DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/02/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed March 2, 2026 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, claims 1 and 24 are amended.
Claims 1-16 and 21-24 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection relies on the references not applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is amended with the new limitation such as “wherein the stationary mode request indicates that the UE is to operate in a stationary state and is configured to receive data from the serving cell in response to paging without performing a random access procedure”.
However, there is no disclosure in the previously filed application to support that the stationary mode request indicates that the UE is configured to receive data from the serving cell in response to paging without performing a random access procedure. the conditional RRC bitmap configuration. Paragraphs 0098-0099 state that the UE 110 sends a stationary mode request to the core network indicating it is entering stationary mode and will be operating in a stationary state. Paragraph 0095 states the network may only initiate an SLDT connection on a last serving cell for the UE 110 because the UE 110 is a stationary device and the network may assume that the UE 110 has not moved since the last time the UE 110 communicated with the network. Paragraph 0101 states that In 1020, the core network 130 determines that a SLDT connection to the UE 110 is to be established, and paragraph 0102 states that since the UE 110 is in stationary mode, the core network 130 may page the UE 110 for a SLDT connection using the serving cell information stored in 1015. Although establishment of a SLDT connection that does not involve random access procedure uses stationary mode information for paging the UE, none of those paragraphs sufficiently describes that the stationary mode request indicates that the UE is configured to receive data from the serving cell in response to paging without performing a random access procedure.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 3-4, 22 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR102362043B1, hereinafter Yoon) and Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park).
For claim 1, Xu teaches a method ([Para. 0006], Embodiments are presented herein of apparatuses, systems, and methods), comprising: at a user equipment (UE): ([FIG. 14], UE 1402): receiving a paging message from a base station ([Para. 0117], the network 1404 may provide a paging message with downlink assignment information to the UE 1402), the paging message configured to initiate a mobile terminating connection between the UE and the base station ([Para. 0117], In 1408, the network 1404 may provide a paging message with downlink assignment information to the UE 1402. In 1410, the UE 1402 may receive the downlink data transmission in accordance with the downlink assignment information. This may trigger initiation of the T_activity timer, such that further data transmission/reception can subsequently be performed in 1412. During and after such data transmission/reception, the UE remains in the RRC inactive state); identifying a first configuration set assigned to the UE from the multiple configuration sets based on the paging message ([Para. 0117], the paging message with downlink assignment 1408 can include paging records for each of multiple UEs, the paging record for the UE 1402 could include a UE-Identity field 1420 …such that the UE 1402 may be able to determine the downlink assignment information used to receive the data. [Para. 0009], the wireless device may monitor a control channel provided by its serving cell for further uplink grants and/or downlink assignments, and may perform further uplink and/or downlink communication in accordance with the scheduled assignments/grants); and exchanging data with a network using the first configuration set ([Para. 0117], In 1410, the UE 1402 may receive the downlink data transmission in accordance with the downlink assignment information), wherein exchanging data with network comprises at least one of receiving downlink data and transmitting uplink data ([Para. 0117], In 1410, the UE 1402 may receive the downlink data transmission in accordance with the downlink assignment information).
Although teaching the UE receiving paging message and exchanging data with the network, Xu does not explicitly disclose generating, for transmission to a core network via a base station, a stationary mode request indicating that the UE is entering a stationary mode with a serving cell, wherein the stationary mode request indicates that the UE is to operate in a stationary state; receiving, from the base station, a stationary mode response comprising an indication that the stationary mode is confirmed.
Yang is directed to providing paging in a communication network. More specifically, Yang teaches generating ([Para. 0080], the terminal device may determine its mobility information by collecting information of motion characteristics (such as stationary) of the terminal device), for transmission to a core network via a base station ([Para. 0081], the terminal device may provide the mobility information to a core network node, through an access network node serving the terminal device), a stationary mode request indicating that the UE is entering a stationary mode with a serving cell ([Para. 0080], the terminal device may determine its mobility information such as stationary information of the terminal device. [Para. 0081], the terminal device may provide the mobility information to a core network node for determination of a paging policy for the terminal device. In the case that the mobility information indicates that the terminal device is stationary, the paging policy determined for the terminal device by the core network node may indicate that a paging area for the terminal device comprises a serving cell of the terminal device), receiving, from the base station ([Para. 0086], the access network node can page the terminal device in this serving cell), a stationary mode response comprising an indication that the stationary mode is confirmed ([Para. 0071], differentiated paging policies may be configured for different types of terminal devices. The core network node can page the terminal device according to the determined paging policy. [Para. 0085], the paging policy determined for the stationary terminal device may indicate that a paging area comprising the serving cell of the terminal device. [Para. 0086], the access network node may receive a paging message for the terminal device from the core network node. The paging message may comprise the identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device. Accordingly, the access network node can page the terminal device in this serving cell [Examiner’s Note: Receiving the paging message in the serving cell indicates the stationary mode is confirmed]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, so that the UE can notify the core network and the core network pages the UE in just the serving cell of the UE, as taught by Yang. The modification would have improved the network resource efficiency both on radio interface and on RAN entities, and achieved power saving for both stationary and mobile terminal devices (Yang, [Para. 0058]).
