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 .
Claim Status
Claims 1 – 2, 4 – 9, 11, 14 – 15 and 18 – 26 are pending, claims 3, 10, 12 – 13, 16 – 17 are canceled, and claims 24 – 26 are newly added.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 – 2, 6, 8, 11, 14 – 15 and 19 – 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. WO2020146499A1 (listed in applicant submitted IDS and listed as D1 in EPO search report), hereinafter Zhou in view of Yilmaz et al. WO2020167170A1 (listed in applicant submitted IDS and listed as D2 in EPO search report), hereinafter Yilmaz.
Regarding claim 1, Zhou teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: (Zhou: Summary and para. [0082] ireless device 110 may comprise at least one communication interface 310 (e.g. a wireless modem, an antenna, and/or the like), at least one processor 314, and at least one set of program code instructions 316 stored in non- transitory memory 315 and executable by the at least one processor 314)
receiving, from a serving cell associated with a master node (MN) of the UE (Zhou: para. [0144] a base station may either act as a master base station or as a secondary base station. In multi connectivity, a wireless device may be connected to one master base station and one or more secondary base stations. In an example, a master base station (e.g. the MN 1130) may provide a master cell group (MCG) comprising a primary cell and/or one or more secondary cells for a wireless device (e.g. the wireless device 110). A secondary base station (e.g. the SN 1150) may provide a secondary cell group (SCG) comprising a primary secondary cell (PSCell) and/or one or more secondary cells for a wireless device (e.g. the wireless device 110), configuration information that indicates an activated state or a deactivated state of a secondary node (SN) of the UE; and
(Zhou: para. [00194 & 0068 & 00148] When configured with CA, a base station and/or a wireless device may employ an activation/deactivation mechanism of an SCell to improve battery or power consumption of the wireless device. When a wireless device is configured with one or more SCells, a gNB may activate or deactivate at least one of the one or more SCells. Upon configuration of an SCell, the SCell may be deactivated unless an SCell state associated with the SCell is set to “activated” or “dormant”)
in response to the configuration information indicating the activated state of the SN of the UE,
(Zhou: para. [00197-00198] When a wireless device receives an SCell Activation/Deactivation MAC CE activating an SCell, the wireless device may activate the SCell. In response to the activating the SCell, the wireless device may perform operations comprising: SRS transmissions on the SCell; CQI/PMI/RI/CRI reporting for the SCell; PDCCH monitoring on the SCell; PDCCH monitoring for the SCell; and/or PUCCH transmissions on the SCell)
receiving a deactivation indication that configures an SN state at the UE as the deactivated state; and
(Zhou: para. [0195 & 0216 & 0068] wireless device may activate/deactivate an SCell in response to receiving an SCell Activation/Deactivation MAC CE. [00194] wireless device may employ an activation/deactivation mechanism of an SCell to improve battery or power consumption of the wireless device. When a wireless device is configured with one or more SCells, a gNB may activate or deactivate at least one of the one or more SCells. Para. [00199] When a wireless device receives an SCell Activation/Deactivation MAC CE deactivating an activated SCell, the wireless device may deactivate the activated SCell)
transmitting, to a master node (MN), an indication (Zhou: para. [00148] master base station may be informed by a wireless device of a SCG failure type, for split bearer, a DL data transfer over a master base station may be maintained)
It is noted that Zhou does not explicitly disclose: transmitting, to the MN and based at least in part on the deactivation indication, an indication of buffered data for transmission via the SN.
