DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to an amendment filed on 01/21/2026.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed on 01/21/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-11, 15, 28, 30, 32-33 and 36-39 are pending
Claims 12-14, 16-27, 29, 31, 34-35 and 40-79 are canceled
Claims 1-11, 15, 28, 30, 32-33 and 36-39 remain rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claims 1-2, 4-11, 15, 28, 32-33 and 36-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by KAUR et al. (WO 2016073984 A2), hereinafter referenced as Kaur.
Regarding claim 1, Kaur teaches a method performed by a first terminal device (Figs. 8-9, Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses RN {Remote Node} selection ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881), comprising:
generating a message targeting at least a second terminal device (Figs. 8-9, Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses RN {Remote Node} selection ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881 ... the configuration parameters may include, ... identification of the groups for which the communication is relayed by this relay WTRU),
the message includes an indicator used to determine which of the first terminal device and the second terminal device is to perform relay selection or reselection (Para. [0288-0293]-Kaur discloses transmitting a message including an indication {corresponding to the indicator used to determine which of the first terminal device and the second terminal device is to perform relay selection or reselection} that the WTRU is capable of operating as a relay ... the indication includes an indication that the WTRU is proximity services (ProSe) enabled and is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0447]-Kaur discloses selecting the RN {Relay Node} from the one or more RNs based upon link quality is performed according to a proximity services (ProSe) protocol in the WTRU. Para. [0112]-Kaur discloses the WTRU may include a Relay Activation Request message in one of the existing NAS messages (e.g., Attach Request) or send a new NAS message, along with its ProSe relay capability incorporated in the WTRU network capability. This may simply indicate that the requesting WTRU is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0110]-Kaur discloses the relay WTRU 662, eNB 663, and the MME 664, may perform a ProSe PDN connectivity and bearer setup procedure, at 677. The activation procedure concludes with the remote WTRU 661 performing a relay discovery and selection procedure to establish a relay connection with the relay WTRU 662, at 678. Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses the configuration parameters may include, ... identification of the groups for which the communication is relayed by this relay WTRU. Para. [0062]-Kaur discloses Relay architecture aspects of ProSe communications will now be described. When sending data from a ProSe WTRU to an Application, a relay WTRU may act as a Layer3 (L3) router); and
transmitting the message towards the second terminal device (Para. [0288-0293]-Kaur discloses transmitting a message including an indication that the WTRU is capable of operating as a relay ... the indication includes an indication that the WTRU is proximity services (ProSe) enabled and is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0112]-Kaur discloses the WTRU may include a Relay Activation Request message in one of the existing NAS messages (e.g., Attach Request) or send a new NAS message, along with its ProSe relay capability incorporated in the WTRU network capability. This may simply indicate that the requesting WTRU is capable of acting as a ProSe relay).
Regarding claim 2, Kaur teaches the method of claim 1,
Kaur further teaches the indicator is an identifier of the first terminal device or a time stamp representing a time when the first terminal device requests the relay selection or reselection (Para. [0138]-Kaur discloses the remote WTRU may send parameters to identify the WTRU including a WTRU identifier. Para. [0273]-Kaur discloses the primary relay WTRU may then forward the secondary relay discovery response. The secondary relay discovery response may include the primary relay WTRU's own ProSe Relay WTRU ID to be used as a link-layer identifier for direct communication. The secondary relay discovery response may also include a list of secondary relay WTRUs that the primary relay WTRU ID has discovered (e.g., a list of ProSe relay IDs)).
