile node attempting a discovery process for the relay node and in the event that the relay node has been discovered, measuring the link quality between the mobile node and the relay node, where the measurement report contains the data of the measurement information such as the link quality measurement (e.g. its Channel Quality Indicator or CQI) and other parameters requested by the network).
Regarding claims 22 and 24, Kahtava in view of Ouchi teaches the method of claim 16 and claim 1 above. Further, Kahtava teaches wherein the parameter configuration information comprises the transmission parameter (Kahtava, [0012]-[0014]; receive, at a relay node measurement instructions from the base station, wherein the measurement instructions also comprise timing information identifying a timing for measuring link quality with the first relay node. The timing information is the parameter configuration information and the timing is the transmission parameter).
Claims 8, 10, 19, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kahtava in view of Ouchi as applied to claims 1, 9, and 16 above, and further in view of Ljung et al. (US 2015/0215028 A1), hereafter referred Ljung.
Regarding claim 8, Kahtava in view of Ouchi teaches the method of claim 1 above. Kahtava in view of Ouchi does not expressly teach wherein transmitting the first data to the at least one terminal device based on the first indication information comprises multicasting the first data to the at least one terminal device based on the first indication information, and wherein the first data comprises a multicast address of a terminal device group to which the at least one terminal device belongs.
However, Ljung teaches wherein transmitting the first data to the at least one terminal device based on the first indication information comprises multicasting the first data to the at least one terminal device based on the first indication information, and wherein the first data comprises a multicast address of a terminal device group to which the at least one terminal device belongs (Ljung, [0183]; the message including the configuration information may be transmitted as a broadcast or multicast message e.g. as ProSe one-to-many communication).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava in view of Ouchi to include the above recited limitations as taught by Ljung in order to improve network coverage (Ljung, [0003]).
Regarding claim 10, Kahtava in view of Ouchi teaches the method of claim 9 above. Kahtava in view of Ouchi does not expressly teach further comprising determining a target terminal device from the at least one first terminal device based on the feedback information.
However, Ljung teaches further comprising determining a target terminal device from the at least one first terminal device based on the feedback information (Ljung, Fig. 1-2, [0116], [0142], [0170]; the second terminal device transmits configuration information that include an indicator for a network coverage quality measured at the second terminal device, where the configuration information include channel quality information included as data element and provide data on radio channel properties of the first terminal device (i.e. terminal-B1)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava in view of Ouchi to include the above recited limitations as taught by Ljung in order to improve network coverage (Ljung, [0003]).
Regarding claim 19, Kahtava in view of Ouchi teaches the method of claim 16 above. Kahtava in view of Ouchi does not expressly teach further comprising receiving second relay configuration information, wherein the second relay configuration information configures the target terminal device to provide a relay service for the second control apparatus.
However, Ljung teaches further comprising receiving second relay configuration information, wherein the second relay configuration information configures the target terminal device to provide a relay service for the second control apparatus (Ljung, Fig. 1-2, [0116], [0142], [0170]; the second terminal device transmits configuration information that include an indicator for a network coverage quality measured at the second terminal device, where the configuration information include channel quality information included as data element and provide data on radio channel properties of the first terminal device (i.e. terminal-B1)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava in view of Ouchi to include the above recited limitations as taught by Ljung in order to improve network coverage (Ljung, [0003]).
Regarding claim 25, Kahtava in view of Ouchi further in view of Ljung teaches the method of claim 10 above. Further, Kahtava teaches further comprising determining, based on the feedback information, that the at least one first terminal device successfully received the first data, and wherein determining the target terminal device from the at least one first terminal device is based on a determination that the at least one first terminal device successfully received the first data (Kahtava, [0010] and [0060]-[0062]; the mobile node reports a link quality indicator to the base station for each discovered relay node for which the measured link quality is above a threshold, where the terminals make measurements based on the sounding signal where the relay node emits a sounding signal to the mobile node according to the timing information).
Claims 5-7, 12, 13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kahtava in view of Ouchi as applied to claims 1, 9, and 16 above, and further in view of Chen et al. (US 2021/0368372 A1), hereafter referred Chen.
Regarding claims 5 and 12, Kahtava in view of Ouchi teaches the method of claim 4 and the method of claim 11 above. Kahtava in view of Ouchi does not expressly teach further comprising sending second data to the target terminal device, wherein a destination address of the second data is an address of the first control apparatus.