However, Yilmaz from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: transmitting, to the MN and based at least in part on the deactivation indication (Yilmaz: page 47 lines 20-35 while SCG is suspended), an indication of buffered data for transmission via the SN. (Yilmaz: page 48 lines 1-5 UE 120 decides to request for the resumption of stored SCG configurations. This may e.g. be due to UL data arrival to an SCG terminated bearer. The indication from the UE 120 to resume the SCG, in RRC_CONNECTED, may be related to the sending of the data volume, e.g. a Buffer Status Report (BSR), to the MN 110 with an indication that the BSR is related to the Secondary Node SN 111). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yilmaz in the method of Zhou. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for the handling of the SCG operations, e.g. the handling of resume or suspend operations, is made independent from the handling of the MCG operations. By handling the SCG independently from the handling of the MCG, the SCG does not for example have to be resumed just because the MCG is to be resumed. Thereby, a more efficient usage of the connection between the UE and the communications network is provided. This results in an improved performance of the communications network (Yilmaz: page 24 lines 18-28).
Regarding claim 2, Zhou and Yilmaz teach the method of claim 1, wherein the serving cell belongs to the SN or the MN in a multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) scenario.
(Zhou; para. [00144-00148] When multi connectivity is configured for a wireless device 110, the wireless device 110, which may support multiple reception/transmission functions in an RRC connected state, may be configured to utilize radio resources provided by multiple schedulers of a multiple base stations. Multiple base stations may be inter-connected via a non- ideal or ideal backhaul (e.g. Xn interface, X2 interface, and/or the like). A base station (corresponds to claim limitation “serving cell”) involved in multi connectivity for a certain wireless device may perform at least one of two different roles: a base station may either act as a master base station or as a secondary base station. In multi connectivity (corresponds to claim limitation “multi-radio connectivity”), a wireless device may be connected to one master base station and one or more secondary base stations. In an example, a master base station (e.g. the MN 1130) may provide a master cell group (MCG) comprising a primary cell and/or one or more secondary cells for a wireless device (e.g. the wireless device 110). A secondary base station (e.g. the SN 1150) may provide a secondary cell group (SCG) comprising a primary secondary cell (PSCell) and/or one or more secondary cells for a wireless device (e.g. the wireless device 110). [00143 ] PIG. 11 A and PIG. 1 IB show packet flows employing a multi connectivity (e.g. dual connectivity (corresponds to claim limitation “MR-DC”), multi connectivity, tight interworking, and/or the like))
Regarding claim 6, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising
transmitting, to the MN, (Zhou: para. [00148] master base station may be informed by a wireless device of a SCG failure type, for split bearer, a DL data transfer over a master base station may be maintained)
Zhou does not explicitly teaches: information indicating that data associated with a data radio bearer (DRB) is available for transmission when the SN is in the deactivated state.
Yilmaz from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches: information indicating that data associated with a data radio bearer (DRB) is available for transmission when the SN of the UE is in the deactivated state. (Yilmaz: page 48 lines 1-5 UE 120 decides to request for the resumption of stored SCG configurations. This may e.g. be due to UL data arrival to an SCG terminated bearer. The indication from the UE 120 to resume the SCG, in RRC_CONNECTED, may be related to the sending of the data volume, e.g. a Buffer Status Report (BSR), to the MN 110 with an indication that the BSR is related to the Secondary Node SN 111) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yilmaz in the method of Zhou. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for the handling of the SCG operations, e.g. the handling of resume or suspend operations, is made independent from the handling of the MCG operations. By handling the SCG independently from the handling of the MCG, the SCG does not for example have to be resumed just because the MCG is to be resumed. Thereby, a more efficient usage of the connection between the UE and the communications network is provided. This results in an improved performance of the communications network (Yilmaz: page 24 lines 18-28).
Regarding claim 8, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1, Zhou does not explicitly teaches: further comprising triggering a buffer status report (BSR) in response to arriveal of uplink data when the SN is in the deactivated state.
