DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/04/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
3. Claims 1-6, 8-13, 15-18 are pending wherein claims 1, 8, and 15 are in independent form.
4. Claims 1-2, 8-9, and 15-16 have been amended.
5. Claims 7 and 14 have been canceled.
Response to Arguments
6. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 8, and 15 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
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-6, 8-13, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paladugu et al (US 20240196449 A1, hereinafter referred to as Paladugu) in view of Wu et al (US 20180070281, hereinafter referred to as Wu) and further in view of further in view Wu et al (US 20230397233 A1, hereinafter referred to as Wu ‘233).
Re claim 1, Paladugu teaches a method for supporting multi-path transmission or communication (Fig. 14), comprising:
(i) a User Equipment (UE) establishes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection with a network node (direct Uu connection between the remote UE and MN) (Fig. 14-15, Par 0072-0073, Par 0085, Par 0088;
(ii) the UE establishes a non-3GPP standardized connection with a relay UE (non-3GPP RAT/Bluetooth/WiFi connection with a relay UE), wherein a relationship between the UE and the relay UE is pre-configured or static (preconfigured provisioning information to select/establish relay path) (Fig. 4, Fig. 7-9, Fig. 14-15, Par 0072, Par 0076-0079, Par 0083-0085, Par 0088);
(iii) the UE transmits a RRC message to the network node after establishing the non- 3GPP standardized connection with the relay UE (transmitting RRC message to the MN at step 1418, Fig. 14), wherein the RRC message includes an identifier
(iv) the UE receives a RRC Reconfiguration message from the network node (Receiving RRC Reconfiguration message from the MN at step 1422, Fig. 14), wherein the RRC Reconfiguration message includes a configuration of a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) (SN RRC configuration including target path information to establish SCG bearer/second bearer via the relay UE) and wherein the DRB is mapped to a first Radio Link Control (RLC) entity in the UE (Non-Uu L2 layer in the remote UE, Fig. 7) and a second RLC entity in the relay UE (Non-Uu L2/RLC layer in the relay UE, Fig. 7) (Fig. 7-8, Par 0076-0079, Par 0085-0086, Par 0091, Par 0094-0096, Par 0098-0100, Par 0107, Par 0111-0112);
(v) the UE transmits a data packet of the DRB to the network node via at least one of the first RLC entity (remote UE non-Uu L2 layer) or the second RLC entity (Non-Uu L2/RLC layer in the relay UE) (Fig. 7, Fig. 14, Par 0074-0077, Par 0085-0086, Par 0096).
Paladugu discloses to include relay UE identification information in the RRC message (Fig. 14) but does not explicitly disclose that the relay UE identification information is C-RNTI.
Wu teaches that the relay UE identifier is C-RNTI (Par 0021, Par 0034).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Paladugu by including C-RNTI as the relay identifier, as taught by Wu for the purpose of providing an efficient relay selection/reselection process “to reduce a time of interruption due to a poor relay link and avoid occurrence of long-time traffic interruption”, as taught by Wu (Par 0007-0008).
Paladugu does not explicitly disclose that the RRC Reconfiguration message includes an identity of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session.
Wu ‘233 teaches that the RRC Reconfiguration message includes an identity of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session (Par 0081, Par 0087, Par 0093, Par 0100).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Paladugu by including the step that the RRC Reconfiguration message includes an identity of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, as taught by Wu ‘233 for the purpose of efficiently managing packet flows in a wireless communication network, as taught by Wu (Par 0007-0009).
Claim 8 recites a UE performing the steps recited in claim 1 and thereby, is rejected for the reasons discussed above with respect to claim 1. Paladugu further teaches that the UE (350, Fig. 3) comprises a control circuit; a processor installed in the control circuit; and a memory installed in the control circuit and operatively coupled to the processor (Fig. 3, Par 0064-0069).
Re claims 2, 9, Paladugu teaches that the DRB is associated with the PDU session (PDU session over the relayed connection) (Fig. 6-8, Par 0074-0075, Par 0077, Par 0137).
Re claims 3, 10, 17,, Paladugu teaches that the DRB is a split bearer with or without Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) duplication (Fig. 10-14, Par 0079-0082, Par 0086, Par 0088-0092).
Re claims 4, 11, Paladugu teaches that the data packet is transmitted via the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity if the DRB is configured with PDCP duplication (Fig. 17, Par 0091-0092).
