Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is a Non-final action for application number 18/261,668 in response to an original application filed on 07/14/2023.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been considered below.
Claims 1, 15 and 16 are independent claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on 03/18/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: [Please include the abbreviation for NR. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: [Please include the abbreviation for EUTRA]. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: [Please include the abbreviation for UTRA]. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: [Please include the abbreviation for UMTS]. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shaheen et al. (US 2018/0092085 A1) in view of Ramachandra et al. (US 2023/0232291 A1).
Regarding claims 1,15 and 16, a method in a first base station for providing Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) to a session of a packet-data service, [This information is used in either SRVCC handover or enhanced 1xRTT Circuit Switched (CS) fallback procedure , (Shaheen et al., Table 12)], the method comprising:
communicating messages associated with the session between a UE and a packet-data network, using NR or EUTRA, [The eNB 1560 and the NR 1507 may communicate 1501 control signaling. The UE 1502 and the eNB 1560 may also communicate 1503 control signaling, see figure 15 Ref # 1505 and 1508, (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 245)],
determining a capability of the UE with respect to UTRA, [UE capability related constraints and performance requirements are also described. Table 23 lists constraints regarding the UE capabilities that E-UTRAN is assumed to take into account, (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 184)],
Shaheen et al. fails to explicitly teach transmitting, to a second base station, handover preparation information for the UE,
Ramachandra et al. teaches when the UE is handed over from one cell to another over the NO interface, the source cell sends the UE capabilities to the target cell via the AMF: [0033] Source node to AMF: HANDOVER REQUIRED.fwdarw.Source to Target Transparent Container (Handover-Preparation-lnformation).fwdarw.ue-CapabilitvRAT-List. [0034] AMF to target node. HANDOVER REQUEST.fwdarw.Source to Target Transparent Container (Handover-Preparation-infonnation).fwdarw.uc-CapabilityRAT-List, (Ramachandra et al., Paragraph 32),
including causing the second base station to not apply the capability of the UE with respect to UTRA, [a target cell rejects an incoming handover due to mismatch between the UE capability and the target cell's capability. Thereafter, according to certain embodiments, the target cell may include an index or reference to the UE capability that led to decision of rejection of handover from the target cell, (Ramachandra et al., Paragraph 67)],
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify Shaheen et al. by transmitting, to a second base station, handover preparation information for the UE, (Ramachandra et al., Paragraph 32), in order to avoid sending a handover request message to the same target RAN node via AMF for UEs that have the same/similar capability to the UE that was just rejected [0083] For UEs that do not have compatible capabilities to the capabilities that the target RAN node/Cell has indicated in the handover reject message, (Ramachandra et al., Paragraph 83).
Regarding claim 2, the method of claim 1, wherein causing the second base station to not apply the capability includes: omitting an indication of the capability from an interface message that includes the handover preparation information, [Avoiding sending a handover request message to the same target RAN node via AMF, for one or more of the following cases: [0082] For UEs that have the same/similar capability to the UE that was just rejected, (Ramachandra et al., Paragraph 83)].
Regarding claim 3, the method of claim 1, wherein determining the capability includes: determining the capability prior to determining that the UE should perform a handover to the second base station, [Shaheen et al., Please see table 1, wherein UE capability is received before hand over preparation].
Regarding claim 4 and 17, the method wherein the transmitting includes: transmitting Handover-Preparation-information during handover preparation, [Inter-node RRC information element definitions are also described. The AS-Config IE contains information about RRC configuration information in the source eNB 160, which can be utilized by a target eNB 160 to determine the need to change the RRC configuration during the handover preparation phase, (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 181)].
Regarding claim 5, the method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting includes: transmitting Handover-Preparation-information during UE context retrieval, [LTE-NR aggregation procedures are also described. An NR Addition (Single Integrated RRM, Independent RRMs) procedure may be initiated by the eNB 160 and is used to establish a UE 102 context at the NR in order to provide NR resources to the UE 102, (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 134)].
Regarding claims 6 and 19, the method wherein the second base station is a gNB, [Shaheen et al., Figure 20A, wherein the UE performs handover to NR 2007 which is a gNB].