Regarding claim 4, Kaur teaches the method of claim 1,
Kaur further teaches receiving a response to the message from the second terminal device (Para. [0113]-Kaur discloses the ProSe relay WTRU may enable its relay functionality according to a discovery mode indicated by MME and send a Relay Activation Acknowledgement message to MME in order to confirm that the relay has successfully received the Relay Activation Response message and the relay functionality has been activated or deactivated. This Relay Activation Acknowledgement may be incorporated within the NAS Attach, PDN Connectivity Complete message, or sent as a new message),
the response to the message includes a result of the relay selection or reselection performed by the second terminal device (Para. [0113]-Kaur discloses the ProSe relay WTRU may enable its relay functionality according to a discovery mode indicated by MME and send a Relay Activation Acknowledgement message to MME in order to confirm that the relay has successfully received the Relay Activation Response message and the relay functionality has been activated or deactivated. This Relay Activation Acknowledgement may be incorporated within the NAS Attach, PDN Connectivity Complete message, or sent as a new message).
Regarding claim 5, Kaur teaches the method of claim 1,
Kaur further teaches starting a timer, in response to transmitting the message towards the second terminal device (Para. [0194]-Kaur discloses when the Relay WTRU 1331 starts relaying MBMS traffic of a specific TMGI 1334, it may start a timer (e.g., timer A 1335). The timer value may be preconfigured in the WTRU 1331 or configured by the application server. The timer value may be the same for all the TMGIs or may be different for various TMGIs. Para. [0148]-Kaur discloses the WTRU may be configured to determine link failure or degradation if one or more than one beacon from the relay is/are not received within the configured timer window. Para. [0184]-Kaur discloses there may be only one Temporary Mobile Group Identities (TMGI) refresh timer for any given TMGI ... the relay may accordingly create a soft context for the TMGI including parameters associated with that given TMGI (e.g., the ProSe layer 2 Group ID, TMGI refresh timer, count of number of remote WTRUs accessing that TMGI through the relay, and the like)).
Regarding claim 6, Kaur teaches the method of claim 5,
Kaur further teaches when the response to the message is not received by the first terminal device until the timer is expired, the method further comprises: performing the relay selection or reselection (Para. [0195]-Kaur discloses when the timer expires, the Relay WTRU 1331 may send a query 1337 to the remote WTRUs 1332, 1333 via one-to-many communication, to determine if there are any remote WTRUs 1332, 1333 still interested in receiving the MBMS traffic of the specified TMGIs. In the query message 1337, the TMGIs in question may be indicated. The relay WTRU 1331 may start another timer (e.g., timer B 1338) waiting for responses from the remote WTRUS 1332, 1333); and
transmitting a result of the relay selection or reselection performed by the first terminal device to the second terminal device (Para. [0113]-Kaur discloses the ProSe relay WTRU may enable its relay functionality according to a discovery mode indicated by MME and send a Relay Activation Acknowledgement message to MME in order to confirm that the relay has successfully received the Relay Activation Response message and the relay functionality has been activated or deactivated. Para. [0124-0128]-Kaur discloses the WTRU 772 may be configured to initiate relay operations e.g. initiate transmission of relay discovery messages when the Activation criteria is met ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881).
Regarding claim 7, Kaur teaches the method of claim 1,
Kaur further teaches performing a negotiation with the second terminal device to determine a criterion for determining which of the first terminal device and the second terminal device is to perform the relay selection or reselection (Para. [0162-0163]-Kaur discloses when the WTRU has a PDN connection with the 3GPP access and has selected a WTRU-NW relay, the remote WTRU may establish a ProSe connection to the WTRU-NW relay that offers the same APN connectivity as the remote WTRU has with its existing PDN connection. Therefore, the remote WTRU may have PDN connections, via the 3GPP access and via the WTRU-NW relay that connects to the same APN. The remote WTRU may also indicate to the relay WTRU during IP address negotiation to keep the same IP address used on the infrastructure path ... When the remote WTRU switches traffic to the ProSe connection, the remote WTRU may send routing rules via 3GPP access indicating to P-GW and PCRF that specific IP flows may be routed via the WTRU-NW relay. Para. [0166]-Kaur discloses the remote WTRU may send this indication via NAS protocol on the prose connection in order to avoid starting Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 6 (DHCPv6) auto- configuration. Alternatively, the remote WTRU may also indicate to the relay WTRU during DHCP negotiation to keep the same IP address used on the infrastructure path ... When both connections are active, the remote WTRU may switch traffic to the new WTRU-NW relay).
