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.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 August 17, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
- Claims 1-14 are pending.
- Claims 14 has been added.
- Claims 1-2 and 5-12 are rejected.
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) 1 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pani et al. (Pub. No. US 2010/0272078 A1; hereinafter Pani) in view of Babaei et al. (Pub. No. US 2019/0052414 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Pani disclose a wireless communication device comprising: a controller configured to: configure a radio link control entity that processes data to be transmitted by a radio bearer;( 201002720780-See ¶0007, The network may configure an uplink radio bearer in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) to generate RLC PDUs of a flexible size within a minimum and maximum RLC PDU size, which are configured by the RRC layer.) Configure, (See 0037, he WTRU may be configured to determine whether there is data available for transmission for the selected logical channel (step 404)) for the RLC entity a plurality of communication channels with different communication configurations for requirements of the data; (See 0009, The RLC entity selects the size of the data field of the RLC PDU to match the data requested for a particular logical channel by the MAC entity; See 0037, A WTRU, (i.e., RLC entity of the WTRU), selects a logical channel (step 402). The logical channel may, for example, be selected according to the E-DCH transport format combination (E-TFC) selection rule; See 0039, the WTRU in this example determines the type of the logical channel, (i.e., scheduled or non-scheduled), and determines the maximum amount of data allowed to be transmitted by the applicable current grant on each of the carriers for the current TTI (step 408)) select one communication channel from the communication channels in accordance with a state of the data; (See 0009, The RLC entity selects the size of the data field of the RLC PDU to match the data requested for a particular logical channel by the MAC entity.)
However, Pani fails to disclose control data communication with a counterpart wireless communication device.
Babaei discloses 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)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify RLC entity is use select the appropriate channel for the data to include transmitted the data to the base station. The motivation to combine is UCI multiplexing process to improve the efficiency of uplink transmission in case a high payload of UCI is multiplexed in a PUSCH (See 0231).
Regarding claim 10, Pani disclose a wireless communication device comprising: configured to: configure an entity that processes data to be transmitted by a radio bearer, ( 201002720780-See ¶0007, The network may configure an uplink radio bearer in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) to generate RLC PDUs of a flexible size within a minimum and maximum RLC PDU size, which are configured by the RRC layer.) configure (See 0037, he WTRU may be configured to determine whether there is data available for transmission for the selected logical channel (step 404)) a plurality of communication channels with different communication configurations for requirements of the data, (See 0009, The RLC entity selects the size of the data field of the RLC PDU to match the data requested for a particular logical channel by the MAC entity; See 0037, A WTRU, (i.e., RLC entity of the WTRU), selects a logical channel (step 402). The logical channel may, for example, be selected according to the E-DCH transport format combination (E-TFC) selection rule; See 0039, the WTRU in this example determines the type of the logical channel, (i.e., scheduled or non-scheduled), and determines the maximum amount of data allowed to be transmitted by the applicable current grant on each of the carriers for the current TTI (step 408)) select one communication channel from the communication channels in accordance with a state of the data, (See 0009, The RLC entity selects the size of the data field of the RLC PDU to match the data requested for a particular logical channel by the MAC entity.)
However, Pani fails to disclose a controller configured to control data communication with a counterpart wireless communication device, in accordance with a control of the counterpart wireless communication device.
Babaei discloses a controller (See ¶0155, The wireless device 406 may include at least one communication interface 407, at least one processor 408) 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)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify RLC entity is use select the appropriate channel for the data to include transmitted the data to the base station. The motivation to combine is UCI multiplexing process to improve the efficiency of uplink transmission in case a high payload of UCI is multiplexed in a PUSCH (See 0231).
