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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 06/22/2023.
Claims 1-5, 8-12 and 16-25 are currently pending.
Claims 1-5, 8-12 and 16-25 are rejected.
Claims 1, 8, 16 and 21 are independent claims.
- Claim Objection
5. Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “transmsission” in line 13 should be “transmission”, “a uplink” in line 14 should be “an uplink”. Appropriate correction is required.
6. Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: “transmsission” in line 16 should be “transmission”, “a uplink” in line 17 should be “an uplink”. Appropriate correction is required.
7. Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: “transmsission” in line 6 should be “transmission”, “a uplink” in line 7 should be “an uplink”. Appropriate correction is required.
8. Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities: “transmsission” in line 7 should be “transmission”, “a uplink” in line 8 should be “an uplink”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
9. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
10. Claims 5, 12, 20 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
11. For claim 5, the original disclosure is completely silent on receiving, from the third base station, downlink data to be forwarded to the UE according to the DL TEID.
12. For claim 12, the original disclosure is completely silent on the controller is configured to receive, from the third base station, downlink data to be forwarded to the UE according to the DL TEID.
13. For claim 20, the original disclosure is completely silent on transferring, to the third base station, a fourth message including the DL TEID, wherein the DL TEID is associated with forwarding downlink data to the UE.
14. For claim 25, the original disclosure is completely silent on the controller is further configured to transfer, to the third base station, a fourth message including the DL TEID, and wherein the DL TEID is associated with forwarding downlink data to the UE.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
18. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kyungmin Park et al. (US 2023/0087615 A1 based on provisional application No. 63/083,026 filed on Sep. 24, 2020), hereinafter Park, in view of Philippe GODIN et al. (US 2024/0023186 A1), hereinafter GODIN.
For claim 1, Park teaches a method performed by a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU) in a wireless com7munication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode, a radio resource control (RRC) resume request message with uplink data (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives RRC resume request and UL data. Since the UE sends the RRC resume request, the UE is in an inactive mode. See also paragraphs 261-290.);
transferring, to a second base station operating as a central unit-control plane (CU-CP), a first message including information indicating that the UE is accessing for small data transmission (SDT) (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU sends initial UL RRC message transfer message and/or RRC resume request. In other words, the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, a first message including information indicating that the UE is accessing for small data transmission (SDT). See also paragraphs 261-290.);
receiving, from the second base station, a second message including a uplink tunnel endpoint identifier (UL TEID) ((Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) from the gNB-CU-CP. See also paragraphs 261-290.); and
forwarding, to a third base station as a central unit-user plane (CU- UP), the uplink data based on the UL TEID (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU forwards the UL data to the gNB-CU-UP based on the UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP. See also paragraphs 261-290.).
GODIN further teaches DU buffers UL data received from UE before forwarding the UL data to CU-UP (GODIN, Fig. 10 and paragraph 145-147 teaches the DU receives first UL data and buffers the first UL data before forwarding it to the CU-UP.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Park with DU buffers UL data received from UE before forwarding the UL data to CU-UP taught in GODIN. Because both Park and GODIN teach SDT between UE, DU and CU, GODIN explicitly teaches the DU buffered the UL data received from the UE before forwarding the UL data to the CU-CP.
For claim 2, Park and GODIN further teach the method of claim 1, wherein the uplink data is delivered to a user plane function (UPF) (Park, Fig. 26 and paragraph 283 teach the CU-UP may receive the uplink data and/or the subsequent uplink data associated with the SDT procedure from the wireless device via the base station distributed unit. The CU-UP may send the uplink data and/or the subsequent uplink data to at least one of: a user plane function (UPF).).
For claim 3, Park and GODIN further teach the method of claim 1, wherein the first message further includes the RRC resume request message (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU sends initial UL RRC message transfer message and/or RRC resume request.).
For claim 4, Park and GODIN further teach the method of claim 1, further comprising: transferring, to the second base station, a third message including a downlink tunnel endpoint identifier (DL TEID), in response to the second message (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, UE context setup response with DL TEID(s), in response to the UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP.).
For claim 5, Park and GODIN further teach the method of claim 4, further comprising: receiving, from the third base station, downlink data to be forwarded to the UE according to the DL TEID (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, UE context setup response with DL TEID(s), in response to the UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP. Park, Fig. 28 teaches the gNB-DU receives, from the gNB-CU-UP, DL data (with end marker). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Park to have receiving, from the third base station, downlink data to be forwarded to the UE according to the DL TEID.).
