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 .
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 and 103
The applicant alleges that the disclosure of Saily (US 2021/0378053 A1) does not disclose:
“receiving, via a first cell, multicast radio bearer (MRB) configuration information indicating one or more MRB configurations for receiving multicast communications, wherein the MRB configuration information is received via a radio resource control release message and is associated with receiving multicast communications while the UE is in an inactive state or an active state”
The office respectfully disagrees.
With regard to Saily, the disclosure teaches an area comprising different cells that the UE can roam and still receive multicast service within those cells, whether in an active state or an inactive state, as discussed below, and in particular par.[0049 – 0055].
For example, fig.4 of Saily teaches an initial configuration which is used for the UE while the UE is the RRC_CONNECTED state (fig.4 element 401) which is an active state see fig.2 “High Activity”. Then, the network can detect unicast inactivity, and establish a RAN multicast area and update the configuration 401, which is seen in element 406, par.[0084 – 0087] wherein the RMA includes the list of cells that the UE may use while in the inactive state. Additionally, the multicast bearer my also be used while in the RRC_CONNECTED state, par.[0070] which recites, in part, “The multicast bearer (e.g., multicast data radio bearer) configured within cell/RMA can be operated independent of the RRC state, e.g., stateless operation or receive only device, meaning that any UE can receive the multicast bearer based on the common configuration with a default multicast bearer. In this case the BS/gNB configures just one multicast bearer. The BS/gNB determines how to configure the multicast bearer based on UEs interested in IP multicast traffic are in RRC_CONNECTED, RRC_INACTIVE and RRC_IDLE, or what is the distribution of UEs in different RRC states.”, fig.5 and par.[0102]. Thus, the RMA can be configured for a stateless operation wherein the UE may be in an active state or inactive state. Additionally, the fig.5 teaches that a UE1 which is receiving unicast service can receive the updated RMA and transition between unicast and multicast based on the RMA, par.[0096]. Thus it is shown that multicast bearers configured in the RMA may be used for RRC_CONNECTED or RRC_IDLE, along with the RMA being associated with communications in an RRC_CONNECTED state by every UE in every cell being sent the RMA, and being able to use the RMA in the RRC_CONNECTED and/or RRC_INACTIVE, par.[0102].
The claims are rejected for the reasons given above.
The applicant alleges that claim 9 is not discussed in Saily, because Saily does not disclose:
“the first cell is associated with an additional MRB configuration of the one or more MRB configurations, wherein the additional MRB configuration is different from the MRB configuration, where both the “additional MRB configuration” and the “MRB configuration of the one or more MRB configurations” are associated with “Receiving multicast communications when in an inactive state”.
The office notes that claim 9 does not discuss whether or not the UE is in the inactive state or not.
Claim 9 recites, in part:
“Wherein the additional MRB configuration is different from the MRB configuration”
As discussed below, a UE can be configured to utilize a unicast DRB or a multicast DRB while in the Connected state, while the UE is configured with separate bearers for inactive state for multicast, see fig.5 wherein the UEs can receive the multicast service utilizing different bearers. Further the applicants haven’t describe specifically what an MRB configuration comprises. The applicants specification describes MRB configuration at a high level of generality, thus, the replacement of one bearer for another bearer constitutes, in this case, a different MRB configuration, for a multicast service.
With regard to claims 31 and 35, the feature:
“selecting one or more additional base stations associated with the multicast area based at least in part on the one or more additional base stations being within an expected mobility area of a UE” is new, however, the disclosure of Saily teaches the above feature. For example, in fig.8 Saily describes the setup of a RMA, wherein the setup is based on the geographical area of the UE, interpreted as “being within an expected mobility are of a UE”. The claims are rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Applicant’s arguments, see 112 Rejections, filed 01/14/2026, with respect to claims 1, 9, 10, 12-13, 15-16, 18-19, 21-32, and 34-38, have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 112 Rejection of claims has been withdrawn.
