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 .
Applicant’s RCE filed 12/08/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 1,3,19, and 20 are amended.
Claims 2 and 11 are cancelled.
Claims 21 and 22 are new.
Claims 1,3-10, and 12-22 are pending.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/8/2025 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1,3-10,13,17, and 19-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US 20230345417) in view of Shrivastava (US 20230396984).
Re claim 1:
Wu discloses determining whether to send a busy indication to a network side after listening to a paging message (Para.[0116] Upon receiving the paging message from BS 620a, UE 610 may determine whether to respond to the paging message. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported, UE 610 may determine to respond a busy indication to the paging message),
wherein the busy indication comprises a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) busy indication (Para.[0022] The NAS service request message may include a busy indication); and
when determining to send the busy indication to the network side, sending the busy indication to the network side (Para.[0116] Upon receiving the paging message from BS 620a, UE 610 may determine whether to respond to the paging message. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported, UE 610 may determine to respond a busy indication to the paging message), wherein
wherein the busy indication is used to indicate that the terminal does not accept paging or reject paging (Para.[0102] Assuming that SIM B of UE 510 may receive the paging message from BS 520a, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, UE 510 may verify whether there is activity or ongoing service on SIM A, and whether to reject the RAN paging or not); and
(Para.[0094] in response to the RRC release message, UE 410 may, in operation 415, transition to an inactive mode (or a suspended mode) or idle mode).
Wu does not explicitly disclose the busy indication indicates the network side to release the terminal.
Shrivastava discloses the busy indication indicates the network side to release the terminal (Para.[0105] the UE 100 sends the RRC message or MAC CE..The RRC message or MAC CE can be triggered anytime by the UE 100 when it seems the need for a dynamic/unpredictable gap for other SIM's operation purpose. These may include like paging response, busy indication or other AS or NAS signaling. In case, long gap is indicated, the RRC message or MAC CE can also be used to indicate a RRC connection release on the SIM A as the activity on the other SIM B can be quite long. In order to save power, it may be efficient to move to idle or inactive mode on SIM A and Para.[0149] At S1312, the UE 100 sends the busy indication (i.e., RRC resume request with cause=busy) to the first network operator device 200a. At S1314, the first network operator device 200a sends the confirmation/RRC release/RRC release with suspend configuration to the UE (100)).
Wu and Shrivastava are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wu to include indicate to release a terminal as taught by Shrivastava in order to save power (Shrivastava Para.[0105]).
Re claim 3:
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the busy indication further comprises an RRC layer busy indication (Para.[0022] The method may include: receiving, from a base station, a Radio Access Network (RAN) paging; and transmitting, to the base station, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) resume request message including a busy indication when busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method may include transmitting, to the base station, a RRC message including a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) service request message. The NAS service request message may include a busy indication).
Re claim 4:
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether to send a busy indication to a network side comprises: sending a busy indication to the network side according to an RRC state when the terminal receives the paging message (Para.[0094] Still referring to FIG. 4, in response to the RRC release message, UE 410 may, in operation 415, transition to an inactive mode (or a suspended mode) or idle mode. When UE 410 is in an inactive mode and busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported, UE 410 may transmit a busy indication to the network as a response to a RAN paging. When UE 410 is in an idle mode and busy indication functionality for CN paging is supported, UE 410 may transmit a busy indication to the network as a response to a CN paging).
