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 .
Continued Examination
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 March 04, 2026 has been entered.
This Office Action is in response to claim amendment filed on February 19, 2026 and wherein claims 1, 9, 11, 16, 24 and 26 being currently amended, claim 25 being newly cancelled, and claim 31 being newly added.
In virtue of this communication, claims 1-24 and 26-31 are currently pending in this Office Action.
The Office appreciates the explanation of the amendment and analyses of the prior arts, and however, although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993) and MPEP 2145.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argue RRASAD does not disclose at least "receiv[ing], from the source base station or a core network device, a network message to trigger a switch from a first multicast radio bearer (MRB), of the first RAT, to a first unicast dedicated radio bearer (DRB), of the first RAT, for reception of an MB service, of the one or more MB services, via the first RAT, wherein the network message is based at least in part on the measurement report," as recited in amended claim 1 (emphasis added). This is because, for example, there is no disclosure in PRASAD of the network receiving a measurement report from the UE and, based at least in part on that measurement report, generating and transmitting a network message to the UE to trigger the switch from MRB to DRB (Remarks, page 16-17) have been fully considered and are not persuasive.
PRASAD disclose network receiving a measurement report from the UE, see Fig. 6, step 4 and para [0069], “the UE sends enhanced radio measurement reports including MRB/MBMS-related radio signal reports to the eNB”.
PRASAD disclose based at least in part on that measurement report, generating and transmitting a network message to the UE to trigger the switch from MRB to DRB, see Fig. 6, step 5, 6, and Fig. 9, step 5, 6 , para [0121], “A RAN node (e.g. eNB) can determine the optimal conditions/thresholds for the switch from multicast to unicast delivery and informs the UE via RRC or System information signaling” and para [0076], “ the eNB should decide according to the priority of MBMS and unicast services… temporary transmission of the MBMS data over unicast DRB bearer”.
Based on the aforementioned reasoning, therefore, the Applicant’s argument is not
persuasive. Further, the new ground(s) of rejection is necessitated by the applicant amendment. The Office has thoroughly reviewed Applicants' arguments but firmly believes that the cited references to reasonably and properly meet the claimed limitations.
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.
Claims 1- 24, 26-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 20230276468 A1, hereinafter Wu) in view of DI et al. (US 20230388866 A1, hereinafter DI), and further in view of Prasad et al. (US 20190166580 A1, hereinafter Prasad).
Claim 1: Wu teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (Fig. 1A, elements 102A, 102B), comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor (Fig. 1A, element 150, [0045], “The UE 102 includes processing hardware 150, which can include one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., CPUs) and a computer-readable memory storing machine-readable instructions executable on the general-purpose processor(s), and/or special-purpose processing units”), is configured to cause the UE to:
receive, via a first radio access technology (RAT) associated with a source base station, system information ([0072], “the UE 102 receives MBS configuration(s) and/or MBS control information on broadcast channel (BCCH) and/or multicast control channel (MCCH) from the DU 174 … the DU 174 may generate the MBS configuration(s) and/or MBS control information and send the MBS configuration(s) and/or MBS control information to the UE 102”) that identifies a set of frequencies of a second RAT, and one or more multicast or broadcast (MB) services available via one or more frequencies of the set of frequencies ( [0076], “in the MBS configuration(s) and/or MBS control information, which particular
MB S(s) are broadcast for a carrier frequency indicated in the frequency information … The MBS session information can include at least one MBS identity/identifier, service
(QoS) flow identity/identifier, or temporary mobile group identity (TMGI)”);
transmit, to the source base station, an indication that indicates at least one of the MB service or a frequency, of the one or more frequencies, via which the MB service is available via the second RAT(Fig. 10, elements 1002, 1004, 1006, [0165], “UE determines whether to send, to the base station of the first RAT, an MBS interest indication to the base station indicating that the UE is interested in receiving or is currently receiving MBS on a carrier frequency of the first RAT (e.g., EUTRA, NR) or a different (i.e., second) RAT (e.g., NR, EUTRA, respectively)”, [0166], “send an MBS interest indication indicating that the UE is interested in receiving or is currently receiving MBS on a particular carrier frequency of the second RAT, the UE at block 1006 transmits the MBS interest indication
to the base station of the first RAT”);
receive, from the source base station or a target base station, an MRB configuration associated with receiving the MB service via the target base station using the second RAT ([0060], “a base station (e.g., base station 104, 106A, or 106B) broadcasts MBS data packets … via one or more MBS radio bearers (MRB(s)), and in turn the UE 102 receives the MBS data packets via the MRB(s). The base station can include configuration(s) of the MRB(s) in MBS control information”, [0172], “the base station of the second RAT can configure the UE to receive MBS on the carrier frequency of the second RAT”);
However, Wu does not explicitly teach system information identifies a set of frequencies of a second RAT.