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, 9-10, 12, 15-16, 18, 22-26, 27, 30, and 39-40, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Saily et al. (US 2021/0378053 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 16, Saily discloses:
a user equipment (UE) (fig.1 depicts a user equipment element(s) 131, 132, etc.) for wireless communication (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications network), comprising:
one or more memories (fig.15 depicts a UE which has at least one memory, element 1506); and
one or more processors (fig.15 depicts a UE which has at least one processor (i.e. controller 1504), par.[0161]), coupled to the one or more memories (fig.15 depicts a UE which has a memory coupled to the processor such that the memory execute the code on the processor) configured to:
a method of wireless communication (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications network comprising a number of devices) performed by the user equipment (UE) (fig.1 the aforecited user equipment as discussed above), comprising:
receiving, via first cell (par.[0055] describes a UE being configured with a Radio Access Network (RAN) Multicast Area via a Base Station, the base station being a first cell), multicast radio bearer (MRB) configuration information indicating one or more MRB configurations for receiving multicast communications (par.[0055] which recites, in part, “According to an example embodiment, a BS may provide or configure a radio access network (RAN) multicast area (RMA), which may include an area defined by a set of one or more cells, in which multicast data (associated with the RMA) is transmitted via a multicast data radio bearer (multicast DRB). According to an illustrative example embodiment, any cell in which the multicast DRB is configured (e.g., to allow UEs to receive the multicast data associated with the RMA via multicast DRB) may be part of the RMA.”, and par.[0070] which recites, in part, “In one example embodiment, the multicast bearer (e.g., multicast data radio bearer) configured within cell/RMA can be operated independent of the RRC state, e.g., stateless operation or receive only device, meaning that any UE can receive the multicast bearer based on the common configuration with a default multicast bearer. In this case the BS/gNB configures just one multicast bearer.”. That is, the UE is configured with a multicast data radio bearer which is associated with multicasting area, such that, the UE is capable of reception of multicast broadcast traffic, also see par.[0063, 0110, 0115-0117] which describes the UE being configured with PTP and PTM data radio bearers, element 814), wherein the MRB configuration information is received via a radio resource control release message (fig.4 see RRCConnectionSuspend, wherein the Connection Suspend is an RRC_RELEASE with SuspendConfig, see e.g. Resume_ID, Group-RNIT, etc.. That is, the office is taking official notice that the connection suspend is a connection release message, with a SuspendConfig, such as a Resume_ID, etc.) wherein the MRB configuration information is associated with receiving multicast communications when in an inactive state (par.[0055 – 0056] wherein the UE receives the configuration for RRC_CONNECTED or RRC_INACTIVE, “a connected UE may receive multicast data via either a unicast DRB or a multicast DRB, while an inactive UE may only receive multicast data via a multicast DRB. A BS may, for example, determine whether to deliver (transmit) multicast data to a connected UE via either unicast DRB (e.g., if the UE is located in a cell that is outside the UE), or via multicast DRB. Various factors or criteria may be considered by the BS to determine whether a connected UE should receive multicast data via unicast DRB or multicast DRB. However, once a BS transitions a UE from connected state to inactive state, such inactive UE may receive (or continue receiving) the multicast data only via a multicast DRB,”) or an active state (par.[0070] which recites, in part, “In one example embodiment, the multicast bearer (e.g., multicast data radio bearer) configured within cell/RMA can be operated independent of the RRC state, e.g., stateless operation or receive only device, meaning that any UE can receive the multicast bearer based on the common configuration with a default multicast bearer. In this case the BS/gNB configures just one multicast bearer.”. Additionally, the Configuration received in the RRCConnectionRelease/Suspend comprises the information included in the element 401, see e.g. “resource configuration for multicast operation” wherein the configuration was used for an active state. The disclosure describes the active state as RRC_Connected, see fig.2); and
entering the inactive state (fig.8 and par.[0116] which describes the network configuring the UE with RRC_INACTIVE state, based on the detection of low-activity at the UE. Also see, par.[0050 – 0051] which describes a data radio bearer (DRB) for low activity state, such as the RRC_INACTIVE state);