Although teaching the stationary mode request, Xu and Yang do not explicitly disclose wherein the stationary mode request indicates that the UE is to operate in a stationary state and is configured to receive data from the serving cell in response to paging without performing a random access procedure.
Selvaganapathy is directed to providing direct resource allocation for stationary devices for network initiated data transfer. More specifically, Selvaganapathy teaches wherein the stationary mode request indicates that the UE is to operate in a stationary state and is configured to receive data from the serving cell in response to paging without performing a random access procedure ([Para. 0034], When the static nature is confirmed, the UE can inform the network that the UE is static. This information can be provided in the UE's registration. [Para. 0039] and [Figure 5], illustrates paging a stationary user equipment with a fixed timing advance, a mobility management entity (MME) can send a paging message along with an indication that the UE is stationary and that direct allocation is possible without a random access (RA) procedure [Examiner’s Note: That MME pages eNB with indication of direct allocation shows that the static mode information from the UE indicates to the MME that the UE is to operate in static mode resulting in the indication form the MME of direct allocation based on the static mode]. [Para. 0040], the eNB can send a paging message using an RRC-Paging message. Furthermore, the eNB can start sending uplink allocation to the UE which was marked for direct allocation via physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) using C-RNTI mapping to the paging record index. [Para. 0041], the UE can listen to PDCCH for this C-RNTI. Then, the UE can send the uplink data packet via the allocated uplink resource. [Para. 0042], the eNB can check buffer status report (BSR) information in the uplink message. Then, the eNB can decide whether to provide further allocation in uplink. If the eNB knows that more data transfer is required in either link, the eNB may assign a new identifier to be used in shared channels [Examiner’s Note: Data transfer in either link includes downlink data transfer. That the MME indicates direct allocation without random access procedure based on received stationary mode information shows that the stationary mode information to the MME indicates that the UE is to receive data from eNB without random access procedure]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu and Yang, so that the UE indicates that the UE is to operate in stationary mode and to receive data from eNB without performing random access procedure, as taught by Selvaganapathy. The modification would have allowed data transmission for idle mode UE, without random access procedure (Selvaganapathy, [Para. 0007 and 0039]).
Although teaching stationary mode request to the core via base station (Yang [Para. 0081], the terminal device may provide the mobility information to a core network node, through an access network node serving the terminal device. Selvaganapathy [Para. 0034], When the static nature is confirmed, the UE can inform the network that the UE is static. This information can be provided in the UE's registration), and data transmission in idle state without random access procedure, Xu, Yang and Selvaganapathy do not explicitly disclose transmitting the stationary mode request to the core network via the base station, wherein transmitting the stationary mode request is triggered based on a UE geographical location.
Yoon is directed to providing method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data in wireless communication system. More specifically, Yoon teaches transmitting the stationary mode request to the core network via the base station ([Page 6, fifth paragraph], the base station includes a communication unit 310. [Page 4, last paragraph], The control node 130 may be a mobility management entity (MME) that manages the mobility of the terminal. [Page 6, seventh last paragraph], the communication unit 310 receives information notifying the non-moving mode of the terminal 110 from the terminal 110. The communication unit 310 transmits information notifying the non-mobile mode of the terminal 110 received from the terminal to the control node 130), wherein transmitting the stationary mode request is triggered based on a UE geographical location ([Page 6, seventh last paragraph], The information informing of the non-mobile mode includes information indicating that the terminal is stationary at a predetermined location for a predetermined time, information indicating whether the terminal supports the non-mobility mode, and available time information).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang and Selvaganapathy, so that the UE transmits stationary mode request based on location, as taught by Yoon. The modification would have allowed the terminal to transmits information indicating that the terminal is located at a fixed location to the base station and the control node, for transmission of data through paging message, and thereby reducing data transmission/reception time and power consumption of the communication device (Yoon, [Page 4, last two paragraphs before the illustrations of drawings]).