However, Chen teaches further comprising sending second data to the target terminal device, wherein a destination address of the second data is an address of the first control apparatus (Chen, [0032]-[0033]; the destination Layer 2 ID and QoS parameters according to the application identifier, where the destination ID corresponds to the source L2 ID information of the service announcement message).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava in view of Ouchi to include the above recited limitations as taught by Chen in order to support higher data rates (Chen, [0003]).
Regarding claims 6 and 13, Kahtava in view of Ouchi further in view of Chen teaches the method of claim 5 and the method of claim 12 above. Further, Kahtava teaches wherein before transmitting the second data to the target terminal device, the method further comprises receiving transmission indication information from the first control apparatus, wherein the transmission indication information indicates to transmit, by the target terminal device, data between the second control apparatus and the first control apparatus and wherein transmitting the second data to the target terminal device comprises transmitting the second data to the target terminal device based on the transmission indication information (Kahtava, [0010]; the one or more relay nodes configured to receive measurement instructions from the base station, wherein the measurement instructions comprise a list identifying the one or more relay nodes for measuring link quality).
Regarding claims 7 and 15, Kahtava in view of Ouchi teaches the method of claim 1 and the method of claim 9 above. Further, Kahtava teaches wherein the first data comprises management information, wherein the management information indicates that the first data measure link quality (Kahtava, [0010] and [0054]; generate a measurement report by, for each of the one or more relay nodes identified in the list and different from the mobile node attempting a discovery process for the relay node and in the event that the relay node has been discovered, measuring the link quality between the mobile node and the relay node, where the measurement report contains the data of the measurement information such as the link quality measurement (e.g. its Channel Quality Indicator or CQI) and other parameters requested by the network). Kahtava in view of Ouchi does not expressly teach wherein the first data comprises a source address, wherein the source address is an address of the second control apparatus.
However, Chen teaches wherein the first data comprises a source address, wherein the source address is an address of the second control apparatus (Chen, [0032]-[0033]; the destination Layer 2 ID and QoS parameters according to the application identifier, where the destination ID corresponds to the source L2 ID information of the service announcement message).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava in view of Ouchi to include the above recited limitations as taught by Chen in order to support higher data rates (Chen, [0003]).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kahtava in view of Ouchi further in view of Ljung as applied to claim 19 above, and further in view of Chen.
Regarding claim 20, Kahtava in view of Ouchi further in view of Ljung teaches the method of claim 19 above. Kahtava in view of Ouchi further in view of Ljung does not expressly teach further comprising:
receiving second data from the second control apparatus, wherein a destination address of the second data is an address of the first control apparatus and forwarding the second data to the first control apparatus based on the destination address.
However, Chen teaches further comprising:
receiving second data from the second control apparatus, wherein a destination address of the second data is an address of the first control apparatus and forwarding the second data to the first control apparatus based on the destination address (Chen, [0032]-[0033]; the destination Layer 2 ID and QoS parameters according to the application identifier, where the destination ID corresponds to the source L2 ID information of the service announcement message).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava in view of Ouchi further in view of Ljung to include the above recited limitations as taught by Chen in order to support higher data rates (Chen, [0003]).
Claims 21 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kahtava in view of Ouchi as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, and further in view of Chen et al. (US 2018/0324678 A1), hereafter referred Chen2.
Regarding claims 21 and 23, Kahtava in view of Ouchi teaches the method of claim 16 and claim 1 above. Kahtava in view of Ouchi does not expressly teach wherein the parameter configuration information comprises a second index value corresponding to the transmission parameter, and wherein configuring the transmission parameter comprises determining the transmission parameter based on the second index value and a preconfigured mapping relationship.
However, Chen2 teaches wherein the parameter configuration information comprises a second index value corresponding to the transmission parameter, and wherein configuring the transmission parameter comprises determining the transmission parameter based on the second index value and a preconfigured mapping relationship (Chen, [0160]-[0162]; indication can include mapping of the index and the timing).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Kahtava in view of Ouchi to include the above recited limitations as taught by Chen2 in order to relate synchronization signal block index and timing indication in wireless communication systems (Chen2, [0015]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
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/R.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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