prior to receiving an indication to resume a radio resource control connection from the second cell, receiving, via the second cell, a multicast communications based at least in part on an MRB configuration of the one or more MRB configurations (fig.8 wherein the “Any gNB 134A” is a gNodeB in the RAN Multicast Area, and the UE does not need to initiate contact with the gNodeB to continue a multicast service it was receiving from another gNodeB which is in the RMA area. Par.[0055] which recites, in part, “According to an illustrative example embodiment, any cell in which the multicast DRB is configured (e.g., to allow UEs to receive the multicast data associated with the RMA via multicast DRB) may be part of the RMA.”. par.[0057] which recites, in part, “Furthermore, a RMA may be an area in which an inactive or low activity (e.g., RRC_Inactive) UE can move and receive multicast data (associated with the RMA), without necessarily notifying a serving BS or network of a change in cell or location (e.g., so long as the UE remains within a list of cells for the RMA). Thus, an inactive UE may move anywhere within the list of cells of the RMA (associated with the multicast data) and continue to receive the multicast data.”. Thus, the UE may receive the same MBS service without initiating communications and simply receiving the MBS, although if the UE would like to enter into a RRC_CONNECTED state on the new cell, it may have to perform RACH or send a ResumeRequest using RRC_Resume, fig.4.).
Regarding claims 9 and 24, Saily discloses:
wherein the first cell is associated with an additional MRB configuration of the one or more MRB configurations, wherein the additional MRB configuration is different from the MRB configuration (par.[0056] which recites, in part, “According to an example embodiment, a connected UE may receive multicast data via either a unicast DRB or a multicast DRB, while an inactive UE may only receive multicast data via a multicast DRB.”. That is, the UE while in the connected state on the source cell may receive MBS via PTP or PTM, while when the UE is in the inactive state roaming in the RMA, using a one or more second cells, the UE must use PTM. ).
Regarding claims 10 and 25, Saily teaches:
wherein the MRB configuration information indicates the one or more MRB configurations for a multicast radio access network area that includes a first set of cells including the first cell and the second cell (par.[0005] describes the RMA, and fig.4 along with par.[0079] fig(s) 3 and 6), and
wherein a broadcast service area associated with the first cell includes a second set of cells including a third cell that is not included in the first set of cells (par.[0006] describes the RMA which describes a set of one or more cells, and wherein fig.3 depicts a first set of cells configured to receive MBS in either PTP or PTM, and additionally fig.3 depicts a broadcast area comprising additional cells 3 and 5 which are not configured to receive the MBS because the UE’s needing broadcast service are not within those cell boundaries, however, each cell may receive a broadcast because the cells are under the purview of the base station 134, par.[0103] and fig.6)
Regarding claims 12 and 27, the disclosure of Saily teaches:
wherein the MRB configuration information is associated with receiving multicast communications when in an inactive state or an active state (fig.8 and par.[0055 – 0057] the office notes Saily teaches the use of the MRB using PTM in an inactive state or connected state, par.[0051]).
Regarding claims 15 and 30, Saily discloses:
receiving an indication of a message type used to communicate the MRB configuration information (fig.8 element 814 the UE receives the RRC_RECONFIGURATION which comprises the RRC signaling which terminates in the RRC layer, thus providing an indication of a message type being RRC signaling, par.[0115]).
Regarding claim 18, Saily discloses:
receive the multicast communication via the second cell without first resuming a radio resource control connection in the second cell (fig.8 wherein the “Any gNB 134A” is a gNodeB in the RAN Multicast Area, and the UE does not need to initiate contact with the gNodeB to continue a multicast service it was receiving from another gNodeB which is in the RMA area. Par.[0055] which recites, in part, “According to an illustrative example embodiment, any cell in which the multicast DRB is configured (e.g., to allow UEs to receive the multicast data associated with the RMA via multicast DRB) may be part of the RMA.”. par.[0057] which recites, in part, “Furthermore, a RMA may be an area in which an inactive or low activity (e.g., RRC_Inactive) UE can move and receive multicast data (associated with the RMA), without necessarily notifying a serving BS or network of a change in cell or location (e.g., so long as the UE remains within a list of cells for the RMA).).