Regarding claim 7, the method of claim 1, wherein determining the capability is in response to one of:
(i) determining that the base station is located within a cell of the second base station,
(ii) receiving, from a packet-data network, a request to establish a session of a packet-data service between the UE and the packet-data network,
(lil) receiving, from the UE, a request to establish a session of a packet-data service between the UE and a packet-data network, [The LTE RRM triggers 5G NR to request a multi-mode 5G NR capable UE to report its capabilities and/or measurements of surrounding 5G NR gNBs and other radio access technologies (RATs), (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 97)].
Regarding claims 8 and 20, the method wherein determining the capability includes: transmitting, by the processing hardware to the UE, a UE capability enquiry message specifying the second RAT, [The LTE RRM triggers 5G NR to request a multi-mode 5G NR capable UE to report its capabilities and/or measurements of surrounding 5G NR gNBs and other radio access technologies (RATs), (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 97)],
and receiving, by the processing hardware from the UE, a UE capability response message that includes the indication of the capability, [The IE UE-EUTRA-Capability is used to convey the E-UTRA UE Radio Access Capability Parameters, see TS 36.306 [5], and the Feature Group Indicators for mandatory features (defined in Annexes B.1 and C.1) to the network. The IE UE-EUTRA-Capability is transferred in E-UTRA or in another RAT, (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 166)].
Regarding claim 9, the method of claim 1, wherein determining the capability includes:
transmitting, by the processing hardware to the UE, a UE capability enquiry message specifying only the first RAT, [The LTE RRM triggers 5G NR to request a multi-mode 5G NR capable UE to report its capabilities and/or measurements of surrounding 5G NR gNBs and other radio access technologies (RATs), (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 97)], and
receiving, by the processing hardware from the UE, a UE capability response message that includes the indication of the capability, [The IE UE-EUTRA-Capability is used to convey the E-UTRA UE Radio Access Capability Parameters, see TS 36.306 [5], and the Feature Group Indicators for mandatory features (defined in Annexes B.1 and C.1) to the network. The IE UE-EUTRA-Capability is transferred in E-UTRA or in another RAT, (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 166)].
Regarding claim 10, the method of claim 1, wherein determining the capability includes: receiving an indication of the capability from another base station, [UE capability related constraints and performance requirements are also described. Table 23 lists constraints regarding the UE capabilities that E-UTRAN is assumed to take into account, (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 184)],
Regarding claim 11, the method of claim 10, wherein receiving the indication includes: receiving a handover request from the other base station, the handover request message including the indication, [Ramachandra et al., Figure 1A, Ref # 2].
Regarding claim 12, the method of claim 10, wherein receiving the indication includes:
receiving a request to resume a suspended radio connection between the UE and a second base station, [TABLE 21 AS-Context field descriptions idc-Indication Including information used for handling the IDC problems. Reestablishment-Info Including information needed for the RRC connection re-establishment, (Shaheen et al., Table 21)], and in response to the request, retrieving a context for the UE from the second base station, the context including the indication, [LTE-NR aggregation procedures are also described. An NR Addition (Single Integrated RRM, Independent RRMs) procedure may be initiated by the eNB 160 and is used to establish a UE 102 context at the NR in order to provide NR resources to the UE 102, (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 134)].
Regarding claim 13, the method of claim 1, wherein communicating the messages associated with the session includes: communicating the messages of a call previously established over another base station, subsequently to determining the capability of the UE, [Shaheen et al., Figure 15, Ref # 1517].
Regarding claim 14, the method of claim 1, wherein communicating the messages associated with the session includes: communicating the messages for establishing a new call, subsequently to determining the capability of the UE, [Shaheen et al., Figure 15, Ref # 1517].
Regarding claim 18, the method of claim 16, wherein the second RAT is UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), [The IE UE-EUTRA-Capability is used to convey the E-UTRA UE Radio Access Capability Parameters, see TS 36.306 [5], and the Feature Group Indicators for mandatory features (defined in Annexes B.1 and C.1) to the network. The IE UE-EUTRA-Capability is transferred in E-UTRA or in another RAT, (Shaheen et al., Paragraph 166)].
Conclusion
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/SHUKRI TAHA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478