DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA (or AIA ) first to invent provisions.
Response to Amendment
- The amendment filed on January 21, 2026 has been entered.
- Claims 1-13 are pending.
- Claims 13 has been added.
- Claims 1-2 and 5-13 are rejected.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Babaei et al. (Pub. No. US 2019/0052414 A1; hereinafter Babaei).
Regarding claim 1, Babaei disclose a wireless communication device comprising: a controller configured to: configure an entity that processes data to be transmitted by a radio bearer; (See ¶0201, he plurality of logical channels configured for a wireless device may correspond to one or more bearers; a logical channel may be scheduled by one of a plurality of MAC entities.) configure a plurality of communication channels with different communication configurations for requirements of the data; (See ¶0273, the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities.) select one communication channel from the communication channels in accordance with a state of the data; (See ¶0273, the transport block comprises data of the one or more logical channels; and the selecting is based on the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels; configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities; interpreted selecting channel based on priority of the data) and control data communication with a counterpart wireless communication device. (20190052414- See ¶0273, the wireless device may multiplex the uplink control information in the uplink channel employing the multiplexing process. The wireless device may transmit the transport block and the uplink control information via the uplink channel; See ¶0272, The transport block may be transmitted via an uplink data channel that corresponds to a numerology/TTI duration that is used for transmission of QoS sensitive)
Regarding claim 10, Babaei disclose a wireless communication device comprising:a controller (See ¶0155, The wireless device 406 may include at least one communication interface 407, at least one processor 408) configured to: configure an entity that processes data to be transmitted by a radio bearer, (See ¶0201, he plurality of logical channels configured for a wireless device may correspond to one or more bearers; a logical channel may be scheduled by one of a plurality of MAC entities.) configure a plurality of communication channels with different communication configurations for requirements of the data, (See ¶0273, the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities) select one communication channel from the communication channels in accordance with a state of the data, (See ¶0273, the transport block comprises data of the one or more logical channels; and the selecting is based on the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels; the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities; interpreted selecting channel based on priority of the data) and control data communication with a counterpart wireless communication device, in accordance with a control of the counterpart wireless communication device. (20190052414- See ¶0273, the wireless device may multiplex the uplink control information in the uplink channel employing the multiplexing process. The wireless device may transmit the transport block and the uplink control information via the uplink channel; See ¶0272, The transport block may be transmitted via an uplink data channel that corresponds to a numerology/TTI duration that is used for transmission of QoS sensitive)
Regarding claim 11, Babaei disclose a wireless communication system comprising: a first wireless communication device; and a second wireless communication device that is a counterpart of the first wireless communication device, (20190052414- See ¶0273, the wireless device may multiplex the uplink control information in the uplink channel employing the multiplexing process. The wireless device may transmit the transport block and the uplink control information via the uplink channel; See ¶0272, The transport block may be transmitted via an uplink data channel that corresponds to a numerology/TTI duration that is used for transmission of QoS sensitive) wherein the first wireless communication device includes a controller (See ¶0155, The wireless device 406 may include at least one communication interface 407, at least one processor 408) configured to, configure an entity that processes data to be transmitted by a radio bearer, (See ¶0201, he plurality of logical channels configured for a wireless device may correspond to one or more bearers; a logical channel may be scheduled by one of a plurality of MAC entities.) configure a plurality of communication channels with different communication configurations for requirements of the data, (See ¶0273, the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities) select one communication channel from the communication channels in accordance with a state of the data, , (See ¶0273, the transport block comprises data of the one or more logical channels; and the selecting is based on the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels; the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities; interpreted selecting channel based on priority of the data) and control data communication with the second wireless communication device. (20190052414- See ¶0273, the wireless device may multiplex the uplink control information in the uplink channel employing the multiplexing process. The wireless device may transmit the transport block and the uplink control information via the uplink channel; See ¶0272, The transport block may be transmitted via an uplink data channel that corresponds to a numerology/TTI duration that is used for transmission of QoS sensitive)
Regarding claim 12, Babaei disclose a transmission method to be performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising: configuring an entity that performs a process of a predetermined protocol on data to be transmitted by a radio bearer; (See ¶0201, he plurality of logical channels configured for a wireless device may correspond to one or more bearers; a logical channel may be scheduled by one of a plurality of MAC entities.) configuring a plurality of communication channels that are associated with the entity (See ¶0201, he plurality of logical channels configured for a wireless device may correspond to one or more bearers; a logical channel may be scheduled by one of a plurality of MAC entities.) and have different communication configurations for requirements of the data; (See ¶0273, the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities) selecting one communication channel from the communication channels in accordance with a state of the data; (See ¶0273, the transport block comprises data of the one or more logical channels; and the selecting is based on the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels; the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities; interpreted selecting channel based on priority of the data)and controlling data communication with a counterpart wireless communication device using the selected communication channel. (20190052414- See ¶0273, the wireless device may multiplex the uplink control information in the uplink channel employing the multiplexing process. The wireless device may transmit the transport block and the uplink control information via the uplink channel; See ¶0272, The transport block may be transmitted via an uplink data channel that corresponds to a numerology/TTI duration that is used for transmission of QoS sensitive)