Although teaching the UE receiving paging message with multiple configuration sets and receiving data in the identified assignment, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy and Yoon do not explicitly disclose receiving configuration information comprising multiple configuration sets.
Park is directed to providing paging for small data transmission. More specifically, Park teaches receiving configuration information comprising multiple configuration sets ([Para. 0204], The base station may transmit configuration parameters to the UE for a plurality of PUCCH resource sets).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy and Yoon, so that the UE may receive multiple configuration sets, as taught by Park. The modification would have allowed the system to facilitate implementation of SDT procedures, especially in the context of a base station split architecture (base station CU/DU and/or base station CU-UP/CU-CP/DU) (Park, [Para. 0253]).
For claim 3, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. The references further teach wherein the configuration information comprising the multiple configuration sets is received from the base station in a dedicated message (Park [Para. 0204], The base station may transmit configuration parameters to the UE for a plurality of PUCCH resource sets using, for example, an RRC message).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy and Yoon, so that the UE may receive multiple configuration sets in RRC message, as taught by Park. The modification would have allowed the system to facilitate implementation of SDT procedures, especially in the context of a base station split architecture (base station CU/DU and/or base station CU-UP/CU-CP/DU) (Park, [Para. 0253]).
For claim 4, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. The references further teach wherein the first configuration set is assigned to only the UE during the mobile terminating connection (Xu [Para. 0117] and [FIG. 14], the paging message with downlink assignment 1408 can include paging records for each of multiple UEs. the paging record for the UE 1402 could include a UE-Identity field 1420, such that the UE 1402 may be able to determine the downlink assignment information used to receive the data for the UE 1402 [Examiner’s Note: Downlink assignment including the paging record for the UE is only assigned to the UE for the mobile terminating connection]).
For claim 22, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. The references further teach wherein the stationary mode request is provided during a non-access stratum (NAS) registration procedure (Yang [Para. 0057], a UE may notify a core network node whether it is stationary in a non-access stratum (NAS) message when registering to the core network node).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the UE can notify the core network that it is in stationary mode in a non-access stratum (NAS) message when registering to the core network, as taught by Yang. The modification would have improved the network resource efficiency both on radio interface and on RAN entities, and achieved power saving for both stationary and mobile terminal devices (Yang, [Para. 0058]).
For claim 24, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. The references further teach further comprising: generating (Yang [Para. 0080], the terminal device may determine its mobility information by collecting information of motion characteristics (such as movable)), for transmission to the core network via the base station (Yang [Para. 0081], the terminal device may provide the mobility information to a core network node, through an access network node serving the terminal device) and after exchanging the data with the network (Yang [Para. 0080], the terminal device may determine its mobility information such as stationary information of the terminal device. Yang [Para. 0081], the terminal device may provide the mobility information to a core network node for determination of a paging policy for the terminal device. Yang [Para. 0071], The core network node can page the terminal device according to the determined paging policy. Yang [Para. 0086], the access network node may receive a paging message for the terminal device from the core network node. Accordingly, the access network node can page the terminal device. Xu [0117] and [FIG. 14], in 1406, a UE 1402 may operate in the RRC inactive state with respect to a network 1404. In 1408, the network 1404 may provide a paging message with downlink assignment information to the UE 1402), a message indicating that the UE has exited the stationary mode (Yang [Para. 0080], the terminal device may determine its mobility information by collecting information of motion characteristics (such as movable). Yang [Para. 0081], the terminal device may provide the mobility information to a core network node, through an access network node serving the terminal device. Yang [0081] the mobility information indicates that the terminal device is movable [Examiner’s Note: It is obvious that UE can determine its mobility information to be movable after paging messages. It is also obvious that a message indicating the movable mode indicates exit of stationary mode]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the UE can indicate to the core node either movable or stationary mode, as taught by Yang. The modification would have improved the network resource efficiency both on radio interface and on RAN entities, and achieved power saving for both stationary and mobile terminal devices (Yang, [Para. 0058]).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon) and Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park), and further in view of Navratil et al. (US20240236937A9, hereinafter Navratil).