For claim 8, Park teaches a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU) (Park, Fig. 15, item 1504) in a wireless communication system, the first base station comprising:
a transceiver (Park, Fig. 15, items 1510, 1512); and
a controller (Park, Fig. 15, item 1508) coupled with the transceiver and configured to:
receive, from a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode, a radio resource control (RRC) resume request message with uplink data (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives RRC resume request and UL data. Since the UE sends the RRC resume request, the UE is in an inactive mode. See also paragraphs 261-290.),
transfer, to a second base station operating as a central unit-control plane (CU-CP), a first message including information indicating that the UE is accessing for small data transmission (SDT) (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU sends initial UL RRC message transfer message and/or RRC resume request. In other words, the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, a first message including information indicating that the UE is accessing for small data transmission (SDT). See also paragraphs 261-290.),
receive, from the second base station, a second message including a uplink tunnel endpoint identifier (UL TEID) (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) from the gNB-CU-CP. See also paragraphs 261-290.), and
forward, to a third base station as a central unit-user plane (CU- UP) the uplink data based on the UL TEID (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU forwards the UL data to the gNB-CU-UP based on the UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP. See also paragraphs 261-290.).
GODIN further teaches DU buffers UL data received from UE before forwarding the UL data to CU-UP (GODIN, Fig. 10 and paragraph 145-147 teaches the DU receives first UL data and buffers the first UL data before forwarding it to the CU-UP.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Park with DU buffers UL data received from UE before forwarding the UL data to CU-UP taught in GODIN. Because both Park and GODIN teach SDT between UE, DU and CU, GODIN explicitly teaches the DU buffered the UL data received from the UE before forwarding the UL data to the CU-CP.
For claim 9, Park and GODIN further teach the first base station of claim 8, wherein the uplink data is delivered to a user plane function (UPF) (Park, Fig. 26 and paragraph 283 teach the CU-UP may receive the uplink data and/or the subsequent uplink data associated with the SDT procedure from the wireless device via the base station distributed unit. The CU-UP may send the uplink data and/or the subsequent uplink data to at least one of: a user plane function (UPF).).
For claim 10, Park and GODIN further teach the first base station of claim 8, wherein the first message further includes the RRC resume request message (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU sends initial UL RRC message transfer message and/or RRC resume request.).
For claim 11, Park and GODIN further teach the first base station of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to transfer, to the second base station, a third message including a downlink tunnel endpoint identifier (DL TEID), in response to the second message (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, UE context setup response with DL TEID(s), in response to the UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP.).
For claim 12, Park and GODIN further teach the first base station of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to receive, from the third base station, downlink data to be forwarded to the UE according to the DL TEID (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, UE context setup response with DL TEID(s), in response to the UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP. Park, Fig. 28 teaches the gNB-DU receives, from the gNB-CU-UP, DL data (with end marker). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Park to have receiving, from the third base station, downlink data to be forwarded to the UE according to the DL TEID.).
For claim 16, Park teaches a method performed by a second base station operating as a central unit-control plane (CU-CP) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU), a first message including information indicating that a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode is accessing for small data transmission (SDT) (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU sends initial UL RRC message transfer message and/or RRC resume request. In other words, the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, a first message including information indicating that the UE is accessing for small data transmission (SDT). Since the UE sends the RRC resume request, the UE is in an inactive mode. See also paragraphs 261-290.)); and
transferring, to the first base station, a second message including a uplink tunnel endpoint identifier (UL TEID) (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) from the gNB-CU-CP. See also paragraphs 261-290.),
wherein the UL TEID is associated with forwarding uplink data (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) from the gNB-CU-CP. See also paragraphs 261-290.), transmitted with a radio resource control (RRC) resume request message from the UE, to a third base station as a central unit-user plane (CU-UP) (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives RRC resume request and UL data. Since the UE sends the RRC resume request, the UE is in an inactive mode. See also paragraphs 261-290.).
GODIN further teaches receiving, from a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU), a first message including information indicating that a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode is accessing for small data transmission (SDT) (GODIN, Fig. 10 step 1001 and paragraph 145-147 teach starting SDT procedure, the DU receives RRCResumeRequest and first UL data from the UE in RRC inactive mode.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Park with GODIN to have receiving, from a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU), a first message including information indicating that a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode is accessing for small data transmission (SDT); and transferring, to the first base station, a second message including a uplink tunnel endpoint identifier (UL TEID), wherein the UL TEID is associated with forwarding uplink data, transmitted with a radio resource control (RRC) resume request message from the UE, to a third base station as a central unit-user plane (CU-UP). Because both Park and GODIN teach SDT between UE, DU and CU, GODIN explicitly teaches receiving, from a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU), a first message including information indicating that a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode is accessing for small data transmission (SDT).
For claim 17, Park and GODIN further teach the method of claim 16, wherein the uplink data is delivered to a user plane function (UPF) (Park, Fig. 26 and paragraph 283 teach the CU-UP may receive the uplink data and/or the subsequent uplink data associated with the SDT procedure from the wireless device via the base station distributed unit. The CU-UP may send the uplink data and/or the subsequent uplink data to at least one of: a user plane function (UPF).).