Regarding claim 23, Saily discloses:
to receive the MRB configuration information, are configured to receive the MRB configuration information via one or more of:
multicast control channel signaling, a radio resource control reconfiguration message, or a radio resource control release message (par.[0117] describes the MBS resource configuration being sent in an RRC message such as a connection release message).
Regarding claim 26, Saily discloses:
receive an indication that the multicast radio access network is configured to provide a multicast service, within the first set of cells, to UEs in an inactive state (fig.4 wherein the UE at 401 receives configuration for multicast in inactive state. The UE receives a connection suspend (e.g. a connection release) at 406 and enters the inactive state, and in element 408 receives multicast data based on the configuration in RRC_INACTIVE state).
Regarding claim 39, Saily discloses:
receiving the multicast communication via the second cell without first resuming a radio resource control connection in the second cell (fig.8 a base station can transmit connection suspend, the UE enters the RRC inactive state at 824, the UE may move to any gNB in the RMA, and receive the MRB for the multicast service, par.[0117]).
Regarding claim 40, Saily discloses:
Transmitting a request to resume radio resource control connection based at least in part on one or more radio channel condition metrics associated with the second cell (fig.9 the UE is receiving multicast service from Anchor gNB 134A and senses that gNB 134 becomes better than serving cell. The UE sends an RRCConnectionResume to the gNB 134B).
Claim(s) 13 and 28-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saily as applied to claims 1 and 16, in view of Kim (US 2021/0378053 A1).
Regarding claim(s) 13 and 28, Saily teaches discloses the features of the independent claims, but does not disclose:
receiving an indication to resume a radio resource control connection to receive the MRB configuration information
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Kim teaches:
receiving an indication to resume a radio resource control connection to receive the MRB configuration information (fig.1d and par.[0072] in an IDLE or Inactive mode the UE may receive the MBS configuration based on the Resume Procedure).
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 Saily for allowing a UE to continue to receive an MBS with the disclosure of Kim to resume in order to receive a further MBS configuration. The motivation/suggestion would have been to allow the UE to receive a new MBS that was not preconfigured in the event the UE has interest in the new MBS.
Regarding claim 29, Saily and Kim discloses:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
resume the radio resource control (RRC) connection to receive the MRB configuration information (Kim, as discussed above, describes performing an RRC_RESUME while in the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE states, to acquire the MBS MRB configuration, par.[0072]), or
receive the multicast communication without resuming RRC connection based at least in part on receiving the MRB configuration prior to receiving the indication to resume the RRC connection (Kim also describes reception of the MBS information in an RRC message, as well as the disclosure Kim teaches the reception in fig.8 element 814).
Claim(s) 19, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saily as applied to claims 16, in view of Da Silva et al. (US 2022/0124590 A1).
Regarding claim 19, the disclosure of Saily teaches the method of claim 1 and 16, but does not disclose:
transmit a request to resume radio resource control connection based at least in part on one or more radio channel condition metrics associated with the second cell.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Da Silva teaches:
transmit a request to resume radio resource control connection based at least in part on one or more radio channel condition metrics associated with the second cell (par.[0020] describes a conditional resume, and par.[0022] describes conditional resume towards the target cell. Par.[0080] describes the condition being RSRP and/or RSRQ of the cell).
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 Saily with the disclosure of Da Silva. The motivation/suggestion would have been to improve handover of a user equipment.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saily and Da Silva as applied to claim 20, and further in view of Lu et al. (US 2008/0045224 A1).
Regarding claim 21, Saily and Da Silva discloses transmitting the configuration information, but does not disclose:
receiving the indication, via one or more of:
a system information block, or a multicast control channel signaling.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Lu teaches:
receiving the indication, via one or more of:
a system information block, or a multicast control channel signaling (par.[0050] describes the MRB sent in the MCCH).
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 Saily and Da Silva, with the disclosure of Lu. The motivation/suggestion would have been to provide a modification of an existing MBS configuration.