For claim 2, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and sending data in identified assignment, the references do not explicitly disclose wherein the configuration information comprising the multiple configuration sets is received in a system information block (SIB).
Navratil is directed to providing determining random-access resources for group paging. More specifically, Navratil teaches wherein the configuration information comprising the multiple configuration sets is received in a system information block (SIB) ([Para. 0063], RACH-ConfigCommon is a set of configuration parameters that provides the UEs with the configuration of PRACH resources for individual paging and defines how many PRACH occasions there are in which slots of a system frame. The UEs may receive RACH-ConfigCommon for example in a system information block type 1 (SIB1) in the common configuration of a serving cell).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the UE may receive configuration information of multiple sets in system information block, as taught by Navratil. The modification would have allowed the better usage of resources to be provided to one or more terminal devices (Navratil, [Para. 0002]).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon) and Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park), and further in view of Yano et al. (US20170325195A1, hereinafter Yano) and Ozturk et al. (US20200229135A1, hereinafter Ozturk).
For claim 5, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. The references further teach selecting a first cell of the multiple cells for the mobile terminating connection (Xu [Para. 0117], a UE 1402 may operate in the RRC inactive state with respect to a network 1404); and transmitting a signal to the first cell, wherein the signal indicates to a network which cell of the multiple cells is to be used for the mobile terminating connection (Xu [Para. 0117], a UE 1402 may operate in the RRC inactive state with respect to a network 1404).
Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and sending data in identified assignment, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park do not explicitly disclose further comprising: receiving the paging message from multiple cells; selecting a first cell of the multiple cells for the mobile terminating connection; and transmitting a signal to the first cell, wherein the signal indicates to a network which cell of the multiple cells is to be used for the mobile terminating connection.
Yano is directed to providing wireless communications system, wireless apparatus, and processing method. More specifically, Yano teaches further comprising: receiving the paging message from multiple cells ([Para. 0051], the second wireless apparatus 120 receives from the first wireless apparatus 110, a paging message that includes information indicating plural cells (step S401)); selecting a first cell of the multiple cells for the mobile terminating connection ([Para. 0052], the second wireless apparatus 120 selects a cell as a connection destination, based on the information that indicates plural cells and is included in the paging message received at step S401); and transmitting a signal to the first cell ([Para. 0053], the second wireless apparatus 120 performs processing of connecting to the connection-destination cell selected at step S402 (step S403)), wherein the signal indicates to a network which cell of the multiple cells is to be used for the mobile terminating connection ([Para. 0053], the second wireless apparatus 120 performs processing of connecting to the connection-destination cell selected at step S402 (step S403)).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the UE may receive paging message including multiple cells, selecting one cell and connecting to the selected cell, as taught by Yano. The modification would have allowed to individually set a preferable cell or an unfavorable cell for each paging message, and therefore, a concentration of load at a specific cell can be avoided (Yano [Para. 0182]).
Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and receiving data in identified assignment, and connecting to a selected cell, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park, and Yano do not explicitly disclose receiving the paging message from multiple cells.
Ozturk is directed to providing coordination and transmission of joint paging. More specifically, Ozturk teaches receiving the paging message from multiple cells ([Para. 0111], UE 115-a may monitor for paging messages from multiple different cells).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park, and Yano, so that the UE may receive paging messages from multiple cells, as taught by Ozturk. The modification would have allowed the system to improve power consumption in conventional paging techniques (Ozturk [Para 0004]).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon) and Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park), and further in view of Lee et al. (US20220263812A1, hereinafter Lee) and Hong (US20240147426A1, hereinafter Hong).
For claim 6, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. The references further teach wherein a data payload structure for the mobile terminating connection comprises a header (Xu [Para. 0117], a UE 1402 may operate in the RRC inactive state with respect to a network 1404. In 1408, the network 1404 may provide a paging message with downlink assignment information to the UE 1402).
Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and sending data in identified assignment, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park do not explicitly disclose wherein a data payload structure for the mobile terminating connection comprises a header, user plane data and integrity code, wherein a non-access stratum (NAS) security context is used for user plane data protection.