Regarding claim 8, Kaur teaches the method of claim 1,
Kaur further teaches transmitting a notification to one or more devices on a path between the first terminal device and the second terminal device (Para. [0124-0128]-Kaur discloses the WTRU 772 may be configured to initiate relay operations e.g. initiate transmission of relay discovery messages when the Activation criteria is met ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881),
the one or more devices include at least the second terminal device (Para. [0124-0128]-Kaur discloses the WTRU 772 may be configured to initiate relay operations e.g. initiate transmission of relay discovery messages when the Activation criteria is met ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881), and
the notification indicates that the first terminal device triggers a relay selection or reselection event (Para. [0124-0128]-Kaur discloses the WTRU 772 may be configured to initiate relay operations e.g. initiate transmission of relay discovery messages when the Activation criteria is met ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881).
Regarding claim 9, Kaur teaches the method of claim 8,
Kaur further teaches handling the relay selection or reselection event during a time period (Para. [0133-0134]-Kaur discloses WTRUs may therefore use this load information to make the initial selection of a relay WTRU … it may not send any one-to-one or one-to-many PC5 communication messages to the relay WTRU for a certain period of time),
the one or more devices do not trigger the relay selection or reselection event during the time period (Para. [0133-0134]-Kaur discloses WTRUs may therefore use this load information to make the initial selection of a relay WTRU … it may not send any one-to-one or one-to-many PC5 communication messages to the relay WTRU for a certain period of time. Para. [0190]-Kaur discloses if many WTRUs still need the relay to continue the TMGI monitoring and MBMS relaying, the WTRU with the smallest net timer (after applying the random addition/subtraction) may send its own TMGI monitoring request, first allowing the relay to update the timer and signal it back to all WTRUs while holding back a subset of remaining WTRUs from redundantly requesting for further timer updates).
Regarding claim 10, Kaur teaches the method of claim 8,
Kaur further teaches the relay selection or reselection event is triggered by the first terminal device according to a threshold (Para. [0148]-Kaur discloses remote WTRU may initiate a procedure to select a new relay if the link conditions with the relay node degrade below a configured threshold), and
the threshold is different from respective thresholds configured for the one or more devices to trigger the relay selection or reselection event (Para. [0114]-Kaur discloses if the measurements are above or below a specific configured threshold, the relay WTRU at hand may be a potential candidate to act as a relay ... WTRU-NW relays near the cell edge may be more useful to assist in relaying ProSe communication for remote WTRUs that are out-of-coverage, as opposed to relay WTRUs that are near the eNB instead. [0115] This may be realized by having the eNB analyze the WTRU measurements, and in turn, coordinate a trigger with the MME that the radio measurements for the relay WTRU have met or exceeded the minimum threshold to act as a relay. Para. [0004]-Kaur discloses relay node (RN) activation that includes analyzing radio measurements for candidate RNs at an evolved eNB and, in turn, sending a RN activation request if radio measurements are above a particular threshold. (See also Para. [0123])).
Regarding claim 11, Kaur teaches the method of claim 1,
Kaur further teaches receiving configuration information for the relay selection or reselection from a base station and/or a fourth terminal device (Para. [0090]-Kaur discloses WTRU may monitor the configured control channel resources for receiving broadcasted relay info and store the configuration for further communication with the relay. Figs. 8-9, Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses RN {Remote Node} selection ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881).