transmit, to the source base station, a measurement report indicating one or more radio channel parameters;
receive from the source base station or a core network device, a network message to trigger a switch from a first multicast radio bearer (MRB), of the first RAT, to a first unicast dedicated radio bearer (DRB), of the first RAT, for reception of an MB service, of the one or more MB services, via the first RAT, wherein the network message is based at least in part on the measurement report;
and communicate with the target base station based at least in part on switching from a second unicast DRB, of the second RAT, to a second MRB, of the second RAT, after handover from the source base station to the target base station and based at least in part on the MRB configuration.
DI, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches system information identifies a set of frequencies of a second RAT ([0167], the gNB may provide MBS assistance to the UE including … a list of neighbor cells that are providing the service. This may include the physical cell ID as well as the frequency and/or BWP on which the service is provided”, [0007], “The MBS assistance information may include neighbor cell information … a list of frequencies over which MBS service is carried …For each intra-frequency neighbor cell, the MBS assistance information may include whether the gNB can be triggered by UE to start an MBS service … For each inter-frequency neighbor cell, the information
may include whether the gNB can be triggered by UE to start an MBS service”, [0143], “MBS configuration procedures allow the Connected mode UEs using the first RAT to operate MBS over a second RAT”. [0174-0175], UE assistance information include a list of cells that support this service, a frequency over which the service is available, the bandwidth part over which the service is available, the RAT over which the service is available).
and communicate with the target base station based at least in part on switching from a second unicast DRB, of the second RAT, to a second MRB, of the second RAT, after handover from the source base station to the target base station and based at least in part on the MRB configuration ([0018], “The linked PTP radio bearer may be used only temporarily, e.g., as long as the target cell needs to transmit lost/missing PDUs or until a timer expires”. [0021], “The RRC reconfiguration message may provide the MBS configuration
and information to allow the UE to determine which MBS PDUs are lost and/or received as duplicate”. [0034], “The gNB may then switch the MBS configuration from PTP to PTM and may send a reconfiguration message to each of the UEs, where the reconfiguration message includes an indication of which MBS PDUs will be duplicate for this UE, starting the PTM transmission from the earliest MBS PDU”, [0234], “ Once the handover PDUs have been sent, the target cell may continue sending the MBS traffic over PTP radio
bearer or switch to a PTM radio bearer or to a split bearer with a PTP leg and a PTM leg”, wherein point to point PTP radio bearer is interpreted as unicast DRB, point to multipoint PTM bearer is interpreted as MRB).
Wu and DI are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Wu and the features of indicating frequency of second RAT, switching from MRB to DRB as taught by DI, for the benefit of using MBS assistance information to allow UEs to support service continuity, dynamic switching between PTM and PTP, and dynamic transmission areas, minimizing interference during connection establishment procedure, reducing reselection delay timer (paragraph [0003-0008]), and allow UE recovers the lost/missing MBS PDUs from the linked PTP radio bearer (paragraph [0017]).
Prasad, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches transmit, to the source base station, a measurement report indicating one or more radio channel parameters (Fig. 6, step 4, [0069], “the UE sends enhanced radio measurement reports including MRB/MBMS-related radio signal reports to the eNB”, [0065], “the eNB determines whether the UE should be configured to include in its radio measurement reports also information about the quality of the MRB reception (or MBMS radio signal quality)”),
receive from the source base station or a core network device, a network message to trigger a switch from a first multicast radio bearer (MRB), of the first RAT, to a first unicast dedicated radio bearer (DRB), of the first RAT, for reception of an MB service, of the one or more MB services, via the first RAT, wherein the network message is based at least in part on the measurement report (Fig. 6, step 5, 6, Fig. 9, steps 5, 6, [0105-0106], wherein once eNB determines that actions are required based on measurement report, e.g. to request for unicast delivery from the communication peer, eNB sends explicit indication to the UE via RRC signaling, [0121], “A RAN node (e.g. eNB) can determine the optimal conditions/thresholds for the switch from multicast to unicast delivery and informs the UE via RRC or System information signaling”, [0076], “ the eNB should decide according to the priority of MBMS and unicast services… temporary transmission of the MBMS data over unicast DRB bearer”).