Lee is directed to providing network security architecture. More specifically, Lee teaches wherein a data payload structure for the mobile terminating connection comprises a header ([Para. 0100] and [FIG. 12], The security header field 1206 may indicate the presence of an encrypted client device context), user plane data and integrity code ([Para. 0100] and [FIG. 12], The payload field 1210 may include data or control information (e.g., a data packet or a control packet). [Para. 0101], The message authentication code (MAC) field 1212 may be used for integrity protection. The message authentication code in the MAC field 1212 may then be used by a receiving device or entity to verify that the integrity of the message has not been compromised), wherein a non-access stratum (NAS) security context is used for user plane data protection ([Para. 0100], the client device may generate a new encryption key based on the encryption key in the security context...a new integrity protection key based on the integrity protection key in the security context. The payload field 1210 may include data or control information (e.g., a data packet or a control packet)).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the payload structure includes header, data and integrity code, as taught by Lee. The modification would have allowed a nominal mode to establish a connection and transfer data and avoid substantial overhead for a client device in terms of signaling messages during idle mode to connected mode transition (Lee [Para. 0004 and 0045]).
Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and receiving data in identified assignment with security and integrity protection, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Lee do not explicitly disclose wherein a non-access stratum (NAS) security context is used for user plane data protection, and wherein a NAS layer generated integrity code is used for authentication.
Hong is directed to providing paging method and apparatus, and communication device. More specifically, Hong teaches wherein a non-access stratum (NAS) security context is used for user plane data protection ([Para. 0129], When the AMF-2 performs paging and receives a response from the UE, the AMF-2 retrieves the busy token stored in a UE NAS security context and computes the MAC of the received short NAS message, and performs integrity authentication), and wherein a NAS layer generated integrity code is used for authentication ([Para. 0096], The terminal device may compute a 32-bit MAC through the integrity algorithm (NIA), to generate the first message. For instance, the generated MAC may be the NAS-MAC in FIG. 5. [Para. 0166], the first message is an MAC of a non-access stratum (NAS) message).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Lee, so that a non-access stratum (NAS) layer protection is provided, as taught by Hong. The modification would have allowed the system to handle an MT service for a terminal device having a plurality of USIMs while avoiding any unnecessary interruption of a running service in a currently-connected system (Hong [Para. 0037]).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon) and Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park), and further in view of Lee et al. (US20220263812A1, hereinafter Lee) and Agiwal (US20230380003A1, hereinafter Agiwal).
For claim 7, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. The references further teach wherein a data payload structure for the mobile terminating connection comprises a header (Xu [Para. 0117], a UE 1402 may operate in the RRC inactive state with respect to a network 1404. In 1408, the network 1404 may provide a paging message with downlink assignment information to the UE 1402).
Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and sending data in identified assignment, the references do not explicitly disclose wherein a data payload structure for the mobile terminating connection comprises a header, user plane data and integrity code.
Lee is directed to providing network security architecture. More specifically, Lee teaches wherein a data payload structure for the mobile terminating connection comprises a header ([Para. 0100] and [FIG. 12], The security header field 1206 may indicate the presence of an encrypted client device context), user plane data and integrity code ([Para. 0100] and [FIG. 12], The payload field 1210 may include data or control information (e.g., a data packet or a control packet). [Para. 0101], The message authentication code (MAC) field 1212 may be used for integrity protection. The message authentication code in the MAC field 1212 may then be used by a receiving device or entity to verify that the integrity of the message has not been compromised)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the payload structure includes header, data and integrity code, as taught by Lee. The modification would have allowed a nominal mode to establish a connection and transfer data and avoid substantial overhead for a client device in terms of signaling messages during idle mode to connected mode transition (Lee [Para. 0004 and 0045]).
Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and receiving data in identified assignment with security and integrity protection, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Lee do not explicitly disclose wherein an access stratum (AS) security context is used for user plane data protection, and wherein an AS layer generated integrity code is used for authentication.
Agiwal is directed to providing method for handling non-small data transmission radio bearer during small data transmission and apparatus thereof. More specifically, Agiwal teaches wherein an access stratum (AS) security context is used for user plane data protection ([Para. 0073], The ResumeMAC-I is a 16-bit message authentication token. The ResumeMAC-I is a 16-bit message authentication token. The UE shall calculate it using the integrity algorithm (integrity algorithm for 5G (NIA) or evolved packet system (EPS) integrity algorithm (EIA)) in the stored access stratum (AS) security context), and wherein an AS layer generated integrity code is used for authentication ([Para. 0073], The ResumeMAC-I is a 16-bit message authentication token. The ResumeMAC-I is a 16-bit message authentication token. The UE shall calculate it using the integrity algorithm (integrity algorithm for 5G (NIA) or evolved packet system (EPS) integrity algorithm (EIA)) in the stored access stratum (AS) security context).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Lee, so that access stratum (NAS) layer protection is provided, as taught by Agiwal. The modification would have allowed the system to handle arrival of non-small data transmission data radio bearer data while SDT procedure is ongoing (Agiwal [Para. 0043]).