Regarding claim 15, Kaur teaches a method performed by a second terminal device (Figs. 8-9, Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses RN {Remote Node} selection ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881), comprising:
receiving a message targeting at least the second terminal device from a first terminal device (Figs. 8-9, Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses RN {Remote Node} selection ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881 ... the configuration parameters may include, ... identification of the groups for which the communication is relayed by this relay WTRU),
the message includes an indicator used to determine which of the first terminal device and the second terminal device is to perform relay selection or reselection (Para. [0288-0293]-Kaur discloses transmitting a message including an indication that the WTRU is capable of operating as a relay ... the indication includes an indication that the WTRU is proximity services (ProSe) enabled and is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0447]-Kaur discloses selecting the RN {Relay Node} from the one or more RNs based upon link quality is performed according to a proximity services (ProSe) protocol in the WTRU. Para. [0112]-Kaur discloses the WTRU may include a Relay Activation Request message in one of the existing NAS messages (e.g., Attach Request) or send a new NAS message, along with its ProSe relay capability incorporated in the WTRU network capability. This may simply indicate that the requesting WTRU is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0110]-Kaur discloses the relay WTRU 662, eNB 663, and the MME 664, may perform a ProSe PDN connectivity and bearer setup procedure, at 677. The activation procedure concludes with the remote WTRU 661 performing a relay discovery and selection procedure to establish a relay connection with the relay WTRU 662, at 678. Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses the configuration parameters may include, ... identification of the groups for which the communication is relayed by this relay WTRU); and
determining whether to perform the relay selection or reselection, according to the indicator (Para. [0288-0293]-Kaur discloses transmitting a message including an indication that the WTRU is capable of operating as a relay ... the indication includes an indication that the WTRU is proximity services (ProSe) enabled and is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0112]-Kaur discloses the WTRU may include a Relay Activation Request message in one of the existing NAS messages (e.g., Attach Request) or send a new NAS message, along with its ProSe relay capability incorporated in the WTRU network capability. This may simply indicate that the requesting WTRU is capable of acting as a ProSe relay).
Regarding claim 28, Kaur teaches a method performed by a third terminal device (Figs. 8-9, Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses RN {Remote Node} selection ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881), comprising:
receiving a first message targeting at least a second terminal device from a first terminal device (Figs. 8-9, Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses RN {Remote Node} selection ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881 ... the configuration parameters may include, ... identification of the groups for which the communication is relayed by this relay WTRU),
the first message includes a first indicator used to determine which of the first terminal device and the second terminal device is to perform relay selection or reselection (Para. [0288-0293]-Kaur discloses transmitting a message including an indication that the WTRU is capable of operating as a relay ... the indication includes an indication that the WTRU is proximity services (ProSe) enabled and is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0447]-Kaur discloses selecting the RN {Relay Node} from the one or more RNs based upon link quality is performed according to a proximity services (ProSe) protocol in the WTRU. Para. [0112]-Kaur discloses the WTRU may include a Relay Activation Request message in one of the existing NAS messages (e.g., Attach Request) or send a new NAS message, along with its ProSe relay capability incorporated in the WTRU network capability. This may simply indicate that the requesting WTRU is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0110]-Kaur discloses the relay WTRU 662, eNB 663, and the MME 664, may perform a ProSe PDN connectivity and bearer setup procedure, at 677. The activation procedure concludes with the remote WTRU 661 performing a relay discovery and selection procedure to establish a relay connection with the relay WTRU 662, at 678. Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses the configuration parameters may include, ... identification of the groups for which the communication is relayed by this relay WTRU); and
determining whether to forward the first message towards the second terminal device, based at least in part on the first indicator (Para. [0103]-Kaur discloses the relay WTRU may forward paging messages received for any WTRUs that have context in the relay. Para. [0097]-Kaur discloses the relay may use a broadcast message to send a command to the WTRUs to perform a specified action ... the broadcast message payload may be protected and may be decoded only by the WTRUs attached to the relay node ... the relay WTRU may forward commands from the network in the broadcast message. For example, the relay WTRU may forward a paging message from the network in a common broadcast message. Para. [0084]-Kaur discloses if the remote WTRU is within range of some of these other relays, the remote WTRU and other relays in the vicinity may save some battery power by having only the remote WTRU's serving relay perform relay discovery and forward this information to the remote WTRU instead of both performing relay discovery. Para. [0077]-Kaur discloses a ProSe-enabled WTRU may be interested in obtaining location information pertaining to another ProSe-enabled WTRU, either for itself or to forward to another entity (e.g., ProSe Application Server or even another ProSe-enabled WTRU) that might need the knowledge of such location information. Since ProSe WTRUs can often be out of coverage, direct location information transfer between WTRUs over the air via PC5 is desirable. Para. [0251]-Kaur discloses the WTRU 1442 may then report its computed location information 1447, along with other possible parameters such as time- stamp, request type, application ID, higher layer information, etc., to the requesting entity (e.g., the requesting WTRU) or any other node as depicted by trigger. [0252] The location information request/response messages 1444, 1447 may be carried using the PC5-S signaling protocol option for Rel-13 Public Safety discovery and other eProSe-Ext functionality).