Wu and Prasad are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of Wu and the features of UE sending measurement result to source base station, and source base station determine to switch to DRB from MRB based on the measurement , as taught by Prasad, for the benefit of allowing eNB to determine the bearer switch when the UE reaches either the cell boundary (with a cell that does not have eMBMS transmissions) or regions where the eMBMS reception is poor for maintaining service continuity (paragraph [0071], [0076]).
Claim 11 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and Wu further teaches a source base station (Fig. 1A, elements 104, 106A, 106B) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor (Fig. 1A, elements 140, 130, [0044], “The base station 106A includes processing hardware 140, which can include one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., CPUs) and a computer-readable memory storing machine-readable instructions executable on the general-purpose processor(s), and/or special-purpose processing units”, [0043], “the base station 104 includes processing hardware 130, which can include one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., central processing units (CPUs)) and a computer-readable memory storing machine-readable instructions executable on the one or more general-purpose processor(s), and/or special-purpose processing units”).
Claim 16 is a method of claim1, and is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1.
Claim 26 is a method of claim11, and is analyzed and rejected according to claim 11.
Claim 2: Wu teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the system information further indicates at least one of: one or more cells via which the one or more MB services are available, whether the MB service is a multicast service or a broadcast service, or a carrier type associated with the MB service ([0076], “the DU 174 or the CU 172 can indicate, in the MBS
configuration(s) and/or MBS control information, which particular MB S(s) are broadcast for a carrier frequency indicated in the frequency information … The MBS session information can include at least one MBS identity/identifier, service (QoS) flow
identity/identifier, or temporary mobile group identity (TMGI)”).
Claim 12 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 11 and claim 2.
Claim 17 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 16 and claim 2.
Claim 27 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 26 and claim 2.
Claim 3: The combination of Wu and Di teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code configured to cause the UE to receive a configuration that indicates a mapping between at least one of: an MB session identifier, that identifies the MB service in the second RAT(Di, [0174-0175], UE assistance information include a list of cells that support this service, a frequency over which the service is available, the bandwidth part over which the service is available, the RAT over which the service is available), and a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) that identifies the MB service in both the first RAT and the second RAT (Wu, [0076], “The MBS session
information can include at least one MBS identity/identifier, service (QoS) flow identity/identifier, or temporary mobile group identity (TMGI)”), or a multicast broadcast multimedia service (MBMS) service area identity (SAI), that identifies the MB service in the first RAT, and the TMGI that identifies the MB service in both the first RAT and the second RAT.
The motivation regarding to the obviousness to claim 1 is also applied to claim 3.
Claim 13 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 11 and claim 3.
Claim 18 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 16 and claim 3.
Claim 28 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 26 and claim 3.
Claim 4: Wu teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein, to cause the UE to transmit the indication, the processor- readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to transmit an MB service interest indication that indicates the MB service and a frequency, of the set of frequencies, via which the MB service is available ([0076], “the UE 102 can identify the particular MBS(s) which the UE 102 is interested in receiving or is currently receiving. In response to the determination, the UE 102 can include at least one MBS identity/identifier, QoS flow identity/identifier, or TMGI indicating the identified MBS(s) in the first MBS interest indication”, [0074], “In response to the determination, the UE 102 can include frequency band number(s) and/or ARFCN(s)
indicating the at least one determined carrier frequency in the first MBS interest
indication … the UE 102 can include an indication of a maximum receiving bandwidth and/or a supported subcarrier carrier spacing (SCS) for the at least one MBS carrier frequency in the first MBS interest indication”. Fig.10, elements 1008, 1006).
Claim 14 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 11 and claim 4.
Claim 19 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 16 and claim 4.
Claim 29 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 26 and claim 4.