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon) and Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park), and further in view of Griot et al. (US20160374048A1, hereinafter Griot).
For claim 8, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and exchanging data, the references do not explicitly disclose wherein the mobile terminating connection is a type of connection configured for a maximum number of downlink packets and wherein the mobile terminating connection ends after the maximum number of downlink packets are received.
Griot is directed to providing small data transmission in a wireless communications system. More specifically, Griot teaches wherein the mobile terminating connection is a type of connection configured for a maximum number of downlink packets ([Para. 0056], The UE may receive the page message, and initiate an access procedure for transmission of the small data packet. [Para. 0069] and [FIG. 6], small data packet transfer procedure. UE is in idle mode. [Para. 0070], page message 615, random access response 625, connection setup message 635. [Examiner’s Note: The procedure does not receive more than three downlink messages]) and wherein the mobile terminating connection ends after the maximum number of downlink packets are received ([Para. 0070], The UE may enter RRC connected mode based on the connection setup message at 645 [Examiner’s Note: Change from idle state to connected state ends the terminating connection]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the terminating connection ends after three downlink messages are received, as taught by Griot. The modification would have allowed the system to avoid significant amount of resources consumption to transmit the small amounts of data and reduction of the efficiency of a wireless communications system (Griot [Para. 0006]).
For claim 9, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and exchanging data, the references do not explicitly disclose wherein the mobile terminating connection is a type of connection configured for a maximum number of uplink packets and wherein the mobile terminating connection ends after the maximum number of uplink packets are transmitted.
Griot is directed to providing small data transmission in a wireless communications system. More specifically, Griot teaches wherein the mobile terminating connection is a type of connection configured for a maximum number of uplink packets ([Para. 0056], The UE may receive the page message, and initiate an access procedure for transmission of the small data packet. [Para. 0069] and [FIG. 6], small data packet transfer procedure. UE is in idle mode. [Para. 0070], random access preamble 620, random access message 630, connection setup complete message 640. [Examiner’s Note: The procedure does not transmit more than three uplink messages]) and wherein the mobile terminating connection ends after the maximum number of uplink packets are transmitted (Griot [Para. 0070], The UE may enter RRC connected mode based on the connection setup message at 645 [Examiner’s Note: Change from idle state to connected state ends the terminating connection]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the terminating connection ends after three uplink messages are transmitted, as taught by Griot. The modification would have allowed the system to avoid significant amount of resources consumption to transmit the small amounts of data and reduction of the efficiency of a wireless communications system (Griot [Para. 0006]).
Claims 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon) and Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park), and further in view of Ryu et al. (US20230422208A1, hereinafter Ryu).
For claim 10, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and receiving data in identified assignment, the references do not explicitly disclose wherein the paging message indicates a first type of mobile terminating connection from a set of two different types of mobile terminating connections.
Ryu is directed to providing data communication while in RRC inactive state. More specifically, Ryu teaches wherein the paging message indicates a first type of mobile terminating connection from a set of two different types of mobile terminating connections ([Para. 0306], The paging message 2310 may comprise an access type. The access type may indicate at least one of 3GPP access, non-3GPP access, and/or the like. The access type may comprise a 3GPP access).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the paging message indicates 3GPP access for connection between 3GPP and non-3GPP access types for connection, as taught by Ryu. The modification would have allowed the system to conserve radio resources (e.g., avoid retransmission(s) of the request) and/or improve wireless communication performance by notification message from the wireless device (Ryu [Para. 0004]).
For claim 11, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Ryu teach the method of claim 10. The references further teach wherein the first type of mobile terminating connection is configured to include three messages (Ryu [Para. 0306], The paging message 2310 may comprise an access type. The access type may comprise a 3GPP access. Xu [Para. 0063], a UE might be configured to communicate using 3GPP cellular communication standard. Xu [Para. 0118] and [FIG. 15], in 1506, a UE 1502 may operate in the RRC inactive state with respect to a network 1504. In 1508, the network 1504 may provide a paging message. In 1510, the UE 1502 may transmit a RACH preamble to the network. In 1512, the network 1504 may provide a downlink assignment to the UE).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the paging message indicates 3GPP access for connection between 3GPP and non-3GPP access types for connection, as taught by Ryu. The modification would have allowed the system to conserve radio resources (e.g., avoid retransmission(s) of the request) and/or improve wireless communication performance by notification message from the wireless device (Ryu [Para. 0004]).