Yilmaz from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches: further comprising triggering a buffer status report (BSR) in response to arriveal of uplink data when the SN is in the deactivated state (Yilmaz: page 48 lines 1-5 UE 120 decides to request for the resumption of stored SCG configurations. This may e.g. be due to UL data arrival to an SCG terminated bearer. The indication from the UE 120 to resume the SCG, in RRC_CONNECTED, may be related to the sending of the data volume, e.g. a Buffer Status Report (BSR), to the MN 110 with an indication that the BSR is related to the Secondary Node SN 111. When SCG was suspended page 47 lines 20-35) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yilmaz in the method of Zhou. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for the handling of the SCG operations, e.g. the handling of resume or suspend operations, is made independent from the handling of the MCG operations. By handling the SCG independently from the handling of the MCG, the SCG does not for example have to be resumed just because the MCG is to be resumed. Thereby, a more efficient usage of the connection between the UE and the communications network is provided. This results in an improved performance of the communications network (Yilmaz: page 24 lines 18-28).
Regarding claim 11, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the deactivation indication is received from the SN or the MN in at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a deactivation medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a dormancy MAC CE, and wherein the method further comprises receiving an activation indication from the SN or the MN, wherein the activation indication is carried in at least one of the RRC message or an activation MAC CE. (Zhou: para. [0068 & 00194-00198] base station may transmit a MAC CE comprising one or more fields, the values of the fields indicating activation and/or deactivation of PDCP duplication for the one or more radio bearers. In an example, the one or more processes may comprise Channel State Information (CSI) transmission of on one or more cells. The base station may transmit one or more MAC CEs indicating activation and/or deactivation of the CSI transmission on the one or more cells. In an example, the one or more processes may comprise activation or deactivation of one or more secondary cells. In an example, the base station may transmit a MA CE indicating activation or deactivation of one or more secondary cells)
Regarding claim 14, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:
suspending or disabling a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) duplication based on at least in part on the SN being in the deactivated state; (Zhou: para. [0068] deactivation of PDCP duplication for the one or more radio bearers in an example, base station may transmit a MA CE indicating activation or deactivation of one or more secondary cells)
suspending or disabling a split radio bearer (RB); (Zhou: para. [00199] in response to the deactivating the activated SCell, the wireless device may: suspend one or more configured uplink grants of a configured uplink grant Type 1 associated with the activated SCell; and/or flush HARQ buffers associated with the activated SCell)
or setting a threshold associated with data split as infinity based on at least in part on the SN being in the deactivated state.
Regarding claims 15, and 19 – 21, Zhou and Yilmaz teach an apparatus, comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled with the processor, the processor configured to cause the apparatus to: (Zhou: Summary Fig. 3, and para. [0082] wireless device 110 may comprise at least one communication interface 310 (e.g. a wireless modem, an antenna, and/or the like), at least one processor 314, and at least one set of program code instructions 316 stored in non- transitory memory 315 and executable by the at least one processor 314) and Zhou and Yilmaz teach all the limitations as discussed in the rejection of claims 1, 6, 11 and 14, and therefore apparatus claims 15, and 19 – 21 are rejected using the same rationales.
Regarding claim 22, Zhou teaches a network node for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled the at least one memory and operable to cause the network node to:
(Zhou: Fig. 3 and para. [0069] base stations (base station 1, 120A, and base station 2, 120B) and base station 1, 120A, may comprise at least one communication interface 320 A (e.g. a wireless modem, an antenna, a wired modem, and/or the like), at least one processor 321 A, and at least one set of program code instructions 323 A stored in non-transitory memory 322A and executable by the at least one processor 321A. The base station 2, 120B, may comprise at least one communication interface 320B, at least one processor 321B, and at least one set of program code instructions 323B stored in non- transitory memory 322B and executable by the at least one processor 321B)
transmit a deactivation indication to a user equipment (UE) in response to a secondary node (SN) deactivation procedure being initiated at an SN, (Zhou: para. [0195 & 0216 & 0068] In an example, a wireless device may activate/deactivate an SCell in response to receiving an SCell Activation/Deactivation MAC CE. [00196] In an example, a gNB may transmit, to a wireless device, one or more messages comprising an SCell timer (e.g., sCellDeactivationTimer). In an example, a wireless device may deactivate an SCell in response to an expiry of the SCell timer)
the deactivation indication configures an SN state at the UE as a deactivated state (Zhou: para. [00207] When configured with one or more SCells, a gNB may activate, hibernate, or deactivate at least one of the one or more SCells. In an example, a gNB may transmit one or more RRC messages comprising parameters indicating at least one SCell being set to an active state, a dormant state, or an inactive state, to a wireless device. para. [00194 & 0068 & 00148] When configured with CA, a base station and/or a wireless device may employ an activation/deactivation mechanism of an SCell to improve battery or power consumption of the wireless device. When a wireless device is configured with one or more SCells, a gNB may activate or deactivate at least one of the one or more SCells. Upon configuration of an SCell, the SCell may be deactivated unless an SCell state associated with the SCell is set to “activated” or “dormant”)
receive, an indication (Zhou: para. [00148] master base station may be informed by a wireless device of a SCG failure type, for split bearer, a DL data transfer over a master base station may be maintained)
It is noted that Zhou does not explicitly disclose: receive, based at least in part on the deactivation indication, an indication of buffered data for transmission via the SN.