Re claim 5:
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether to send a busy indication to a network side after listening to a paging message comprises: when at least one of a first condition, a second condition, or a third condition is met, determining to send the busy indication to the network side (Para.[0116] Upon receiving the paging message from BS 620a, UE 610 may determine whether to respond to the paging message. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported, UE 610 may determine to respond a busy indication to the paging message),
wherein: the first condition comprises at least one of the following: that the paging message is sent by a network side of one card of the terminal, and a service priority corresponding to the paging message is less than or equal to a service priority that is being executed or to be executed by the terminal on another card; that the paging message is sent by a network side of one card of the terminal, and another card of the terminal is executing or is about to execute a preset service; that before listening to the paging message, the terminal does not send leave indication information to the network side, wherein the leave indication information is used to indicate that the terminal cannot send or receive data on the network side; or that before listening to the paging message, the terminal does not send the busy indication to the network side (Para.[0103] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an Access Stratum (AS) layer of UE 510 may forward the paging cause to a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer of UE 510, which may determine whether to respond with a busy indication to the network. In some examples, when SIM A of UE 510 is in an ongoing service, UE 510 may determine to transmit a busy indication in response to the paging message for SIM B. In some examples, the determination to transmit the busy indication may be based on a priority of the MT service indicated by the paging cause. For example, when SIM A of UE 510 is in a voice call, and the paging message for SIM B of UE 510 is associated with a SMS, which has a lower priority than the voice call, UE 510 may determine to transmit a busy indication in response to the paging message);
the second condition comprises at least one of the following: that an anchor base station or a last serving base station is capable of receiving or processing an RRC layer busy indication or requires the terminal to send an RRC layer busy indication; that the anchor base station or the last serving base station supports sending of a paging cause; or that the anchor base station or the last serving base station supports a function or a feature related to a multi-card terminal (Para.[0009] Determining that the busy indication functionality is supported may include determining one of the following: busy indication functionality for CN paging is supported; busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported; and busy indication functionality for both CN paging and RAN paging is supported); and
the third condition comprises at least one of the following: that a core network is capable of receiving or processing a NAS busy indication or requesting the terminal to send a NAS busy indication; that the core network supports sending of a paging cause; or that the core network supports a function or a feature related to a multi-card terminal (Para.[0009] Determining that the busy indication functionality is supported may include determining one of the following: busy indication functionality for CN paging is supported; busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported; and busy indication functionality for both CN paging and RAN paging is supported).
Re claim 6:
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 1, before the determining whether to send a busy indication to a network side, further comprising at least one of the following: receiving first indication information by using a broadcast message or dedicated signaling, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate whether an anchor base station or a last serving base station is capable of receiving or processing an RRC layer busy indication or requesting the terminal to send an RRC layer busy indication; receiving second indication information by using a broadcast message or dedicated signaling, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate whether a core network is capable of receiving or processing a NAS busy indication or requesting the terminal to send a NAS busy indication; receiving third indication information by using a broadcast message or dedicated signaling, wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether an anchor base station or a last serving base station supports sending of a paging cause; receiving fourth indication information by using a broadcast message or dedicated signaling, wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate whether a core network supports sending of a paging cause; receiving fifth indication information by using a broadcast message or dedicated signaling, wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate whether an anchor base station or a last serving base station supports a function or a feature related to a multi-card terminal; receiving sixth indication information by using a broadcast message or dedicated signaling, wherein the sixth indication information is used to indicate whether a core network supports a function or a feature related to a multi-card terminal; or sending seventh indication information to the network side, wherein the seventh indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal supports sending of the busy indication (Para.[0009] Determining that the busy indication functionality is supported may include determining one of the following: busy indication functionality for CN paging is supported; busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported; and busy indication functionality for both CN paging and RAN paging is supported and Para.[0075] In this way, a UE which receives the broadcast information (e.g., a SIB) may determine whether the busy indication functionality for CN paging or RAN paging is supported or not based on whether the broadcast information includes parameters associated with the busy indication functionality or not).
Re claim 7:
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 5, wherein when at least one of the first condition, the second condition, and the third condition is met, the determining to send a busy indication to a network side comprises at least one of the following: when the second condition and the third condition are met or the first condition, the second condition, and the third condition are met, determining to send the RRC layer busy indication or to send the busy indication according to an RRC state when the terminal receives the paging message; when the third condition is not met and the second condition is met, or the third condition is not met and the first condition and the second condition are met, determining to send the RRC layer busy indication; or when the second condition is not met and the third condition is met, or the second condition is not met and the first condition and the third condition are met, determining to send the NAS busy indication (Para.[0009] Determining that the busy indication functionality is supported may include determining one of the following: busy indication functionality for CN paging is supported; busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported; and busy indication functionality for both CN paging and RAN paging is supported and Para.[0104] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, UE 510 may transmit the busy indication in a RRC message in response to the paging message from BS 520a and Para.[0130] Referring to FIG. 7, UE 710 may generate a NAS message (e.g., a NAS service request message) including a busy indication, and may encode the NAS service request message into a RRC message).
Re claim 8:
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 5, wherein the determining whether to send a busy indication to a network side comprises at least one of the following: when the second condition is not met and the third condition is met, or the second condition is not met and the first condition and the third condition are met, determining not to send the busy indication; or when the second condition is not met and the third condition is not met, determining not to send the busy indication (Para.[0101] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported, UE 510 may determine to respond a busy indication to the paging message).