Regarding claim 32, Kaur teaches the method of claim 28,
Kaur further teaches the first indicator is an identifier of the first terminal device (Para. [0138]-Kaur discloses the remote WTRU may send parameters to identify the WTRU including a WTRU identifier. Para. [0273]-Kaur discloses the primary relay WTRU may then forward the secondary relay discovery response. The secondary relay discovery response may include the primary relay WTRU's own ProSe Relay WTRU ID to be used as a link-layer identifier for direct communication. The secondary relay discovery response may also include a list of secondary relay WTRUs that the primary relay WTRU ID has discovered (e.g., a list of ProSe relay IDs)).
Regarding claim 33, Kaur teaches the method of claim 32,
Kaur further teaches receiving a second message targeting at least the first terminal device from the second terminal device (Figs. 8-9, Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses RN {Remote Node} selection ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881 ... the configuration parameters may include, ... identification of the groups for which the communication is relayed by this relay WTRU),
the second message includes an identifier of the second terminal device (Para. [0138]-Kaur discloses the remote WTRU may send parameters to identify the WTRU including a WTRU identifier. Para. [0273]-Kaur discloses the primary relay WTRU may then forward the secondary relay discovery response. The secondary relay discovery response may include the primary relay WTRU's own ProSe Relay WTRU ID to be used as a link-layer identifier for direct communication. The secondary relay discovery response may also include a list of secondary relay WTRUs that the primary relay WTRU ID has discovered (e.g., a list of ProSe relay IDs)); and
comparing the identifiers of the first terminal device and the second terminal devices (Para. [0284]-Kaur discloses the MME 1662b may then compare the PGW identities of the relay WTRU 1661b and the remote WTRU 1661a and then may make a decision to either proceed with 1673 to 1675 or otherwise follow 1676 to 1678).
Regarding claim 36, Kaur teaches the method of claim 30,
Kaur further teaches when the third terminal device determines to forward the first message towards the second terminal device, the method further comprises: forwarding the first message towards the second terminal device, without forwarding the second message towards the first terminal device (Para. [0103]-Kaur discloses the relay WTRU may forward paging messages received for any WTRUs that have context in the relay. Para. [0097]-Kaur discloses the relay may use a broadcast message to send a command to the WTRUs to perform a specified action ... the broadcast message payload may be protected and may be decoded only by the WTRUs attached to the relay node ... the relay WTRU may forward commands from the network in the broadcast message. For example, the relay WTRU may forward a paging message from the network in a common broadcast message. Para. [0084]-Kaur discloses if the remote WTRU is within range of some of these other relays, the remote WTRU and other relays in the vicinity may save some battery power by having only the remote WTRU's serving relay perform relay discovery and forward this information to the remote WTRU instead of both performing relay discovery. Para. [0077]-Kaur discloses a ProSe-enabled WTRU may be interested in obtaining location information pertaining to another ProSe-enabled WTRU, either for itself or to forward to another entity (e.g., ProSe Application Server or even another ProSe-enabled WTRU) that might need the knowledge of such location information. Since ProSe WTRUs can often be out of coverage, direct location information transfer between WTRUs over the air via PC5 is desirable. Para. [0251]-Kaur discloses the WTRU 1442 may then report its computed location information 1447, along with other possible parameters such as time- stamp, request type, application ID, higher layer information, etc., to the requesting entity (e.g., the requesting WTRU) or any other node as depicted by trigger. [0252] The location information request/response messages 1444, 1447 may be carried using the PC5-S signaling protocol option for Rel-13 Public Safety discovery and other eProSe-Ext functionality).