For claim 12, Xu, Yang, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Ryu teach the method of claim 10. The references further teach wherein the paging message is a first message of the first type of mobile terminating connection and a second message of the first type of mobile terminating connection comprises downlink data (Ryu [Para. 0306], The paging message 2310 may comprise an access type. The access type may comprise a 3GPP access. Xu [Para. 0063], a UE might be configured to communicate using 3GPP cellular communication standard. Xu [Para. 0118] and [FIG. 15], in 1506, a UE 1502 may operate in the RRC inactive state with respect to a network 1504. In 1508, the network 1504 may provide a paging message with a status flag to the UE 1502. In 1512, the network 1504 may provide a downlink assignment to the UE 1502, and the UE 1502 may receive the downlink data transmission in accordance with the downlink assignment information).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the paging message indicates 3GPP access for connection between 3GPP and non-3GPP access types for connection, as taught by Ryu. The modification would have allowed the system to conserve radio resources (e.g., avoid retransmission(s) of the request) and/or improve wireless communication performance by notification message from the wireless device (Ryu [Para. 0004]).
For claim 13, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Ryu teach the method of claim 12. The references further teach wherein the second message further comprises a downlink assignment for the downlink data (Xu [Para. 0118], In 1512, the network 1504 may provide a downlink assignment to the UE 1502, and the UE 1502 may receive the downlink data transmission in accordance with the downlink assignment information).
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon), Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park) and Ryu et al. (US20230422208A1, hereinafter Ryu), and further in view of Kim et al. (US20230189213A1, hereinafter Kim).
For claim 14, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Ryu teach the method of claim 10. The references further teach wherein the paging message is a first message of the first type of mobile terminating connection and a second message of the first type of mobile terminating connection comprises uplink data (Ryu [Para. 0306], The paging message 2310 may comprise an access type. The access type may comprise a 3GPP access. Xu [Para. 0063], a UE might be configured to communicate using 3GPP cellular communication standard. Xu [Para. 0118] and [FIG. 15], in 1506, a UE 1502 may operate in the RRC inactive state with respect to a network 1504. In 1508, the network 1504 may provide a paging message).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the paging message indicates 3GPP access for connection between 3GPP and non-3GPP access types for connection, as taught by Ryu. The modification would have allowed the system to conserve radio resources (e.g., avoid retransmission(s) of the request) and/or improve wireless communication performance by notification message from the wireless device (Ryu [Para. 0004]).
Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message and receiving data in identified assignment in a connection type, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Ryu do not explicitly disclose wherein the paging message is a first message of the first type of mobile terminating connection and a second message of the first type of mobile terminating connection comprises uplink data.
Kim is directed to providing wireless device paging. More specifically, Kim teaches wherein the paging message is a first message of the first type of mobile terminating connection and a second message of the first type of mobile terminating connection comprises uplink data ([Para. 0051], Embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the RAN of a 3GPP 5G network. [Para. 0254], The UE in an RRC inactive or idle state may initiate/trigger to perform the small data transmission based on having small data to transmit or based on receiving paging message. The paging message may indicate the small data transmission. Based on the performing the small data transmission, the UE in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state may send uplink data via the Msg 3).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Ryu, so that the UE can transmit uplink data after receiving the paging message, as taught by Kim. The modification would have allowed the system to reduce power consumption by the wireless device and latency of uplink transmission (Kim [Para. 0279]).
For claim 15, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park, Ryu and Kim teach the method of claim 14. The references further teach wherein the second message further comprises an uplink assignment for the uplink data (Kim [Park 0254], the UE in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state may send uplink data via the Msg 3. The Msg 3 may be a message transmitted on CCCH SDU, the UE in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state may send the CCCH SDU using a configured uplink grant. Xu [Para. 0118] and [FIG. 15], In 1512, the network 1504 may provide a downlink assignment to the UE 1502, and the UE 1502 may receive the downlink data transmission in accordance with the downlink assignment information [Examiner’s Note: In Xu, 1512 in FIG. 15 teaches combination of assignment and data in one transmission. Therefore, uplink grant and uplink data may be combined in one message so that the second message comprise uplink data and the assignment]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park and Ryu, so that the UE can transmit uplink data after receiving the paging message in accordance with uplink grant, as taught by Kim. The modification would have allowed the system to reduce power consumption by the wireless device and latency of uplink transmission (Kim [Para. 0279])
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon), Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park), Ryu et al. (US20230422208A1, hereinafter Ryu) and Kim et al. (US20230189213A1, hereinafter Kim), and further in view of Yuan et al. (US20210345274A1, hereinafter Yuan).
