DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 04 June 2026. Claims 1-20 are now pending in the present application. This office action is made Non-Final.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04 June 2026 has been entered.
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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai et al. (hereinafter Bai) (WO 2023/283102 A1; also, see US 20240305533 A1) in view of further support by Uziel et al. (hereinafter Uziel) (US 2024/0040506 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 5, 8, and 17, Bai discloses a method for scheduling radio resources, the method comprising:
a central scheduler (e.g., INSM) of a distributed unit (DU) ) (e.g., 1015) sending to an intelligence layer, for each respective individual cell of a plurality of cells the DU serves, parameter values indicating a current real-time (e.g., RT/ near RT) required number of layers of a total of required physical resource blocks (PRBs) (e.g., PRB usage) [claim 5 variation feature “and other service types managed by the DU”] for the respective individual cell { (see pg. 11, [0034]; pg. 19, [0057]; pp. 21-22, [0071-0076]; pp. 29-30, [0098]; pp. 31-32, [0102-0103]; Figs. 2, 4, 7-8, & 10), where the system provides metrics such as QoS class traffic loading and management, optimizing radio resource utilization level, number of RRC, SINR, SLAs, and priority levels (see pp. 5-6, [0017]; pg. 19, [0057]), and the system provides usage and max ratio for PRBs and protocol layers (e.g., L1, MAC, RLC, Data) used (see pg. 11, [0035]; pp. 12-13, [0038-0040]; pg. 21, [0069]; pp. 31-32, [0102-0103]; Figs. 2, 4, 7-8, & 10), and the system provides real time (or near-real-time (RT) functions and collecting information (see pg. 6, [0019, lines 1-8]; pg. 39, lines 11-12 [0014]; pg. 50, [0145]; pp. 52-52, [0153]) };
receiving from the intelligence layer priorities for allocation of radio resources for each respective individual cell of a plurality of cells based on predictions, made by an artificial intelligence or machine learning model using the received parameter values, of radio resource utilization of each respective individual ceil and aggregated available resources for the plurality of cells { (see [0066-0068]; pg. 11, [0034]; pg. 19, [0057]; pp. 21-22, [0071-0076]; Fig. 2), where the system has a network that provides provisioning and configuration (see pp. 5-6, [0017]; pg. 19, [0057]) }; and
the central scheduler scheduling radio resources based on the received priorities { (see [0066-0068]; Fig. 2) }. Bai inexplicitly discloses having the feature required number of layers of a total of required physical resource blocks (PRBs). However, in the alternative, the examiner maintains that the feature(s) required number of layers of a total of required physical resource blocks (PRBs) was well known in the art, as taught by Uziel.
As further alternative support in the same field of endeavor, Uziel discloses the feature(s) required number of layers of a total of required physical resource blocks (PRBs) { (see pg. 10, [0074-0076, Table 1]), where the system provides values for layers and PRBs }.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to combine the teachings of Bai as further alternatively supported by Uziel to have the feature(s) required number of layers of a total of required physical resource blocks (PRBs), in order to provide an adaptive processing envelope based on power consumption, as taught by Uziel (see pg. 1, [0004]).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Bai and Uziel discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 1), in addition Bai further discloses the method of claim 1 wherein the scheduling radio resources according to the received priorities includes: allocating radio resources for high priority traffic and control signaling resources; and assigning radio resources to various individual cells of the plurality of cells based on the priorities received by the intelligence layer { (see [0066-0068]; pg. 11, [0034]; pg. 19, [0057]; pp. 21-22, [0071-0076]; Fig. 2) }.
Regarding claims 3 and 13, the combination of Bai and Uziel discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 1), in addition Bai further discloses the method of claim 1 wherein the predictions are made based on past historical data regarding the plurality of cells and connection to other data sources that include cell site morphological information or other cell site information of cell sites providing the plurality of cells { (see [0066-0068]; pg. 11, [0034]; pg. 19, [0057]; pp. 21-22, [0071-0076]; Fig. 2) }.
Regarding claims 4 and 14, the combination of Bai and Uziel discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 1), in addition Bai further discloses the method of claim 1 wherein the receiving from the intelligence layer priorities for allocation of radio resources includes receiving the priorities periodically per Transmission Time Interval (TT!) for each respective individual cell of a plurality of calls { (see [0066-0068]; pg. 11, [0034]; pg. 19, [0057]; pp. 21-22, [0071-0076]; Fig. 2) }.
Regarding claims 6, 12, and 15, the combination of Bai and Uziel discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 5), in addition Bai further discloses the method of claim 5, further comprising: the intelligence layer managing a set of DUs including the DU, the intelligence layer monitoring a network traffic pattern across different times of day: the intelligence layer identifying an artificial intelligence or machine learning model from the library of artificial intelligence or machine learning models in real time based on a signature of the DU or from historical data available from the DU: and the intelligence layer applying the identified artificial intelligence or machine learning model to make the predictions of radio resource utilization of each respective individual cell of the plurality of cells { (see [0066-0068]; pg. 11, [0034]; pg. 19, [0057]; pp. 21-22, [0071-0076]; Fig. 2) }.
Regarding claims 7 and 16, the combination of Bai and Uziel discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 5), in addition Bai further discloses the method of claim 5 wherein the intelligence layer is part of the DU { (see [0066-0068]; pg. 11, [0034]; Fig. 2) }.
Regarding claims 9 and 18, the combination of Bai and Uziel discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 8), in addition Bai further discloses the system of claim 8, wherein the parameter values indicate one or more of: physical resource block (PRB) utilization on downlink and uplink; average rank assignment on downlink and uplink: average signal to noise ratio (SINR) as per Channel Quality Indicator (CQD reported by various different user equipment devices (UESs}: Voice Over New Radio (VoNR) call distribution; other service types managed by the DU) total required resources; control signaling resources; high priority traffic; required number of layers of a total of required physical resource blocks (PRBs)}: and current spectral efficiency of the respective individual cell { (see [0066-0068]; pg. 11, [0034]; pg. 19, [0057]; pp. 21-22, [0071-0076]; Fig. 2) }.
Regarding claims 10 and 19, the combination of Bai and Uziel discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 8), in addition Bai further discloses the system of claim 8 wherein the predictions are predictions of radio resource utilization of each respective individual cell of the plurality of cells { (see [0066-0068]; pg. 11, [0034]; Fig. 2) }.
Regarding claims 11 and 20, the combination of Bai and Uziel discloses every limitation claimed, as applied above (see claim 8), in addition Bai further discloses the system of claim 8 wherein the predictions are predictions of radio resource utilization of each respective individual cell and aggregated available resources for the plurality of cells { (see [0066-0068]; pg. 11, [0034]; Fig. 2) }.
Response to Arguments
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Gupta et al. (US 2024/0334463 A1) discloses adaptive distributed unit (DU) scheduler.
Gupta et al. (US 2024/0334473 A1) discloses adaptive distributed unit (DU) scheduler.
Gupta et al. (US 2024/0334473 A1) discloses adaptive distributed unit (DU) scheduler.
Bai et al. (US 20240154682 A1) discloses measurement and scheduling of intra-frequency and inter-frequency reference signals.
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection necessitated by the amended language, new limitations, and/or new claims.
In response to applicant’s arguments, the Examiner respectfully disagrees as the applied reference(s) provide more than adequate support and to further clarify (see the above claims for relevant citations and comments in this section).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIE J DANIEL JR whose telephone number is (571)272-7907. The examiner can normally be reached on 9 - 6.
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, Gary Mui can be reached on 571-270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WILLIE J DANIEL JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
WJD,Jr
21 August 2026
Prosecution Insights