Regarding claim 37, Kaur teaches the method of claim 36,
Kaur further teaches receiving a response to the first message from the second terminal device (Para. [0113]-Kaur discloses the ProSe relay WTRU may enable its relay functionality according to a discovery mode indicated by MME and send a Relay Activation Acknowledgement message to MME in order to confirm that the relay has successfully received the Relay Activation Response message and the relay functionality has been activated or deactivated. This Relay Activation Acknowledgement may be incorporated within the NAS Attach, PDN Connectivity Complete message, or sent as a new message),
the response to the first message includes a result of the relay selection or reselection performed by the second terminal device (Para. [0113]-Kaur discloses the ProSe relay WTRU may enable its relay functionality according to a discovery mode indicated by MME and send a Relay Activation Acknowledgement message to MME in order to confirm that the relay has successfully received the Relay Activation Response message and the relay functionality has been activated or deactivated. This Relay Activation Acknowledgement may be incorporated within the NAS Attach, PDN Connectivity Complete message, or sent as a new message); and
forwarding the response to the first message to the first terminal device (Fig. 15, Para. [0253]-Kaur discloses Secondary relay information retrieval through a primary relay. Para. [0182]-Kaur discloses remote WTRUs in the relay's vicinity may be aware if MBMS is available through that particular relay or not, which is useful in assisting remote WTRUs in selecting the desired relay based on the services the remote WTRU is interested in. For instance, the MBMS absence/presence indication may be incorporated in WTRU-to-Network relay discovery messages, such as in an announcement message in Model A WTRU-NW relay discovery and/or in discovery response messages in Model B WTRU-NW relay discovery if solicited before by a discoverer (e.g., as part of connectivity information attribute of relay discovery messages)).
Regarding claim 38, Kaur teaches the method of claim 30,
Kaur further teaches when the third terminal device determines not to forward the first message towards the second terminal device, the method further comprises: forwarding the second message towards the first terminal device (Para. [0103]-Kaur discloses the relay WTRU may forward paging messages received for any WTRUs that have context in the relay. Para. [0097]-Kaur discloses the relay may use a broadcast message to send a command to the WTRUs to perform a specified action ... the broadcast message payload may be protected and may be decoded only by the WTRUs attached to the relay node ... the relay WTRU may forward commands from the network in the broadcast message. For example, the relay WTRU may forward a paging message from the network in a common broadcast message. Para. [0084]-Kaur discloses if the remote WTRU is within range of some of these other relays, the remote WTRU and other relays in the vicinity may save some battery power by having only the remote WTRU's serving relay perform relay discovery and forward this information to the remote WTRU instead of both performing relay discovery. Para. [0077]-Kaur discloses a ProSe-enabled WTRU may be interested in obtaining location information pertaining to another ProSe-enabled WTRU, either for itself or to forward to another entity (e.g., ProSe Application Server or even another ProSe-enabled WTRU) that might need the knowledge of such location information. Since ProSe WTRUs can often be out of coverage, direct location information transfer between WTRUs over the air via PC5 is desirable. Para. [0251]-Kaur discloses the WTRU 1442 may then report its computed location information 1447, along with other possible parameters such as time- stamp, request type, application ID, higher layer information, etc., to the requesting entity (e.g., the requesting WTRU) or any other node as depicted by trigger. [0252] The location information request/response messages 1444, 1447 may be carried using the PC5-S signaling protocol option for Rel-13 Public Safety discovery and other eProSe-Ext functionality).