Claim 5: Wu teaches the UE of claim 4, wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code configured to cause the UE to determine the frequency, of the set of frequencies, via which the MB service is available (Fig. 10, element 1004, [0074], “From the frequency information, the UE 102 may determine at least one MBS carrier
frequency on which the UE 102 is interested in receiving MBS data packets or is currently receiving MBS data packets”, [0076], “The MBS session information can include at least one MBS identity/identifier, service (QoS) flow identity/identifier, or temporary mobile group identity (TMGI). From the MBS session information, the UE 102
can identify the particular MBS(s) which the UE 102 is interested in receiving or is currently receiving”); and wherein, to cause the UE to transmit the MB service interest indication, the processor- readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to transmit the MB service interest indication based at least in part on determining the frequency, of the set of frequencies, via which the MB service is available (Fig. 10, elements 1006,1008, [0074], “In response to the determination, the UE 102 can include frequency band number(s) and/or ARFCN(s) indicating the at least one determined carrier frequency in the first MBS interest indication”, [0076], “In response to the determination, the UE 102 can include at least one MBS identity/identifier, QoS
flow identity/identifier, or TMGI indicating the identified MBS(s) in the first MBS
interest indication”).
Claim 20 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 19 and claim 5.
Claim 6: Wu teaches the UE of claim 4, wherein the MB service interest indication indicates one or more first frequencies, of the first RAT, via which the MB service is available, and also indicates one or more second frequencies, of the second RAT, via which the MB service is available, wherein the one or more second frequencies are included in the set of frequencies of the second RAT([0163], “in an MBS interest indication, a carrier frequency of a RAT on which the UE is interested in receiving MBS, and transmitting the MBS interest
indication to a base station”, [0165], “an MBS interest indication to the base station
indicating that the UE is interested in receiving or is currently receiving MBS on a carrier frequency of the first RAT (e.g., EUTRA, NR) or a different (i.e., second) RAT”, Fig. 10, element 1002, 1004, 1006).
Claim 15 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 14 and claim 6.
Claim 21 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 19 and claim 6.
Claim 30 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 29 and claim 6.
Claim 7: The combination for Wu and DI teaches the UE of claim 1, Di additionally teaches wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code configured to cause the UE to prioritize one or more frequencies of the second RAT for cell reselection based at least in part on corresponding availability of the MB service on each of the one or more frequencies ([0008], “the UE may use the MBS assistance information to determine whether to prioritize cell reselections for MBS service continuity (MBS cell reselection) or to prioritize cell reselections to better receive paging messages, better receive system
information messages, and/or minimize interference during connection establishment procedure”, [0012], “as part of the cell reselection evaluation process the UE may
prioritize cells from a gNB that supports MBS, and/or cells that offer the desired MBS
service”, [0167], “the gNB may provide MBS assistance to the UE including … the physical cell ID as well as the frequency and/or BWP on which the service is provided”).
The motivation regarding to the obviousness to claim 1 is also applied to claim 7.
Claim 22 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 16 and claim 7.
Claim 8: Wu teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the handover is a conditional handover (Fig. 5B, Fig.14, [0190], “If the measurement result(s) indicates signal strength of the cell that is sufficient for handover, the base station in some implementations can determine to handover the UE to the cell and sends a handover command message to the UE to handover the UE to the cell”).
Claim 23 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 16 and claim 8.
Claim 9: The combination for Wu, DI and prasad teaches the UE of claim 1, Prasad additionally teaches wherein the network message is based at least in part on a comparison of the one or more radio channel parameters to one or more thresholds. ([0118-0121], wherein UE is configured with threshold, and the mobile network operator determines the optimal radio conditions/thresholds for the switch from multicast to unicast)
The motivation regarding to the obviousness to claim 1 is also applied to claim 9.
Claim 24 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 16 and claim 9.
Claim 10: The combination of Wu, DI and prasad teaches the UE of claim 9, Prasad additionally teaches wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code configured to cause the UE to receive a configuration that indicates the one or more threshold ([0121], “A RAN node (e.g. eNB) can determine the optimal conditions/thresholds for the switch from multicast to unicast delivery and informs the UE via RRC or System information signaling”).
The motivation regarding to the obviousness to claim 1 is also applied to claim 10.
Claim 31: Wu teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the MRB configuration is received during a handover of the UE from the source base station to the target base station and is received in a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message associated with the handover ([0006], “UEs can perform handover procedures to switch from one cell to another … These procedures involve messaging (e.g., RRC signaling and preparation) among RAN nodes and the UE”, [0060], “The base station can include configuration(s) of the MRB(s) in MBS control information”, [0045], “ the UE MBS controller 152 can be configured to support RRC configurations, procedures and messaging associated with handover procedures, PSCell change procedures, MBS operation”, [0043], “ the base station MBS controller 132 can be configured to support Radio Resource Control (RRC) configurations, procedures and messaging associated with handover
procedures”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YONGHONG ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)272-4089. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday 9:00 am - 5:00pm.
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/Y.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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