Regarding claim 13, Babaei disclose the controller is further configured to: configure an entity that processes data to be transmitted by a first radio bearer of a plurality of radio bearers, (See ¶0201, he plurality of logical channels configured for a wireless device may correspond to one or more bearers; a logical channel may be scheduled by one of a plurality of MAC entities.) and set for the first radio bearer a plurality of communication channels with different communication configurations in accordance with respective requirements of the data; (See ¶0201, here may be one-to-many mapping/correspondence between one or more bearers and one or more logical channels; See ¶0273, the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities) and select, from the plurality of communication channels in accordance with a state of data to be transmitted, one communication channel that satisfies requirements of the data to be transmitted. (see 0225, e, a logical channel prioritization procedure in a MAC layer of a wireless device may take into account a plurality of information/parameters indicated by an uplink grant DCI for its multiplexing functionalities and creating transport blocks. See ¶0273, the transport block comprises data of the one or more logical channels; and the selecting is based on the configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels; configuration parameters of the one or more logical channels may indicate one or more priorities; interpreted selecting channel based on priority of the data)
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) 2, 5-7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei in view of Lee et al. (Pub. No. US 2022/0070724 A1; hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claim 2, Babaei fails to disclose the controller is further configured to: configure a first entity performing a process of a first protocol for the data to be transmitted by the radio bearer; configure a second entity performing a process of a second protocol for the data; and configure a third entity performing a process of a third protocol for the data, the communication channels with different communication configurations being associated with the third entity, wherein the second entity selects the communication channel with the communication configuration relevant to the state of the data and notifies the selected communication channel to the third entity, and the third entity assigns the data to the communication channel notified from the second entity.
Lee discloses the controller is further configured to: configure a first entity performing a process of a first protocol for the data to be transmitted by the radio bearer; (2022/0070724-See ¶0086, The service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) sublayer belong to L2. The SDAP sublayer is only defined in the user plane. The SDAP sublayer is only defined for NR. The main services and functions of SDAP include, mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer (DRB)) configure a second entity performing a process of a second protocol for the data; (See ¶0085, The PDCP sublayer belong to L2. The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the user plane include header compression and decompression, transfer of user data, duplicate detection, PDCP PDU routing, retransmission of PDCP SDUs, ciphering and deciphering, etc.) and configure a third entity performing a process of a third protocol for the data, the communication channels with different communication configurations being associated with the third entity, (See ¶0202, the RLC entities may be associated with different Cell Groups, different carrier frequencies or different cells. Namely, each RLC entity of a logical channel may be associated with each cell group, each carrier or each cell.) wherein the second entity selects the communication channel with the communication configuration relevant to the state of the data (See ¶0271, UE1 and/or UE2 may select at least one of carrier component mapped to at least one logical channel of a RLC entity among the associated RLC entities, based on congestion level of frequency.)
and notifies the selected communication channel to the third entity, (See ¶0263, UE1 may activate packet duplication and submit a duplicated PDCP PDU to the RLC entities of logical channels mapped to CC1 and CC2. Hence, the PDCP PDU may be transmitted onto CC1 and CC2 with duplication. For example, in steps 907 and 908, UE1 may perform transmission of PDCP PDU1 on CC1 and transmission of duplicated PDCP PDU1 on CC2.) and the third entity assigns the data to the communication channel notified from the second entity. (See ¶0263, UE1 may activate packet duplication and submit a duplicated PDCP PDU to the RLC entities of logical channels mapped to CC1 and CC2. Hence, the PDCP PDU may be transmitted onto CC1 and CC2 with duplication. For example, in steps 907 and 908, UE1 may perform transmission of PDCP PDU1 on CC1 and transmission of duplicated PDCP PDU1 on CC2.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Babaei to include different entities in the device have different functions. The motivation to combine is PDCP packet duplication allows sending the same PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) on two independent transmission paths: via the primary radio link control (RLC) entity and a secondary RLC entity, thus increasing reliability and reducing latency (See ¶0007).
Regarding claim 5, Babaei fails to disclose the first protocol is a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP).
Lee discloses the first protocol is a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). (2022/0070724-See ¶0086, The service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) sublayer belong to L2. The SDAP sublayer is only defined in the user plane. The SDAP sublayer is only defined for NR. The main services and functions of SDAP include, mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer (DRB))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Babaei to include different entities in the device have different functions. The motivation to combine is PDCP packet duplication allows sending the same PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) on two independent transmission paths: via the primary radio link control (RLC) entity and a secondary RLC entity, thus increasing reliability and reducing latency (See ¶0007).