Regarding claim 39, Kaur teaches the method of claim 38,
Kaur further teaches receiving a response to the second message from the first terminal device (Para. [0113]-Kaur discloses the ProSe relay WTRU may enable its relay functionality according to a discovery mode indicated by MME and send a Relay Activation Acknowledgement message to MME in order to confirm that the relay has successfully received the Relay Activation Response message and the relay functionality has been activated or deactivated. This Relay Activation Acknowledgement may be incorporated within the NAS Attach, PDN Connectivity Complete message, or sent as a new message),
the response to the second message includes a result of the relay selection or reselection performed by the first terminal device (Para. [0113]-Kaur discloses the ProSe relay WTRU may enable its relay functionality according to a discovery mode indicated by MME and send a Relay Activation Acknowledgement message to MME in order to confirm that the relay has successfully received the Relay Activation Response message and the relay functionality has been activated or deactivated. This Relay Activation Acknowledgement may be incorporated within the NAS Attach, PDN Connectivity Complete message, or sent as a new message); and
forwarding the response to the second message to the second terminal device (Fig. 15, Para. [0253]-Kaur discloses Secondary relay information retrieval through a primary relay. Para. [0182]-Kaur discloses remote WTRUs in the relay's vicinity may be aware if MBMS is available through that particular relay or not, which is useful in assisting remote WTRUs in selecting the desired relay based on the services the remote WTRU is interested in. For instance, the MBMS absence/presence indication may be incorporated in WTRU-to-Network relay discovery messages, such as in an announcement message in Model A WTRU-NW relay discovery and/or in discovery response messages in Model B WTRU-NW relay discovery if solicited before by a discoverer (e.g., as part of connectivity information attribute of relay discovery messages)).
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 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 of this title, 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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KAUR et al. (WO 2016073984 A2), hereinafter referenced as Kaur, in view of Lin et al. (US 20090105942 A1), hereinafter referenced as Lin.
Regarding claim 3, Kaur teaches the method of claim 2,
Kaur fails to teach it is determined that the second terminal device is to perform the relay selection or reselection, when one of the following occurs: the time stamp indicates that the first terminal device requests the relay selection or reselection earlier than the second terminal device; the identifier of the first terminal device is larger than an identifier of the second terminal device; and the identifier of the first terminal device is smaller than the identifier of the second terminal device.
However, Lin teaches it is determined that the second terminal device is to perform the relay selection or reselection, when one of the following occurs: the time stamp indicates that the first terminal device requests the relay selection or reselection earlier than the second terminal device; the identifier of the first terminal device is larger than an identifier of the second terminal device; and the identifier of the first terminal device is smaller than the identifier of the second terminal device (Para. [0094]-Lin discloses the sending vehicle (first terminal) chooses the receiving vehicle (second terminal) based on the data that is stored in the beaconing historical data table ... all vehicles that are referred to in the beaconing historical data table, are those that are driving in the same direction as the requesting vehicle and that are or have been in the direct communication range of the sending vehicle ... one is chosen that is farthest away from the sending relay vehicle according to the entry of the beaconing historical data table having a relatively young or preferably the youngest time stamp {earlier relay request} ... The reason why a relatively young or preferably the youngest time stamp is chosen, is to make sure that the vehicle is still in the direct communication range of the sending relay vehicle).
Kaur and Lin are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication networks, dealing with methods and apparatuses are used to provide travelers with travel time predictions for their intended route.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Kaur to incorporate the teachings of Lin on relay selection, with a motivation to select relay based on timestamp, and guarantee the estimated travel time may much more accurately mirror the real current traffic situation in comparison to the estimated travel times determined by systems of the prior art, (Lin, Para. [0051]).
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KAUR et al. (WO 2016073984 A2), hereinafter referenced as Kaur, in view of Freda et al. (US 20240259906 A1), hereinafter referenced as Freda.