Regarding claim 11, Pani disclose a wireless communication system comprising: wherein the first wireless communication device includes configure an entity that processes data to be transmitted by a radio bearer, ( 201002720780-See ¶0007, The network may configure an uplink radio bearer in a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) to generate RLC PDUs of a flexible size within a minimum and maximum RLC PDU size, which are configured by the RRC layer) configure (See 0037, he WTRU may be configured to determine whether there is data available for transmission for the selected logical channel (step 404)) a plurality of communication channels with different communication configurations for requirements of the data, (See 0009, The RLC entity selects the size of the data field of the RLC PDU to match the data requested for a particular logical channel by the MAC entity; See 0037, A WTRU, (i.e., RLC entity of the WTRU), selects a logical channel (step 402). The logical channel may, for example, be selected according to the E-DCH transport format combination (E-TFC) selection rule; See 0039, the WTRU in this example determines the type of the logical channel, (i.e., scheduled or non-scheduled), and determines the maximum amount of data allowed to be transmitted by the applicable current grant on each of the carriers for the current TTI (step 408)) select one communication channel from the communication channels in accordance with a state of the data, (See 0009, The RLC entity selects the size of the data field of the RLC PDU to match the data requested for a particular logical channel by the MAC entity.)
However, Pani fails to disclose a first wireless communication device; and a second wireless communication device that is a counterpart of the first wireless communication device, and a controller configured to control data communication with the second wireless communication device.
Babaei disclose 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) and a controller (See ¶0155, The wireless device 406 may include at least one communication interface 407, at least one processor 408) configured to 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)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify RLC entity is use select the appropriate channel for the data to include transmitted the data to the base station. The motivation to combine is UCI multiplexing process to improve the efficiency of uplink transmission in case a high payload of UCI is multiplexed in a PUSCH (See 0231).
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 Pani in view of Babaei and, further in view of Lee et al. (Pub. No. US 2022/0070724 A1; hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claim 2, Pani in view of 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 Pani in view of 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, Pani in view of 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 Pani in view of 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, Pani in view of 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 Pani in view of 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, Pani in view of 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 Pani in view of 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, Pani in view of 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 Pani in view of 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 Pani in view of, Lee, and Wu (Pub. No. US 2021/0160858A1).
Regarding claim 8, Pani in view of Babaei and 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.
Wu discloses 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 Pani in view of Babaei and Lee 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 and 13-14 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 with respect toward claim(s) 1 and 10-12 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Funnell et al. (Pub. No. US 2006/0030294 A1)-SEE 0033, RRC block 200 is a sub layer of Layer 3 130 of a UMTS protocol stack 100. The RRC 200 exists in the control plane only and provides an information transfer service to the non-access stratum NAS 134. The RRC 200 is responsible for controlling the configuration of radio interface Layer 1 (the physical layer) 110 and Layer 2 (the data link layer) 120. Layer 2 includes the Radio Link Control (RLC) sublayer, which comprises RLC entities, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, which comprises MAC entities. Each RLC or MAC entity uses one or more logical channels to send or receive data Packet Data Units (PDUs) and Service Data Units (SDUs). The RLC ciphers units received from higher layers before they are transmitted via lower layers (e.g. Layer 1) and ciphers units received from lower layers before they are passed to higher layers (e.g. Layer 3) for Acknowledged Mode (AM) and Unacknowledged Mode (UM) Radio Bearers (RBs). The MAC ciphers PDUs and SDUs for Transparent Mode (TM) Radio Bearers.
Park et al. (Pub. No. US 2005/0136919 A1)-See 0007, Further, a Radio Link Control ("RLC") layer 143 receives a Service Data Unit (SDU) from a higher layer and compares the received service data unit with a Protocol Data Unit (PDU). When the received service data unit is smaller than the protocol data unit, the RLC layer 143 concatenates the received service data unit with other service data units, so as to generate a protocol data unit having a size suitable for the protocol data unit. In contrast, when the received service data unit is larger than the protocol data unit, the RLC layer 143 segments the received service data, so as to generate a protocol data unit having a size suitable for the protocol data unit. Further, the RLC layer 143 transfers the generated protocol data units to the MAC layer 145 through a logical channel.
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/Tejis Daya/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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