Claim(s) 22, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saily et al. (US 2021/0378053 A1) as applied to claims 1 and 16, view of Xu et al. (US 2023/0284099 A1).
Regarding claim 22, the disclosure of Saily teaches the independent claims, but may not disclose:
wherein the indication comprises an additional indication that the second cell is associated with the MRB configuration information
Xu discloses:
wherein the indication comprises an additional indication that the second cell is associated with the MRB configuration information (fig.10 wherein the UE receives the configuration information specifying the second cell as utilizing the MRB information, par.[0169 – 0170] describes the Fig.7 S711 – S713 wherein the UE receives the configuration information. The configuration information would include an indication that the bearer is configured for the target cell).
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 Saily for sharing MRB configuration information among the cells of an SFN area, with the disclosure of Xu for indicating to a UE to use a particular configuration when moving about an SFN area. The motivation/suggestion would have been to provide service continuity to an inactive state UE as it moves about an SFN area.
Claim(s) 31-32, 34-36 and 38, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saily et al. (US 2021/0378053 A1) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2023/0319905 A1).
Regarding claim 31 and 35, Saily discloses:
a base station (fig.1 depicts a base station) for wireless communication (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications network), comprising:
one or more memories (fig.15 depicts memory 1506); and
one or more processors (fig.15 depicts a processor), coupled to the one or more memories (fig.15 depicts processor and memory coupled together), configured to perform:
a method of wireless communication (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications network) performed by a base station (fig.1 depicts a base station element 134), comprising:
transmitting multicast radio bearer (MRB) configuration information indicating one or more MRB configurations for receiving multicast communications (fig.4 element 401, and par.[0079]. As can be seen the network informs the UE of the resource configuration for multicast reception including unicast or multicast DRB) within a multicast area associated with a set of multiple cells (fig.3 depicts a multicast area associated with a set of multiple cells).
wherein the MRB configuration information is transmitted via radio resource control release message (fig.4 see RRCConnectionSuspend, wherein the Connection Suspend is an RRC_RELEASE with SuspendConfig, see e.g. Resume_ID, Group-RNIT, etc.. That is, the office is taking official notice that the connection suspend is a connection release message, with a SuspendConfig, such as a Resume_ID, etc.) and is associated with a UE receive multicast communication while in an inactive state (fig.4 the UE receives the multicast communications while in the inactive state), or an active state (par.[0070] which recites, in part, “In one example embodiment, the multicast bearer (e.g., multicast data radio bearer) configured within cell/RMA can be operated independent of the RRC state, e.g., stateless operation or receive only device, meaning that any UE can receive the multicast bearer based on the common configuration with a default multicast bearer. In this case the BS/gNB configures just one multicast bearer.”. Additionally, the Configuration received in the RRCConnectionRelease/Suspend comprises the information included in the element 401, see e.g. “resource configuration for multicast operation” wherein the configuration was used for an active state. The disclosure describes the active state as RRC_Connected, see fig.2)
selecting one or more additional base station associated with the multicast area based at least in part on the one or more additional base station being within an expected mobility area of a UE (fig.8 element 818, the RAN based multicast Area Setup, par.[0115] which recites, in part, “At 818, BS 134A determines RAN based multicast Area (RMA) setup, in which the BS 134A may determine which cells are part of the RMA for this multicast data.” Par.[0066] which recites, in part, “This way, the multicast traffic delivery and RMA management can allow dynamic multicast areas, which are adapted to distribution of UEs in a geographical area.”)
