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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The independent claim 1 has been amended to recite, in part:
“wherein determining whether to switch the RRC state according to both the state of the first timer and the state of the second timer comprises:
when the second timer is not in a running state, as a response to the first timer is expiring”
The office notes that the claims originally recited, “the first timer is expired”. There is a substantial difference in the meaning between “expired” and “expiring”. For example, an “expired” timer has ended, while a timer that is “expiring” is in the progress of ending and has not yet ended. For example, the timer is expiring in 2 seconds, versus the timer has expired. This changes the claim limitations, and is not reflected in the applicants specification as filed. For example, there are no recitations in the applicants specification for an expiring timer, in fact there is no recitation of expiring at all within the applicants originally filed disclosure. With regard to the expired timer, the applicants PG Pub (US 2023/0397288 A1) to Zhang et al. has the following recitations.
Par.[0006] “[0006] To address the above issue, the present application provides a solution of failure detection of small data transmission in the RRC inactive state, which introduces two new timers, and detects whether the small data transmission procedure is failed according to whether the two timers are expired.”
Par.[0007] “[0007] To address the above issue, the present application provides a solution of failure detection of small data transmission in the RRC inactive state, which introduces a new timer, and detects whether the small data transmission procedure is failed according to whether the timer is expired, thus acquiring the beneficial effect of keeping the RRC states of the network and the UE consistent.”
Par.[0012] “[0012] herein, the action of maintaining a first timer comprises: along with the first message, starting the first timer; the action of maintaining a second timer comprises: as a response to receiving a first-type data unit or as a response to transmitting the first-type data unit, starting or restarting the second timer;
the action of determining whether to switch an RRC state according to both a state of the first timer and a state of the second timer comprises: when the second timer is not in a running state, as a response to that the first timer is expired, switching from an RRC inactive state to a first RRC state, or when the second timer is in the running state, that the first timer is expired not triggering a switch from the RRC inactive state to the first RRC state; the first RRC state is a candidate state in a first candidate state set, the first candidate state set comprising an RRC idle state.”
As discussed the disclosure as filed does not teach the above contested claim limitation because the disclosure does not consider an expiring timer but timers that have expired as shown above.
Additionally the dependent claims 2-6, are rejected for their dependency on independent claims 1 and 7, and for additional reasons as will be discussed below.
Claim 3 recites, in part, “as a response to that the second timer expiring”. As discussed above the claims as filed do not describe an expiring timer.
The office, for the purpose of examination will interpret the term “expiring” as “expired”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 7, and 13, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ou et al. (US 2022/0078875 A1), with priority to 63/075,490 dated September 8th, 2020.
Regarding claims 1 and 13: Ou discloses:
a user equipment (fig.1 depicts a plurality of user equipment 116 and 122) for wireless communications (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications network), the UE comprising:
a receiver (fig.2 depicts nodes with a transceiver comprising transmitter and receiver combination), configured to maintain a first timer (fig(s) 16-19 depict a first timer), and a second timer (fig(s). 16-19 depict a second timer); and
a first transmitter (fig.2 depicts nodes with a transmitter/receiver combo, which allows the nodes to transmit information between each other, see elements 222 and 254), configured to transmit a first message (fig.16 depicts the transmission of the RRC_RESUME Request), the first message comprising an RRC signaling (fig.16 which depicts the RRC Resume Request); and
determine whether to switch an RRC state based on failure of a small data transmission (par.[0005] which recites, in part, “The timer (e.g. T319) used to control the duration of the RRC connection resume procedure…… and configured in the case of small data transmission……”. That is, the timer expiry can indicate SDT failure) according to both a state of the first timer and a state of the second timer (fig.16 depicts a first timer and second timer, describes expiry of a timer T319 and performing a state transition, par.[0247]. Additionally, as will be shown later multiple timers can be used to control state transition, par.[0306]);
wherein maintaining the first timer comprises:
along with transmitting the first message, starting the first timer (fig.16 depicts the RRC Resume being transmitting and starting a first timer. The office notes that either timer may be recognized as the first timer);
wherein maintaining a second timer comprises:
as a response to receiving a first-type data unit, starting or restarting the second timer (fig.16 the UE receives an indication to continue data transmission RACH MSG Complete with an indication. Additionally, the timer may be started at a same time as show in fig.19-20 when RRC_RESUME is performed or SDT transmission);
wherein determining whether to switch an RRC state according to both the state of the first timer and a state of the second timer comprises:
when the second timer is not in a running state, as a response to that the first timer is expired, switching from an RRC inactive state to a first RRC state (par.[0306] describes the two timer are not running or when the first timer is expired switching an RRC STATE from the RRC_INACTIVE state. Par.[0009, 0247, and 0306]), or when the second timer is in the running state, that the first timer is expired not triggering a switch from the RRC inactive state to the first RRC state (fig(s).16-20 the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state while the first timer is expired and the second timer is still running);
the first RRC state is a candidate state in a first candidate state set, the first candidate state set comprising an RRC idle state (the office notes that in since 3GPP Release 15 the RRC_STATEs comprise RRC_CONNECTED, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_IDLE, which are well-known and discussed throughout the specification).
