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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but 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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8-11, and 15-18, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blankenship et al. (US Publication No. 20140254476) in view of Zhu et al. (US Publication No. 20210377846).
As to claims 1, 8, and 15, Blankenship teaches a method, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and a system comprising: a non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store instructions thereon; and a processor connected to the non-transitory computer readable medium (fig. 1, fig. 4), wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions for: providing a first information element in a protocol, wherein the first information element is usable to configure parameters associated with convergence of packet data (fig. 1, fig. 3, pp0130, pp0131, RadioResourceConfigDedicated information element carried in RRC signaling, and pp0075, there can be other protocol layers, including a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer and a radio link control (RLC) layer), wherein the first information element comprises: a second information element that is usable for a first range of logical channels, wherein the first range is usable in a first communication generation (fig. 1, pp0130, pp0131, pp0133, RadioResourceConfigDedicated information element carried in RRC signaling, the logicalChannelConfig information element carried in RRC signaling identifies logical channels established between the eNB and UE. In the case where the UE is connected to both the macro eNB 104 and the LeNB 108-1, two logicalChannelConfig information elements can be provided for the macro eNB 104 and LeNB 108-1 separately, the logical channels on the macro cell side can have logicalChannel Identity (identity of a logical channel) in a first range), and a third information element that is usable for a second range of logical channels, wherein the second range is usable in a second communication generation different from the first communication generation (fig. 1, pp0130, pp0131, pp0133, RadioResourceConfigDedicated information element carried in RRC signaling, the logicalChannelConfig information element carried in RRC signaling identifies logical channels established between the eNB and UE. In the case where the UE is connected to both the macro eNB 104 and the LeNB 108-1, two logicalChannelConfig information elements can be provided for the macro eNB 104 and LeNB 108-1 separately, while the logical channels on the small cell side can have logicalChannel Identity in a second, different range). However, failed to explicitly teach receiving a primary path including a logical channel identifier (LCID); determining whether the LCID is within the first range or the second range; and selectively applying one of the second information element or the third information element based on a result of the determining.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Zhu teaches receiving a primary path including a logical channel identifier (LCID); determining whether the LCID is within the first range or the second range (fig. 1, pp0133, an LCID of a logical channel corresponding to the RLC bearer may be used to implicitly indicate that the RLC bearer is used to carry the MT access traffic or is used to carry the backhaul traffic. That is, if the LCID falls within an LCID value range corresponding to the MT access traffic, it indicates that the RLC bearer is used to carry the MT access traffic, and If the LCID falls within an LCID value range corresponding to the backhaul traffic, it indicates that the RLC bearer is used to carry the backhaul traffic); and selectively applying one of the second information element or the third information element based on a result of the determining (fig. 1, pp0133, an LCID of a logical channel corresponding to the RLC bearer may be used to implicitly indicate that the RLC bearer is used to carry the MT access traffic or is used to carry the backhaul traffic. That is, if the LCID falls within an LCID value range corresponding to the MT access traffic, it indicates that the RLC bearer is used to carry the MT access traffic, and If the LCID falls within an LCID value range corresponding to the backhaul traffic, it indicates that the RLC bearer is used to carry the backhaul traffic). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Blankenship with the teachings of Zhu to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing a communication system with wider coverage, ultra-high reliability and an ultra-low latency (Zhu, pp0003).
As to claims 2, 9, and 16, Blankenship in view of Zhu teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. Blankenship further teaches wherein the first communication generation comprises long term evolution (LTE) (fig. 1, fig. 3, pp0025, Macro eNB is LTE).
As to claims 3, 10, and 17, Blankenship in view of Zhu teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, failed to explicitly teach wherein the second communication generation comprises fifth-generation (5G).
In an analogous field of endeavor, Zhu teaches the concept wherein the second communication generation comprises fifth-generation (5G) (fig. 1, 0071, his application, an example in which a provided method is applied to an NR system or a 5G network is used for description. However, it should be noted that the method provided in the embodiments of this application may also be applied to another network, for example, may be applied to an evolved packet system (EPS) network (namely, a 4th generation (4G) network). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Blankenship with the teachings of Zhu to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing a communication system with wider coverage, ultra-high reliability and an ultra-low latency (Zhu, pp0003).
As to claims 4, 11, and 18, Blankenship in view of Zhu teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. Blankenship further teaches wherein the first range of logical channels comprises a first integer value range including a first set of integer values, and each of the first set of integer values is less than 33 (fig. 1, pp0133, p0134, logicalChannel Identity (identity of a logical channel) in a first range of {3, 4}).
Claim(s) 5, 6, 12, 13, and 19, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blankenship et al. (US Publication No. 20140254476) in view of Zhu et al. (US Publication No. 20210377846) and further in view of Jiang et al. (US Publication No. 20020126629).
As to claims 5, 12, and 19, Blankenship in view of Zhu teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, failed to explicitly teach wherein the second range of logical channels comprises a second integer value range including a second set of integer values, and each of the second set of integer values is greater than 32.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Jiang teaches the concept wherein the second range of logical channels comprises a second integer value range including a second set of integer values, and each of the second set of integer values is greater than 32 (fig. 12, pp0062, the second logical channel 305b, and having an SN value 305n of 125 that is within the receiving window 304b of (125 . . . 126)). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Blankenship and Zhu with the teachings of Jiang to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing a communication system for transmitting data in noisy environment of wireless transmissions (Jiang, pp0007).
As to claims 6 and 13, Blankenship in view of Zhu teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, fails to explicitly teach wherein the first range of logical channels comprises a first integer value range including a first set of integer values, and each of the first set of integer values is greater than 32.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Jiang teaches the concept wherein the first range of logical channels comprises a first integer value range including a first set of integer values, and each of the first set of integer values is greater than 32 (fig. 12, pp0065, the first logical channel 305a, and having an SN value 305n of 54 that lies within the range of (51 . . . 58) of the first receiving window 304a). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Blankenship and Zhu with the teachings of Jiang to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing a communication system for transmitting data in noisy environment of wireless transmissions (Jiang, pp0007).
Claim(s) 7, 14, and 20, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blankenship et al. (US Publication No. 20140254476) in view of Zhu et al. (US Publication No. 20210377846) and further in view of Zhang et al. (US Publication No. 20220132491).
As to claims 7, 14, and 20, Blankenship in view of Zhu teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, failed to explicitly teach wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions for: determining whether a first logical channel falls outside of the first range; bypassing, in response to the determining that the first logical channel falls outside of the first range, the second information element.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Zhang teaches the concept wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions for: determining whether a first logical channel falls outside of the first range; bypassing, in response to the determining that the first logical channel falls outside of the first range, the second information element (fig. 5, pp0084, the power control parameters may be different in case the range requirements are very different. Therefore, it could be beneficial to avoid that the logical channels associated to MAC SDUs have very different range requirements, i.e. range requirements included in different elements of the aforementioned list by (pre)configuration, is not multiplexed by the logical channel prioritization procedure into the same MAC PDU). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Blankenship and Zhu with the teachings of Zhang to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing communication where resource allocation will be different, both because of different interference and/or channel conditions, and different QoS requirements in a communication system (Zhang, pp0026).
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMONIYI OBAYANJU whose telephone number is (571)270-5885. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thur 10:30-7pm.
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/OMONIYI OBAYANJU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645