Regarding claim 6, Babaei fails to disclose the second protocol is a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP).
Lee discloses the second protocol is a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP). (2022/0070724-See ¶0085, The PDCP sublayer belong to L2. The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the user plane include header compression and decompression, transfer of user data, duplicate detection, PDCP PDU routing, retransmission of PDCP SDUs, ciphering and deciphering, etc.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Babaei to include different entities in the device have different functions. The motivation to combine is PDCP packet duplication allows sending the same PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) on two independent transmission paths: via the primary radio link control (RLC) entity and a secondary RLC entity, thus increasing reliability and reducing latency (See ¶0007).
Regarding claim 7, Babaei fails to disclose the third protocol is a radio link control (RLC).
Lee discloses the third protocol is a radio link control (RLC). ((2022/0070724-See ¶0263, UE1 may activate packet duplication and submit a duplicated PDCP PDU to the RLC entities of logical channels mapped to CC1 and CC2. Hence, the PDCP PDU may be transmitted onto CC1 and CC2 with duplication. For example, in steps 907 and 908, UE1 may perform transmission of PDCP PDU1 on CC1 and transmission of duplicated PDCP PDU1 on CC2.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Babaei to include different entities in the device have different functions. The motivation to combine is PDCP packet duplication allows sending the same PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) on two independent transmission paths: via the primary radio link control (RLC) entity and a secondary RLC entity, thus increasing reliability and reducing latency (See ¶0007).
Regarding claim 9, Babaei fails to disclose a wireless transmitter that transmits the data to the counterpart wireless communication device, wherein the wireless transmitter transmits the data using a carrier wave in a frequency band relevant to the communication channel to which the data is assigned
Lee discloses a wireless transmitter that transmits the data to the counterpart wireless communication device, wherein the wireless transmitter transmits the data using a carrier wave in a frequency band relevant to the communication channel to which the data is assigned (2022/0070724-See ¶0271, UE1 and/or UE2 may select at least one of carrier component mapped to at least one logical channel of a RLC entity among the associated RLC entities, based on congestion level of frequency.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Babaei to include different entities in the device have different functions. The motivation to combine is PDCP packet duplication allows sending the same PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) on two independent transmission paths: via the primary radio link control (RLC) entity and a secondary RLC entity, thus increasing reliability and reducing latency (See ¶0007).
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Babaei in view of Lee, and further in view of Wu (Pub. No. US 2021/0160858A1).
Regarding claim 8, Babaei in view of Lee fails to disclose the controller is further configured to configure a fourth entity performing a process of a fourth protocol for the data, and the fourth entity configures retransmission of the data in accordance with the communication channel to which the data is assigned.
the controller is further configured to configure a fourth entity performing a process of a fourth protocol for the data, and the fourth entity configures retransmission of the data in accordance with the communication channel to which the data is assigned. (2021/0160858-See ¶0150, After a resource is allocated to each logical channel, the MAC layer indicates to an RLC entity of a specific logical channel that data retransmission needs to be performed. The RLC entity sends RLC data to be retransmitted to the MAC layer based on the indication information of the MAC layer for MAC PDU packet assembly.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Babaei to include mac layer indicates a specific logical channel to utilize for retransmission. The motivation to combine is the first MAC PDU is sent over the first uplink resource; or in the case that the configuration information for resource allocation is changed, the first MAC PDU is sent over the first uplink resource, thereby not only reducing data transmission losses and improving the reliability of data transmission, but also saving system resources (See ¶0074).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed toward claims 1 and 11-12 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues Babaei fails to disclose “configure a pluarity of communication channels with different communication configurations for requirements of the data.” Examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant. Babaei discloses each channel has a different priority and selecting the channel based on priority. One channel can have a single priority while another channel can have more than one priority. Further, see 0225, e, a logical channel prioritization procedure in a MAC layer of a wireless device may take into account a plurality of information/parameters indicated by an uplink grant DCI for its multiplexing functionalities and creating transport blocks.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Turtinen et al. (Pub. No. US 2022/0217735 A1)-See ¶0061, mapping mechanism for mapping data with different channel access priorities to a configured grant. The mapping mechanism requires that when selecting a subset of data units from a set of data unit for multiplexing into a data packet, the subset of data units is selected at least in part based on a channel access priority of each data unit in the subset of data units. The selection may be based on a threshold priority. For example, a data unit with a channel access priority higher than, equal to or lower than the threshold priority may be selected from the set of data units.
Jiang (Pub. No. US 2024/0027565 A1)-See ¶0141, the terminal may specify different priorities for different logical channels, so as to implement priority control between different distance measurement/angle measurement processes, and between distance measurement/angle measurement interactions and other data/signaling information.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/Tejis Daya/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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