Regarding claim 7: Ou discloses:
a base station (fig.1 depicts a base station) for wireless communications (fig.1 displays a wireless communications network), the base station comprising:
a receiver (fig.2 depicts two wireless devices each with a transceiver, which is a receiver/transmitter combination), configured to receive a first message (fig.16 depicts the transmission of the RRC_RESUME Request), the first message comprising an RRC signaling (fig.16 which depicts the RRC Resume Request), the first message comprising an RRC signaling (fig.16 wherein the first device transmits an RRC_RESUME message to the second device);
wherein a state of a first timer and a state of a second timer are used together by a user equipment (fig.1 depicts a user equipment) transmitting the first message for determining whether to switch an RRC state based on the failure of a small data transmission (fig.16 depicts a first timer and second timer, describes expiry of a timer T319 and performing a state transition, par.[0247]. Additionally, as will be shown later multiple timers can be used to control state transition, par.[0306], also par.[0005] describes small data transmission);
wherein the first timer being maintained comprises:
along with the first message, the first timer being started (fig(s).16-19 wherein when the RRC_RESUME message being transmitted the UE starts a first timer);
wherein the second timer being maintained comprises:
as a response to receiving or transmitting a first-type data unit, the second timer being started or restarted (fig.16 the UE receives an indication to continue data transmission RACH MSG Complete with an indication. Additionally, the timer may be started at a same time as show in fig.19-20 when RRC_RESUME is performed or SDT transmission);
wherein the state of a first timer and a state of a second timer are used together for determining whether to switch an RRC state comprises:
when the second timer is not in a running state, as a response to that the first timer is expired, switching from an RRC inactive state to a first RRC state (par.[0306] describes the two timer are not running or when the first timer expires switching an RRC STATE from the RRC_INACTIVE state. Par.[0009, 0247, and 0306]), or when the second timer is in the running state, that the first timer is expired not switching from the RRC inactive state to the first RRC state (fig(s).16-20 the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state while the first timer is expired and the second timer is still running);
and wherein the first RRC state is a candidate state in a first candidate state set, the first candidate state set comprising an RRC idle state (the office notes that in since 3GPP Release 15 the RRC_STATEs comprise RRC_CONNECTED, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_IDLE, which are well-known and discussed throughout the specification).
Claim(s) 1-3, 6-9, 12-15, and 18, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xu et al. (US 2022/0225465 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 13: Xu discloses:
a user equipment (fig.1 depicts a user equipment) for wireless communications (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications network), comprising:
a receiver (fig.1 depicts the nodes communicating wirelessly with one another, which, requires a transmitter and receiver), configured to maintaining a first timer (fig.22 depicts a first timer), and the maintain of a second timer (fig.22 depicts a second timer); and
a transmitter (fig.1 depicts the devices in the wireless communications which requires a transmitter), configured to transmit a first message (fig.22 depicts the transmission of a first message ), the first message comprising an RRC signaling (fig.22 depicts the RRC resume from the first device to the second device); and
determining whether to switch an RRC state based on failure of a small data transmission (par.[0376] which recites, in part, “For a terminal in a non-connected state, when small and sparse data is sent, because the terminal needs to perform a random access process before sending a small piece of data,”, par.[0400]) according to both a state of the first timer and a state of the second timer (fig.20 and par.[0444] describes when the first timer and second timer are not running entering into the RRC_IDLE state);
wherein the action of maintaining a first timer comprises:
along with the first message, starting the first timer (fig.22 depicts the RRC Resume being transmitted and starting a first timer);
the action of maintaining a second timer comprises:
as a response to receiving a first-type data unit or as a response to transmitting the first-type data unit, starting or restarting the second timer (fig.22 describes the second timer starts based on data transmission with second device);
the action of determining whether to switch an RRC state according to both a state of the first timer and a state of the second timer comprises:
when the second timer is not in a running state, as a response to that the first timer is expired, switching from an RRC inactive state to a first RRC state (fig.22 and par.[0444] describes the T319 timer expiring and the second timer starting, and the second timer expiring), or when the second timer is in the running state, that the first timer is expired not triggering a switch from the RRC inactive state to the first RRC state (fig.22 during the running of the second timer the UE may receive downlink data or transmit on the uplink data to the network device);
the first RRC state is a candidate state in a first candidate state set, the first candidate state set comprising an RRC idle state (par.[0003] describes the three states of the UE, RRC_Connected, RRC_Inactive, and RRC_Idle).