For claim 16, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park, Ryu and Kim teach the method of claim 14. The references further teach wherein the second message further comprises uplink information for uplink data processing at the base station (Xu [Para. 0118] and [FIG. 15], in 1506, a UE 1502 may operate in the RRC inactive state with respect to a network 1504. In 1508, the network 1504 may provide a paging message. In 1510, the UE 1502 may transmit a RACH preamble to the network 1504).
Although teaching the UE receiving configuration information, paging message, receiving and sending data in a connection type, the references do not explicitly disclose wherein the second message further comprises uplink information for uplink data processing at the base station.
Yuan is directed to providing timing adjustments for data transmission in wireless systems. More specifically, Yuan teaches wherein the second message further comprises uplink information for uplink data processing at the base station ([Para. 0065] the uplink data transmitted by the terminal (UE) is a data symbol that is subsequently processed using blind detection by the BS. If the uplink data includes preamble information, the preamble information is used to calibrate the timing adjustment (TA)).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon, Park, Ryu and Kim, so that the uplink data transmission includes preamble that is used for data processing, as taught by Yuan. The modification would have provided reduced latency requirements and lower overhead usage based on the open-loop timing adjustment techniques (Yuan [Para. 0067]).
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon) and Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park), and further in view of Xu et al. (US20220322197A1, hereinafter Xu197).
For claim 21, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. Although teaching transmitting stationary mode information, receiving configuration information, receiving paging message, and exchanging data with the network, the references do not explicitly disclose wherein the UE transmits the stationary mode request to the core network when the UE is in radio resource control (RRC) connected mode.
Xu197 is directed to providing network based paging false alarm mitigation. More specifically, Xu197 teaches wherein the UE transmits the stationary mode request to the core network when the UE is in radio resource control (RRC) connected mode ([Para. 0048] and [FIG. 6], the UE is initially in an RRC Connected state. Prior to switching to an RRC Idle or RRC Inactive state, the UE transmits an indication of a mobility state of the UE to the currently camped cell. The mobility state may include stationary state. The cell forwards the mobility information the AMF).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the UE indicates stationary state to the base station and the base station forwards the indication to the core network, as taught by Xu197. The modification would have provided information to the 5G NR network regarding the UE's movement to improve the accuracy of the reduced paging area (Xu197 [Para. 0018]).
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US20210014926A1, hereinafter Xu) in view of Yang (US20200205121A1, hereinafter Yang), Selvaganapathy et al. (WO2016162129A1, hereinafter Selvaganapathy), Yoon (KR20170082014A, hereinafter Yoon) and Park et al. (US20230379880A1, hereinafter Park), and further in view of Chen et al. (US20240373363A1, hereinafter Chen).
For claim 23, Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park teach the method of claim 1. Although teaching transmitting stationary mode information, receiving configuration information, receiving paging message, and exchanging data with the network, the references do not explicitly disclose does not explicitly disclose wherein the stationary mode request is provided during a tracking area update (TAU) procedure.
Chen is directed to providing user equipment, method of user equipment, network node, and method of network node. More specifically, Chen teaches wherein the stationary mode request is provided during a tracking area update (TAU) procedure ([Para. 0102], the UE may be configured to use appropriate TAU for providing eDRX assistance information update to the core network node. The TAU message may include information relating to UE mobility state (e.g. stationary mobility)).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Xu, Yang, Selvaganapathy, Yoon and Park, so that the UE provides the stationary mobility information to the core network using tracking area update (TAU) message, as taught by Chen. The modification would have allowed adapting the paging transmission window (PTW) to the coverage window of the mobile device, in case when the mobile device is out of coverage for a relatively large amount/portion of time, even if the mobile device is moving (Chen [Para. 0066]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHU LIU whose telephone number is (571)272-5186. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, REBECCA E SONG can be reached at (571)270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/S.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417