DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a) the invention was known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for a patent.
Claim(s) 1-19 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by Marinier et al. (US 2011/0021154 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Marinier discloses a method comprising:
communicating data on a configured set of component carriers of a wireless or mobile communications system(Fig. 1, [0009], [0011] disclosing an LTE-A system operated with carrier aggregation; [0020]-[0026] disclosing the WTRU is configured with a set of component carriers for PDCCH monitoring, PDSCH reception, etc.; [0030] disclosing “the WTRU 100 is in communication with the Node-B 150, and both are configured to perform a method wherein UL transmissions from the WTRU 100 are transmitted to the Node-B 150 using multiple UL carriers 65, and downlink transmissions are handled using multiple carriers 70” [0038] disclosing the WTRU is configured or re-configured to operate with multiple carriers via RRC signaling either dedicated or from system information.);
detecting a trigger for connection re-establishment, wherein the detecting comprises detecting a radio link failure of a predefined component carrier, wherein the predefined component carrier comprises a primary component carrier of the configured set of component carriers ([0083]-[0087] disclosing detection of a partial radio link failure comprising: detection of a failure of a downlink carrier configured with PDCCH; detection of a failure of a downlink carrier configured with PDSCH, but not PDCCH; detection of a failure of one of the carriers WTRU is configured to operate with has a specific role (e.g., a PPC, anchor carrier or the DL carrier corresponding to the "special cell" or the "serving cell"; [0095]-[0096] “A primary re-establishment procedure may be triggered once the WTRU has detected a radio link failure on the DL primary carrier);
identifying at least one component carrier in the configured set that can be used for the connection re-establishment ([0135] disclosing “Instead of performing normal cell selection procedure, the WTRU selects a cell corresponding to one of the carriers it is configured with for which a radio problem does not exist.);
requesting for connection re-establishment through the at least one identified component carrier ([0136] disclosing “The WTRU may transmit the RRC connection re-establishment message by initiating a RACH procedure using resources broadcast by the selected cell”); and
prioritizing at least one cell providing at least one of the component carriers of the configured set over other cells available for the connection re-establishment in response to a radio link failure, wherein upon failure of the primary component carrier of the configured set, the at least one of the component carriers of the configured set of component carriers is prioritized for the re-establishment, wherein a cell that corresponds to a component carrier that belongs to the configured set is prioritized over cells that do not belong to the configured set of component carriers ([0135] disclosing “ Instead of performing normal cell selection procedure, the WTRU selects a cell corresponding to one of the carriers it is configured with for which a radio problem does not exist. The WTRU may pick this carrier according to pre-determined or pre-signaled priority, or according to signal quality, or by prioritizing a DL carrier paired to an UL carrier on which PUCCH resources exist”; [0083]-[0087] and [0095]-[0096] as discussed above).
Regarding claim 2, Marinier discloses the method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
performing a different re-establishment procedure for a component carrier belonging to the configured set than what would be performed for other carriers available as component carriers ([0135]-[0136], [0141]-[0142] disclosing the WTRU picks a carrier of the configured set that has not failed based on priority instead of doing normal cell selection procedure and instead of doing RRC connection re-establishment, the WTRU initiates a random access procedure utilizing resources broadcast by a carrier that has not failed).
Regarding claim 3, Marinier discloses the method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the requesting comprises:
sending of a reduced connection re-establishment request on the at least one identified component carrier ([0135]-[0136], [0141]-[0142] disclosing the WTRU picks a carrier of the configured set that has not failed based on priority instead of doing normal cell selection procedure and instead of doing RRC connection re-establishment, the WTRU initiates a random access procedure utilizing resources broadcast by a carrier that has not failed).
Regarding claim 4, Marinier discloses the method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
triggering the connection re-establishment in response to the radio link failure of the predefined component carrier ([0095]-[0096] “A primary re-establishment procedure may be triggered once the WTRU has detected a radio link failure on the DL primary carrier).
Regarding claim 5, Marinier discloses he method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connection re-establishment comprises re-establishment of at least one cell corresponding to at least one of the components carriers of the configured set ([0095]-[0096] “A primary re-establishment procedure may be triggered once the WTRU has detected a radio link failure on the DL primary carrier; [0141]-[0142]).
Regarding claim 6. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
generating a reduced re-establishment request; and sending the generated reduced re-establishment request on the at least one identified component carrier ([0135]-[0136], [0141]-[0142] disclosing the WTRU picks a carrier of the configured set that has not failed based on priority instead of doing normal cell selection procedure and instead of doing RRC connection re-establishment, the WTRU initiates a random access procedure utilizing resources broadcast by a carrier that has not failed).
Regarding claims 7-12, the claims are directed towards a control apparatus for a communication device adapted for communications on a configured set of component carriers of a wireless or mobile communications system, the control apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform the method of claims 1-6. Marinier discloses such control apparatus ([0185]-[0187]); accordingly, the claims are rejected on the grounds presented above for claims 1-6.
Regarding claim 13, Marinier discloses a mobile communication device comprising the control apparatus according to claim 7 (Fig. 2, 100, [0005], [0011], [0018], [0185]-[0187] disclosing the WTRU as a user equipment, mobile station and the like performs the techniques as disclosed and cited above with respect to claim 7).
Regarding claim 14-19, the claims are directed towards a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the method of claims 1-6. Marinier discloses such article of manufacture ([0185]-[0187]); accordingly, the claims are rejected on the grounds presented above for claims 1-6.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Joseph A Bednash whose telephone number is (571)270-7500. The examiner can normally be reached 7 AM - 4:30 PM M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached at (571)272-3155. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH A BEDNASH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461