Regarding claims 2, 8, and 14, Xu discloses:
when the first timer is not in a running state, as a response to that the second timer is expired, the RRC inactive state is switched to the first RRC state; when the first timer is in the running state, that the second timer is expired not triggering a switch from the RRC inactive state to the first RRC state (fig.22 and par.[0444] describes the T319 timer expiring and the second timer starting and then expiring and entering into another RRC_STATE from the RRC_INACTIVE state. Additionally the T319 timer is run to manage the RRC_RESUME with SDT process, thus, when the T319 timer is running the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state).
Regarding claims 3, 9, and 15, Xu discloses:
characterized in that as a response to that the second timer is expired/expiring, convey a first indication is conveyed from a MAC sublayer to upper layer(s);
wherein the second timer is maintained in the MAC sublayer; the first timer is maintained in an RRC sublayer (par.[0148] describes the first and second timers can be timers in the RRC layer or MAC layer, and in order to communicate the expiration of the layer-2 expiration the upper layers (e.g. RRC) must be informed).
Regarding claims 6 and 18, Xu discloses:
The receiver, is further configured to: (fig.1 depicts a first device with a first transmitter/receiver and a second device with a second transmitter/receiver),
receiving a second message when the first timer is in the running state (par.[0322] describes the timer T319 stopping when receiving the RRC message during the duration of the first timer); and
as a response to receiving the second message, stopping the first timer (par.[0321 – 0322] describes stopping the first timer); and
wherein as a response to receiving the second message, the first timer is stopped (par.[0322] describes stopping the timer T319 when the UE receives the connection resume, connection setup, or a connection release message);
the second message comprises an RRC signaling, and the second message is a response to the first message; the second message indicates the RRC state of the transmitter of the first message (par.[0322] describes the UE receiving a connection release or some other RRC message, which causes the UE to enter into another RRC state such as RRC_IDLE).
Regarding claim 7: Xu discloses:
a second node (fig.1 depicts first and second nodes) for wireless communications (fig.1 displays a wireless communications network), comprising:
a second receiver (fig(s). 24-25 the radio frequency apparatus element 2402, par.[0525]), receiving a first message (fig.22 depicts the transmission of the RRC_RESUME message), the first message comprising an RRC signaling (fig. 22 wherein the first device transmits an RRC_RESUME message to the second device);
wherein a state of a first timer and a state of a second timer are used together by a transmitter of the first message for determining whether to switch an RRC state (fig.20 and par.[0444] describes when the first timer and second timer are not running entering into the RRC_IDLE state);
the first timer is maintained by the transmitter of the first message, and the second timer is maintained by the transmitter of the first message (as discussed above with regard to claim 1, the first and second timer are started by the first device);
the first timer being maintained comprises:
along with the first message, the first timer being started (fig.22 wherein when the RRC_RESUME message being transmitted the UE starts a first timer);
the second timer being maintained comprises:
as a response to receiving a first-type data unit or as a response to transmitting the first-type data unit, the second timer being started or restarted (fig.16 the UE receives an indication to continue data transmission RACH MSG Complete with an indication. Additionally, the timer may be started at a same time as show in fig.19-20 when RRC_RESUME is performed or SDT transmission);
that a state of a first timer and a state of a second timer are used together for determining whether to switch an RRC state comprises:
when the second timer is not in a running state, as a response to that the first timer is expired, switching from an RRC inactive state to a first RRC state (fig.22 and par.[0444] describes the T319 timer expiring and the second timer starting, and the second timer expiring), or when the second timer is in the running state, that the first timer is expired not triggering a switch from the RRC inactive state to the first RRC state (fig.22 during the running of the second timer the UE may receive downlink data or transmit on the uplink data to the network device, so the UE does not switch from RRC_INACTIVE);
the first RRC state is a candidate state in a first candidate state set, the first candidate state set comprising an RRC idle state (par.[0003] describes the three states of the UE, RRC_Connected, RRC_Inactive, and RRC_Idle).