However, Yilmaz from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: receive, based at least in part on the deactivation indication (Yilmaz: page 47 lines 20-35 while SCG is suspended), an indication of buffered data for transmission via the SN. (Yilmaz: page 48 lines 1-5 UE 120 decides to request for the resumption of stored SCG configurations. This may e.g. be due to UL data arrival to an SCG terminated bearer. The indication from the UE 120 to resume the SCG, in RRC_CONNECTED, may be related to the sending of the data volume, e.g. a Buffer Status Report (BSR), to the MN 110 with an indication that the BSR is related to the Secondary Node SN 111). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yilmaz in the method of Zhou. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for the handling of the SCG operations, e.g. the handling of resume or suspend operations, is made independent from the handling of the MCG operations. By handling the SCG independently from the handling of the MCG, the SCG does not for example have to be resumed just because the MCG is to be resumed. Thereby, a more efficient usage of the connection between the UE and the communications network is provided. This results in an improved performance of the communications network (Yilmaz: page 24 lines 18-28).
Regarding claim 23, Zhou and Yilmaz teach the network node of claim 22, wherein the network node comprises the SN, (Zhou: para. [0144] a base station may either act as a master base station or as a secondary base station. In multi connectivity, a wireless device may be connected to one master base station and one or more secondary base stations. In an example, a master base station (e.g. the MN 1130) may provide a master cell group (MCG) comprising a primary cell and/or one or more secondary cells for a wireless device (e.g. the wireless device 110). A secondary base station (e.g. the SN 1150) may provide a secondary cell group (SCG) comprising a primary secondary cell (PSCell) and/or one or more secondary cells for a wireless device (e.g. the wireless device 110) and wherein the at least one processor is further operable to cause thenetwork node to transmit a first request message to a master node (MN) in a multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) scenario, (Zhou; para. [00144-00148] When multi connectivity is configured for a wireless device 110, the wireless device 110, which may support multiple reception/transmission functions in an RRC connected state, may be configured to utilize radio resources provided by multiple schedulers of a multiple base stations. Multiple base stations may be inter-connected via a non- ideal or ideal backhaul (e.g. Xn interface, X2 interface, and/or the like). A base station (corresponds to claim limitation “serving cell”) involved in multi connectivity for a certain wireless device may perform at least one of two different roles: a base station may either act as a master base station or as a secondary base station. In multi connectivity (corresponds to claim limitation “multi-radio connectivity”), a wireless device may be connected to one master base station and one or more secondary base stations. In an example, a master base station (e.g. the MN 1130) may provide a master cell group (MCG) comprising a primary cell and/or one or more secondary cells for a wireless device (e.g. the wireless device 110). A secondary base station (e.g. the SN 1150) may provide a secondary cell group (SCG) comprising a primary secondary cell (PSCell) and/or one or more secondary cells for a wireless device (e.g. the wireless device 110). [00143 ] PIG. 11 A and PIG. 1 IB show packet flows employing a multi connectivity (e.g. dual connectivity (corresponds to claim limitation “MR-DC”), multi connectivity, tight interworking, and/or the like)) wherein the first request message is associated with deactivating the SN or activating the SN. (Zhou: para. [0195 & 0216 & 0068] wireless device may activate/deactivate an SCell in response to receiving an SCell Activation/Deactivation MAC CE. [00194] wireless device may employ an activation/deactivation mechanism of an SCell to improve battery or power consumption of the wireless device. When a wireless device is configured with one or more SCells, a gNB may activate or deactivate at least one of the one or more SCells. Para. [00199] When a wireless device receives an SCell Activation/Deactivation MAC CE deactivating an activated SCell, the wireless device may deactivate the activated SCell)