As shown above, Wu discloses sending a busy indication based on if the RAN supports a busy indication. Wu does not explicitly disclose “not to send the busy indication.” It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that a busy indication would not be sent when the RAN do not support a busy indication because WU teaches the busy indication is sent based on if the RAN supports a busy indication.
Re claim 9:
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 4, wherein the sending the busy indication according to an RRC state when the terminal receives the paging message comprises: when the terminal is in an RRC inactive state, sending the RRC layer busy indication; or when the terminal is in an RRC idle state, sending the NAS busy indication (Para.[0094] Still referring to FIG. 4, in response to the RRC release message, UE 410 may, in operation 415, transition to an inactive mode (or a suspended mode) or idle mode. When UE 410 is in an inactive mode and busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported, UE 410 may transmit a busy indication to the network as a response to a RAN paging. When UE 410 is in an idle mode and busy indication functionality for CN paging is supported, UE 410 may transmit a busy indication to the network as a response to a CN paging and Para.[0130] UE 710 may generate a NAS message (e.g., a NAS service request message) including a busy indication, and may encode the NAS service request message into a RRC message and Para.[0131] In operation 727, BS 720b may forward the NAS service request message to the core network (e.g., CN entity 730a)).
Re claim 10:
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the busy indication is carried in one of the following messages: an RRC connection resume request message, an RRC connection resume complete message, an RRC connection establishment request message, an RRC connection establishment complete message, a security mode command SMC complete message, or a NAS message (Para.[0130] UE 710 may generate a NAS message (e.g., a NAS service request message) including a busy indication, and may encode the NAS service request message into a RRC message).
Re claim 13:
As discussed above, Wu in view of Shrivastava meets all the limitations of the parent claim.
Wu does not explicitly disclose the busy indication transmission method according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of the following: sending release indication information to the network side, wherein the release indication information is used to indicate the network side to release the terminal; or indicating second timer duration to the network side, wherein the second timer duration is used to indicate duration in which the terminal is busy or cannot receive a paging message.
Shrivastava discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of the following: sending release indication information to the network side, wherein the release indication information is used to indicate the network side to release the terminal; or indicating second timer duration to the network side, wherein the second timer duration is used to indicate duration in which the terminal is busy or cannot receive a paging message (Para.[0105] the UE 100 sends the RRC message or MAC CE..The RRC message or MAC CE can be triggered anytime by the UE 100 when it seems the need for a dynamic/unpredictable gap for other SIM's operation purpose. These may include like paging response, busy indication or other AS or NAS signaling. In case, long gap is indicated, the RRC message or MAC CE can also be used to indicate a RRC connection release on the SIM A as the activity on the other SIM B can be quite long. In order to save power, it may be efficient to move to idle or inactive mode on SIM A and Para.[0149] At S1312, the UE 100 sends the busy indication (i.e., RRC resume request with cause=busy) to the first network operator device 200a. At S1314, the first network operator device 200a sends the confirmation/RRC release/RRC release with suspend configuration to the UE (100)).
Wu and Shrivastava are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wu to include indicate to release a terminal as taught by Shrivastava in order to save power (Shrivastava Para.[0105]).
Re claim 17:
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 7, wherein if the second condition is not met and the third condition is met, or the second condition is not met and the first condition and the third condition are not met, the sending the NAS busy indication further comprises: reporting, by an RRC layer, the busy indication or a paging cause in the paging message to an upper layer (Para.[0009] Determining that the busy indication functionality is supported may include determining one of the following: busy indication functionality for CN paging is supported; busy indication functionality for RAN paging is supported; and busy indication functionality for both CN paging and RAN paging is supported and Para.[0103] an Access Stratum (AS) layer of UE 510 may forward the paging cause to a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer of UE 510, which may determine whether to respond with a busy indication to the network and Para.[0049] an Access Stratum (AS) layer (e.g., a RRC layer) – Examiner Note: NAS layer is an upper layer).
Re claim 19: Claim 19 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1 from the perspective of the network side device.
Re claim 20: Claim 20 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1.
Re claim 21: Claim 20 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1.
Re claim 22: Claim 22 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 19.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US 20230345417) in view of Shrivastava (US 20230396984) as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Kumar (US 20220330202).
Re claim 12:
As discussed above, Wu in view of Shrivastava meets all the limitations of the parent claim.