Regarding claim 12, Xu discloses:
the transmitter, is further configured to: (fig.1 depicts a first device with a first transmitter/receiver and a second device with a second transmitter/receiver),
transmit a second message when the first timer is in the running state (par.[0322] describes the timer T319 stopping when receiving the RRC message during the duration of the first timer); and
as a response to the UE receiving the second message, the first timer is stopped (par.[0321 – 0322] describes stopping the first timer); and
wherein as a response to receiving the second message, the first timer is stopped (par.[0322] describes stopping the timer T319 when the UE receives the connection resume, connection setup, or a connection release message);
wherein the second message comprises an RRC signaling, and the second message is a response to the first message; the second message indicates the RRC state of the transmitter of the first message (par.[0322] describes the UE receiving a connection release or some other RRC message, which causes the UE to enter into another RRC state such as RRC_IDLE).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 4-5, 10-11, and 16-17, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu as applied to claims 1, 7, and 13, in view of Tsai et al. (US 2022/0210798 A1).
Regarding claims 4 and 16, the disclosure of Xu teaches:
a receiver, configured for receiving a third message (par.[0004] which teaches that the UE receives an RRC_Connection_Release message which transitions the UE to RRC_INACTIVE state);
wherein a time of receiving the third message is earlier than a time of transmitting the first message (par.[0004] describes the UE entering into the inactive state based on the reception of the release message. The UE sends the resume while in the RRC_INACTIVE state, thus, the release message is received before the UE can transmit the resume message).
While the disclosure of Xu teaches the above limitations, it may not disclose:
the third message enables a first radio bearer set to be transmitted in the RRC inactive state;
and wherein any said first-type data unit belongs to a radio bearer in the first radio bearer set.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Tsai teaches:
the third message enables a first radio bearer set to be transmitted in the RRC inactive state (fig.1 element S120 wherein the UE receives a RRC_RELEASE with a CG_CONFIG. The CG_CONFIG comprises the resources (e.g. bearers which are mapped to logical channels) which allow for SDT, par.[0083] describes the CG-based SDT);
any said first-type data unit belongs to a radio bearer in the first radio bearer set (fig.1 and par.[0083] wherein the bearers/resources indicated by the CG-Config are explicitly indicated for use in SDT transmission while the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Xu for SDT/EDT utilizing a timer with the SDT configuration in a Release message as discussed in Tsai. The motivation/suggestion would have been to reduce signaling overhead by transmitting a SDT/EDT configuration to the UE in an RRC message which allows the UE to enter a low power state along with the ability to perform SDT/EDT while the UE is in the inactive state which further reduces signaling overhead and reduces power consumption of the wireless devices.
Regarding claims 5, 11, and 17, the disclosure of Tsai teaches:
characterized in that after transmitting/receiving the third message and before transmitting the first message, a first data unit set is received (par.[0083] which describes the CG-Configuration for SDT which comprises a SDT set of data);
wherein a data volume in the first data unit set is no larger than a network configured or pre-configured first threshold (par.[0042] describes the packet size or data volume of the UL data may be lower than a threshold for the SDT procedure);
any data unit in the first data unit set belongs to the first-type data unit (par.[0099] describes the SDT which uses a grant issued in the RRC_CONNECTION_RELEASE message, thus, the data sent must utilize the SDT CG configuration); and
wherein the UE is in the RRC inactive state when transmitting the first message (fig.1 the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state when transmitting (par.[0099] describes the RRC_RESUME which comprises the Resume and DRX data packet (e.g. small data) which is included in the MSG3 or MSGA depending on the number of steps in the RACH procedure).