For claim 18, Park and GODIN further teach the method of claim 16, wherein the first message further includes the RRC resume request message (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU sends initial UL RRC message transfer message and/or RRC resume request.).
For claim 19, Park and GODIN further teach the method of claim 16, further comprising: receiving, from the first base station, a third message including a downlink tunnel endpoint identifier (DL TEID), in response to the second message (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, UE context setup response with DL TEID(s), in response to the UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP.).
For claim 20, Park and GODIN further teach the method of claim 19, further comprising: transferring, to the third base station, a fourth message including the DL TEID, wherein the DL TEID is associated with forwarding downlink data to the UE (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, UE context setup response with DL TEID(s), in response to the UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP. Park, Fig. 28 teaches the gNB-DU receives, from the gNB-CU-UP, DL data (with end marker). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Park to have receiving, from the third base station, downlink data to be forwarded to the UE according to the DL TEID.).
For claim 21, Park teaches a second base station (Park, Fig. 15 item 1504) operating as a central unit-control plane (CU-CP) in a wireless communication system, the second base station comprising:
a transceiver (Park, Fig. 15 items 1510, 1512); and
a controller (Park, Fig. 15 item 1508) coupled with the transceiver and configured to:
receive, from a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU), a first message including information indicating that a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode is accessing for small data transmission (SDT) (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU sends initial UL RRC message transfer message and/or RRC resume request. In other words, the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, a first message including information indicating that the UE is accessing for small data transmission (SDT). Since the UE sends the RRC resume request, the UE is in an inactive mode. See also paragraphs 261-290.)); and
transfer, to the first base station, a second message including a uplink tunnel endpoint identifier (UL TEID) (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) from the gNB-CU-CP. See also paragraphs 261-290.),
wherein the UL TEID is associated with forwarding uplink data (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) from the gNB-CU-CP. See also paragraphs 261-290.), transmitted with a radio resource control (RRC) resume request message from the UE, to a third base station as a central unit-user plane (CU-UP) (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU receives RRC resume request and UL data. Since the UE sends the RRC resume request, the UE is in an inactive mode. See also paragraphs 261-290.).
GODIN further teaches receiving, from a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU), a first message including information indicating that a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode is accessing for small data transmission (SDT) (GODIN, Fig. 10 step 1001 and paragraph 145-147 teach starting SDT procedure, the DU receives RRCResumeRequest and first UL data from the UE in RRC inactive mode.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Park with GODIN to have receiving, from a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU), a first message including information indicating that a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode is accessing for small data transmission (SDT); and transferring, to the first base station, a second message including a uplink tunnel endpoint identifier (UL TEID), wherein the UL TEID is associated with forwarding uplink data, transmitted with a radio resource control (RRC) resume request message from the UE, to a third base station as a central unit-user plane (CU-UP). Because both Park and GODIN teach SDT between UE, DU and CU, GODIN explicitly teaches receiving, from a first base station operating as a distributed unit (DU), a first message including information indicating that a user equipment (UE) in an inactive mode is accessing for small data transmission (SDT).
For claim 22, Park and GODIN further teach the second base station of claim 21, wherein the uplink data is delivered to a user plane function (UPF) (Park, Fig. 26 and paragraph 283 teach the CU-UP may receive the uplink data and/or the subsequent uplink data associated with the SDT procedure from the wireless device via the base station distributed unit. The CU-UP may send the uplink data and/or the subsequent uplink data to at least one of: a user plane function (UPF).).
For claim 23, Park and GODIN further teach the second base station of claim 21, wherein the first message further includes the RRC resume request message (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU sends initial UL RRC message transfer message and/or RRC resume request.).
For claim 24, Park and GODIN further teach the second base station of claim 21, wherein the controller is further configured to receive, from the first base station, a third message including a downlink tunnel endpoint identifier (DL TEID), in response to the second message (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, UE context setup response with DL TEID(s), in response to the UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP.).
For claim 25, Park and GODIN further teach the second base station of claim 24,
wherein the controller is further configured to transfer, to the third base station, a fourth message including the DL TEID, and wherein the DL TEID is associated with forwarding downlink data to the UE (Park, Fig. 24 teaches the gNB-DU transfers to the gNB-CU-CP, UE context setup response with DL TEID(s), in response to the UE context setup request with UL TEID(s) received from the gNB-CU-CP. Park, Fig. 28 teaches the gNB-DU receives, from the gNB-CU-UP, DL data (with end marker). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Park to have receiving, from the third base station, downlink data to be forwarded to the UE according to the DL TEID.).
Conclusion
19. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILL W LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-8749. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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/WILL W LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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