Wu does not explicitly disclose the busy indication transmission method according to claim 6, further comprising: determining, by the terminal, a paging cause of the paging message according to the third indication information or the fourth indication information.
Kumar discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 6, further comprising: determining, by the terminal, a paging cause of the paging message according to the third indication information or the fourth indication information (Para.[0073] In another embodiment, the gNB can broadcast whether the paging cause is supported by the network nodes and Para.[0014] The principal object of the embodiments herein is to provide a method and a system for providing a paging cause to a MUSIM UE in a wireless communication network. Therefore, the MUSIM UE can make an appropriate decision in response to knowing about triggering of services through the paging cause).
Wu and Kumar are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wu to include determining a paging cause as taught by Kumar in order to make appropriate decisions (Kumar Para.[0014]).
Claim(s) 14-16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US 20230345417) in view of Shrivastava (US 20230396984) as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, and further in view of Xu (US 20220225465).
Re claim 14:
As discussed above, Wu in view of Shrivastava meets all the limitations of the parent claim.
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 1, after the sending the busy indication to the network side, (Para.[0022] transmitting, to the base station, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) resume request message including a busy indication).
Wu does not explicitly disclose further comprising at least one of the following: when no RRC release message is received, entering, by the terminal, an RRC idle state; or when a T319 timer expires, entering, by the terminal, an RRC idle state; or starting a first timer, wherein the first timer is used to indicate waiting duration of receiving an RRC release message by the terminal.
Xu discloses further comprising at least one of the following: when no RRC release message is received, entering, by the terminal, an RRC idle state; or when a T319 timer expires, entering, by the terminal, an RRC idle state; or starting a first timer, wherein the first timer is used to indicate waiting duration of receiving an RRC release message by the terminal (Para.[0322] For example, when the timer may be the T319 timer, the terminal starts T319 when sending a connection resume request, and stops T319 when receiving a connection resume message, a connection setup message, or a connection release message sent by the network device. Alternatively, the terminal stops T319 when the terminal reselects a cell or receives a higher layer indication of the terminal and exits from RRC connection setup. Otherwise, when T319 expires, the terminal releases a connection and enters an idle state due to an RRC connection restoration failure).
Wu and Xu are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wu to include entering an idle state after a T319 timer expires as taught by Xu in order to properly indicate a configuration parameter to a terminal (Xu Para.[0006]).
Re claim 15:
Wu in view of Shrivastava and Xu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 14, after the starting a first timer, further comprising: when an RRC release message is received, stopping the first timer; or when the first timer expires, releasing, by the terminal, to a first RRC state, wherein the first RRC state is an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state (Claim 15 further limits an alternative of claim 14. Since Wu in view of Xu discloses a T319 timer, the limitations of the claim 15 have been met).
Re claim 16:
Wu in view of Shrivastava and Xu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 15, further comprising: sending the first timer duration or the first RRC state to the network side when the busy indication is sent or before the busy indication is sent (Claim 16 further limits an alternative of claim 14. Since Wu in view of Xu discloses a T319 timer, the limitations of the claim 16 have been met).
Re claim 18:
As discussed above, Wu in view of Shrivastava meets all the limitations of the parent claims.
Wu discloses the busy indication transmission method according to claim 17, after the reporting, by an RRC layer, the busy indication or a paging cause in the paging message to an upper layer, further comprising: entering, by the terminal, an RRC idle state (Para.[0103] an Access Stratum (AS) layer of UE 510 may forward the paging cause to a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer of UE 510, which may determine whether to respond with a busy indication to the network and Para.[0049] an Access Stratum (AS) layer (e.g., a RRC layer) – Examiner Note: NAS layer is an upper layer).
Wu does not explicitly disclose entering an RRC idle state.
Xu discloses entering an RRC idle state (Para.[0322] For example, when the timer may be the T319 timer, the terminal starts T319 when sending a connection resume request, and stops T319 when receiving a connection resume message, a connection setup message, or a connection release message sent by the network device. Alternatively, the terminal stops T319 when the terminal reselects a cell or receives a higher layer indication of the terminal and exits from RRC connection setup. Otherwise, when T319 expires, the terminal releases a connection and enters an idle state due to an RRC connection restoration failure).
Wu and Xu are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wu to include entering an idle state as taught by Xu in order to properly indicate a configuration parameter to a terminal (Xu Para.[0006]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 19 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD SAJID ADHAMI whose telephone number is (571)272-8615. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy Kundu can be reached at (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471