Regarding claim 10, the disclosure of Xu teaches:
a base station (fig.1 depicts a base station); and
a transmitter configured for transmitting a third message (par.[0004] which teaches that the UE receives an RRC_Connection_Release message which transitions the UE to RRC_INACTIVE state);
wherein a time of transmitting the third message is earlier than a time of receiving the first message (par.[0004] describes the UE entering into the inactive state based on the reception of the release message. The UE sends the resume while in the RRC_INACTIVE state, thus, the release message is received before the UE can transmit the resume message).
While the disclosure of Xu teaches the above limitations, it may not disclose:
the third message enables a first radio bearer set to be transmitted in the RRC inactive state;
and wherein any said first-type data unit belongs to a radio bearer in the first radio bearer set.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Tsai teaches:
the third message enables a first radio bearer set to be transmitted in the RRC inactive state (fig.1 element S120 wherein the UE receives a RRC_RELEASE with a CG_CONFIG. The CG_CONFIG comprises the resources (e.g. bearers which are mapped to logical channels) which allow for SDT, par.[0083] describes the CG-based SDT);
any said first-type data unit belongs to a radio bearer in the first radio bearer set (fig.1 and par.[0083] wherein the bearers/resources indicated by the CG-Config are explicitly indicated for use in SDT transmission while the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Xu for SDT/EDT utilizing a timer with the SDT configuration in a Release message as discussed in Tsai. The motivation/suggestion would have been to reduce signaling overhead by transmitting a SDT/EDT configuration to the UE in an RRC message which allows the UE to enter a low power state along with the ability to perform SDT/EDT while the UE is in the inactive state which further reduces signaling overhead and reduces power consumption of the wireless devices.
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 and § 103
Applicant's arguments filed 12/29/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicants allege that the disclosure of Ou (US 2022/0078875 A1) and/or Xu (US 2022/0225465 A1) does not disclose:
“Ou does not disclose using first and/or second timer in determining whether to switch to RRC Idle state. Accordingly, Ou does not anticipate claim 1 (or similar recitations in claims 7 and 13).”
The office respectfully disagrees. As a first matter the independent claims do not require that the UE enter into an RRC_IDLE state, the claims recite, in part:
“the first RRC state is a candidate state in a first candidate state set, the first candidate state set comprising an RRC idle state”
As discussed above with regard to the rejection of claim(s) 7 and 13, the RRC state is candidate state set comprising an RRC IDLE state. As discussed in the rejection the RRC_IDLE state was well known in the art even prior to the existence of the RRC_INACTIVE state. In 3GPP the set of candidate states are RRC_CONNECTED, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_IDLE. Additionally, the disclosure of Ou explicitly discloses that the UE may enter into the RRC_IDLE if either of the first or second timer expires. Thus, the disclosure of Ou teaches the above limitation. Thus the claims are rejected.
The Applicant also alleges that the disclosure of Xu does not teach the transition to the RRC_IDLE state or the failure of SDT. The applicant has provided no evidence to support the alleged deficiencies in the rejection only reciting that the disclosure of Xu does not teach the above features, which on its face are unpersuasive conclusory. Thus, the claims stand rejected.
With regard to Xu it discloses that SDT is performed using a RRC_RESUME procedure, wherein the RRC_RESUME procedure uses a timer or timers to determine whether or the RRC_RESUME for SDT is successful or fails as discussed in the rejection of the claims above. The disclosure of Xu, just as discussed in Ou, both disclose RRC candidate states such as RRC_CONNECTED, RRC_RESUME, and RRC_IDLE as discussed with regard to the rejection above. Thus, the disclosure of Xu similarly teaches the claimed subject matter, and the claims are rejected in view of Xu as well.
With regard to the rejection of the dependent claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102 or § 103 the claim the applicant has not pointed out any particular deficiencies in the rejection of those claims, but has asserted that they should be allowable based on the perceived allowability of the independent claims. As the independent claims are not in condition for allowance, the dependent claims are also rejected for the reasons given above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Kim et al. (US 2022/0248493 A1) “Small Data Transmission”
Lin et al. (US 2023/0189349 A1) “Data transmission Method and Terminal Device”
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 JAMAAL HENSON whose telephone number is (571)272-5339. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thu: 7:30 am - 6:30 pm.
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, Derrick Ferris can be reached at (571)272-3123. 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.
JAMAAL HENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2411
/JAMAAL HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411