Re claims 5, 12, Paladugu teaches that the data packet is transmitted via one of the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity if the DRB is not configured with PDCP duplication (no packet duplication when PDCP duplication is deactivated) (Fig. 17, Par 0091-0092).
Re claims 6, 13, 18, Paladugu teaches that the first RLC entity is used for transmission over a direct path between the UE and the network node (direct Uu connection) and the second RLC entity is used for transmission over an indirect path between the relay UE and the network node (relayed connection) (Fig. 7-14, Par 0074-0079, Par 0085-0086).
9. Claims 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Srinivasan et al (WO 2023194554 A1, hereinafter referred to as Srinivasan) in view of Yao et al (US 20240414623 A1, hereinafter referred to as Yao) and further in view Wu et al (US 20230397233 A1, hereinafter referred to as Wu ‘233).
Re claim 15, Srinivasan teaches a method for supporting multi-path transmission or communication (Fig. 7, Abstract), comprising:
(i) a network node (gNB) establishes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection with a user equipment (gNB establishes a direct connection with the UE to exchange UL/DL data) (Fig. 7, step 400, Pg. 19, Line 9-16);
(ii) the network node receives a RRC message from the UE (measurement report including relay UE identifier, step 406, Fig. 7), wherein the RRC message includes an identifier of a relay UE (measurement report includes relay UE identifier) (Fig. 7, Pg. 19, line 17-27, Pg. 20, line 23-34, Pg. 21, Line 1-4 --- Srinivasan does not explicitly disclose that the RRC message includes a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) of a relay UE);
(iii) the network node transmits a RRC Reconfiguration message to the UE (RRC Reconfiguration, step 410, Fig. 7), wherein the RRC Reconfiguration message includes a configuration of a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) (a radio bearer for multipath operation) and wherein the DRB is mapped to a first Radio Link Control (RLC) entity in the UE (Uu LCH) and a second RLC entity in the relay UE (PC5 LCH) (Fig. 2-3, Fig. 6-8, Pg. 3, Line 32-34, Pg. 4, Line 1-21, Pg. 10, Line 27-34, Pg. 11, Line 1-22, Pg. 15, Line 8-27, Pg. 19, Line 28-34, Pg. 20, Line 1-3, Pg. 21, Line 5-23, Pg. 22, Line 13-24); and
(iv) the network node receives a data packet of the DRB from the UE (UL/DL data communication via multipath RB) via at least one of the first RLC entity (Uu LCH) or the second RLC entity (PC5 LCH) (Fig. 2-4, Fig. 7-8, Pg. 10, Line 13-26, Pg. 19, Line 28-34, Pg. 20, Line 4-22, Pg. 21, Line 5-34, Pg. 25, Line 1-20).
Srinivasan does not explicitly disclose that the RRC message includes a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) of a relay UE.
Yao teaches that the RRC message includes a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) of a relay UE (measurement result includes C-RNTI) (Fig. 3, Par 0119-0120, Par 0128-0131).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Srinivasan by including the step that the RRC message includes a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) of a relay UE, as taught by Yao for the purpose of improving a network access success rate of a remote UE via a relay UE, as taught by Yao (Par 0004-0005).
Srinivasan does not explicitly disclose that the RRC Reconfiguration message includes an identity of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session.
Wu ‘233 teaches that the RRC Reconfiguration message includes an identity of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session (Par 0081, Par 0087, Par 0093, Par 0100).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Srinivasan by including the step that the RRC Reconfiguration message includes an identity of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, as taught by Wu ‘233 for the purpose of efficiently managing packet flows in a wireless communication network, as taught by Wu (Par 0007-0009).
Re claim 16, Srinivasan discloses that the DRB (multipath radio bearer including a PC5 and a Uu link) is associated with a PDU session (Fig. 2-4, Fig. 7-8, Pg. 3, Line 32-34, Pg. 4, Line 1-21, Pg. 10, Line 13-26, Pg. 15, Line 8-27, Pg. 19, Line 28-34, Pg. 20, Line 1-3, Pg. 21, Line 5-23, Pg. 22, Line 13-24).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARUN UR R CHOWDHURY whose telephone number is (571)270-3895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM.
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, Kwang B Yao can be reached at 5712723182. 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.
/HARUN CHOWDHURY/Examiner, Art Unit 2473
Prosecution Insights