Regarding claim 30, Kaur teaches the method of claim 28,
Kaur further teaches receiving a second message targeting at least the first terminal device from the second terminal device (Figs. 8-9, Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses RN {Remote Node} selection ... To enable the communication between a WTRU-NW relay and a remote WTRU, the relay may broadcast configuration parameters necessary to initiate relay operations 881 ... the configuration parameters may include, ... identification of the groups for which the communication is relayed by this relay WTRU),
the second message includes a second time stamp representing a time when the second terminal device requests the relay selection or reselection (Para. [0278]-Kaur discloses based on requested preferences in the trigger, the relay WTRU may provide a list of ProSe Relay WTRU IDs of discovered secondary relay WTRUs that match the requested criteria, along with their corresponding retrieved information (e.g., connectivity details, group info, status/maintenance flag, and location information if additionally requested) and other possible parameters such as time-stamp, application ID, higher layer information, and the like, to a requesting entity (e.g., requesting WTRU)).
Kaur fails to teach comparing the first time stamp and the second time stamp to determine whether the first terminal device requests the relay selection or reselection earlier than the second terminal device.
However, Freda teaches comparing the first time stamp and the second time stamp to determine whether the first terminal device requests the relay selection or reselection earlier than the second terminal device (Para. [0176-0179]-Freda discloses the remote WTRU may include, in the CSI measurement report/CQI report: the CQI, a trigger type (e.g., periodic vs event-based CQI report, a priority indication and/or a timestamp corresponding to the time in which the Uu CSI measurement was triggered ... the relay WTRU may determine the priority of the CQI MAC CE based on one or more of a timestamp received from the remote WTRU for the associated CQI, a priority received from the remote WTRU associated with the CQI, and/or the trigger type of the SL CQI. Para. [0155]-Freda discloses that regarding ordering and/or priority {corresponding to the orders of the relays based on their timestamps for which CQI was triggered or requested} associated with each relay, for example, the remote WTRU may receive a preference and/or priority associated with each relay and may perform reselection/recovery to the relay WTRU associated with the highest priority. For another example, the remote WTRU may further combine other factors described herein (e.g., RSRP measurement of the relay) with such priority to determine the relay. Para. [0206]-Freda discloses if both a suitable relay and a suitable cell are selected, the remote WTRU may select one of them based on priority).
Kaur and Freda are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of communication networks, dealing with link management and recovery for sidelink relays.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Kaur to incorporate the teachings of Freda on relay selection, with a motivation to select relay based on timestamps, and guarantee recovery for sidelink relays, (Freda, Para. [0002]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Arguments/Remarks, filed on 01/21/2026, with respect to the 35 USC § 102 and 103 rejection of claims 1-11, 15, 28, 30, 32-33 and 36-39 have been fully considered. Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
In the remarks, on page 9, Lines [21-24], Applicant argues that, “Kaur does not teach the feature of "wherein the message includes an indicator used to determine which of the first terminal device and the second terminal device is to perform relay selection or reselection" of independent Claim 1.”
However, in Para. [0288-0293]-Kaur discloses transmitting a message including an indication {corresponding to the indicator used to determine which of the first terminal device and the second terminal device is to perform relay selection or reselection} that the WTRU is capable of operating as a relay ... the indication includes an indication that the WTRU is proximity services (ProSe) enabled and is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0447]-Kaur discloses selecting the RN {Relay Node} from the one or more RNs based upon link quality is performed according to a proximity services (ProSe) protocol in the WTRU. Para. [0112]-Kaur discloses the WTRU may include a Relay Activation Request message in one of the existing NAS messages (e.g., Attach Request) or send a new NAS message, along with its ProSe relay capability incorporated in the WTRU network capability. This may simply indicate that the requesting WTRU is capable of acting as a ProSe relay. Para. [0110]-Kaur discloses the relay WTRU 662, eNB 663, and the MME 664, may perform a ProSe PDN connectivity and bearer setup procedure, at 677. The activation procedure concludes with the remote WTRU 661 performing a relay discovery and selection procedure to establish a relay connection with the relay WTRU 662, at 678. Para. [0128]-Kaur discloses the configuration parameters may include, ... identification of the groups for which the communication is relayed by this relay WTRU. Para. [0062]-Kaur discloses Relay architecture aspects of ProSe communications will now be described. When sending data from a ProSe WTRU to an Application, a relay WTRU may act as a Layer3 (L3) router.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/OO/
Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472