While the disclosure of Saily teaches forwarding the DRB configuration to the UE, it does not disclose:
transmitting, to one or more additional base stations associated with the multicast area, an indication to establish a multicast broadcast service (MBS) based at least in part on a user equipment (UE) associated with the MBS entering an inactive state and prior to the UE initiating communication with the second base station while the UE is in the inactive state.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Zhang teaches:
transmitting, to one or more additional base stations associated with the multicast area, an indication to establish a multicast broadcast service (MBS) (fig.6 element 603 - 604 and par.[0226 – 0230] teaches a serving node sending an indication to the target node to setup MBS) based at least in part on a user equipment (UE) associated with the MBS entering an inactive state (fig.5 and par.[0154] describes the UE being in the RRC_INACTIVE mode and would like to continue receiving MBMS transmission while in the RRC_INACTIVE. Fig.6 element 601. The UE sends the Resume when the target doesn’t have the service, if it does it will continue in the RRC_INACTIVE state).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill I the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Saily for transmitting a configuration to the UE, with the disclosure of Zhang which teaches that the target base station receives an MBS indication. The motivation/suggestion would have been to provide service continuity to the UE as the UE is mobile throughout a service area comprising a plurality of base station or cells.
Regarding claim 32 and 36, Zhang discloses:
transmitting the indication to establish the MBS service comprise sone or more of:
transmitting the indication via a network entity, or transmitting the indication via a base station to base station link (fig.5 teaches the UE using a backhaul or via an AMF or different network entities).
Regarding claims 34 and 38, Zhang discloses:
transmitting MBS configuration information comprises transmitting the MBS configuration information via one or more of:
radio resource control signaling, or multicast control channel signaling (par.[0016] describes the MBS configuration being sent in RRC_RELEASE).
Claim(s) 37, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saily et al. (US 2021/0378053 A1) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2023/0319905 A1) and further in view of Zhang et al. (US 2015/0124686 A1), hereinafter known as Zhang-2
Regarding claim 37, the disclosure of Saily teaches transmitting MRB, and the disclosure of Zhang teaches providing an indication for MBS services to another, but do not disclose:
transmit an indication that the base station is associated with the multicast area.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Zhang-2 discloses:
transmit an indication that the base station is associated with the multicast RAN area (par.[0071] which recites, in part, “The MCE or BM-SC then sends information to the adaptively configurable eNBs indicating which ones of the adaptively configurable eNBs should be part of the MBMS service area and/or particular MBSFN areas”).
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 Saily and Zhang, with the disclosure of Zhang-2. The motivation/suggestion would have been to adaptively and dynamically configure a MBSFN/MBMS service area.
Claim(s) 41 and 42, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saily et al. (US 2021/0378053 A1) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2023/0319905 A1), and further in view of Qi et al. (EP 4 214 987 B1).
Regarding claims 41 and 42, the disclosures of Saily and Zhang substantially disclose the claimed subject matter, but may not disclose:
transmitting an indication to resume a radio resource control connection to receive the MRB configuration information.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Qi teaches:
transmitting an indication to resume a radio resource control connection to receive the MRB configuration information (fig.2 steps 3 and 4 and par.[0011] describes the UE receiving triggering for a MBS configuration update, e.g. MRB configuration information, par.[0028 – 0030], and par.[0025 – 0027]).
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 disclosures of Saily and Zhang, with the MBS configuration update as discussed in Qi. The motivation/suggestion would have been to provide a mechanism for notifying a UE of an impending multicast configuration update such that the UE is capable of still receiving multicast service in a plurality of connection states.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Somasundaran et al. (US 2008/0287129 A1) “Cell Reselection and Handover with Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service”
Wu (US 2023/0337066 A1) “Managing Multicast and Broadcast Services Interest Information”
Pelletier et al. (US 2023/0027089 A1) “Methods for Enhanced Reliability for MBMS in Wireless Systems”
Chen et al. (US 2018/0206080 A1) “Method and Apparatus of Handling Interest Indication in a Wireless Communications System”
Ohlsson et al. (US 2020/0092771 A1) “User Equipment, Network Node and Methods in a Wireless Communciation Network”, par.[0008] which recites, in part, “RRC_INACTIVE mode is realized by introducing two new procedures referred to as “RRC connection suspend”, also called “RRC connection release with SuspendConfig”…...”
Wu et al. (US 2022/0015173 A1) “Efficient Handling of a Resource Control State Change and Multi-Node Connectivity” par.[0060]
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
Prosecution Insights