Regarding claim 24, Zhou and Yilmaz teach the network node of claim 22, wherein at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, a deactivation medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a dormancy MAC CE comprises the deactivation indication. (Zhou: para. [0068 & 00194-00198] base station may transmit a MAC CE comprising one or more fields, the values of the fields indicating activation and/or deactivation of PDCP duplication for the one or more radio bearers. In an example, the one or more processes may comprise Channel State Information (CSI) transmission of on one or more cells. The base station may transmit one or more MAC CEs indicating activation and/or deactivation of the CSI transmission on the one or more cells. In an example, the one or more processes may comprise activation or deactivation of one or more secondary cells. In an example, the base station may transmit a MA CE indicating activation or deactivation of one or more secondary cells)
Regarding claim 25, Zhou and Yilmaz teach the network node of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to cause the network node to transmit an activation indication to the UE in response to an SN activation procedure being initiated, wherein at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message or an activation medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) comprises the activation indication. (Zhou: para. [0068 & 00194-00198] base station may transmit a MAC CE comprising one or more fields, the values of the fields indicating activation and/or deactivation of PDCP duplication for the one or more radio bearers. In an example, the one or more processes may comprise Channel State Information (CSI) transmission of on one or more cells. The base station may transmit one or more MAC CEs indicating activation and/or deactivation of the CSI transmission on the one or more cells. In an example, the one or more processes may comprise activation or deactivation of one or more secondary cells. In an example, the base station may transmit a MA CE indicating activation or deactivation of one or more secondary cells)
Regarding claim 26, Zhou and Yilmaz teach all the limitations as discussed in the rejection of claim 22, and therefore method claim 26 is rejected using the same rationales.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou and Yilmaz as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Uemura et al. US20160165627A1 (listed in applicant submitted IDS and listed as D1 in PCT search report), hereinafter Uemura.
Regarding claim 4, Zhou and Yilmaz teach the method of claim 3, further comprising transmitting, to the MN, (Zhou: para. [00148] master base station may be informed by a wireless device of a SCG failure type, for split bearer, a DL data transfer over a master base station may be maintained)
Zhou and Yilmaz do not explicitly teaches: at least one of: an identity (ID) of a bearer; or additional information regarding the expiry of the timer associated with deactivating the SN of the UE.
Uemura from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches: at least one of: an identity (ID) of a bearer; or information regarding expiry of the timer associated with deactivating the SN of the UE (Uemura: para. [0068] state of the cell (secondary cell), a change of the state may be explicitly designated (notified, instructed) from the base station apparatus, or the state may be changed based on timer information (secondary cell deactivation timer; deactivation timer) counting the time by the terminal apparatus for each component carrier (secondary cell) in some cases). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Uemura in the method of Zhou and Yilmaz. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for terminal apparatus 1 is able to have means for appropriately controlling states of activation and deactivation of the cell by using a conventional control method, thus making it possible to control states of the cells efficiently. (Uemura: para. [0152]).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou and Yilmaz as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Teyeb et al. US20210195444A1, hereinafter Teyeb.
Regarding claim 7, Zhou and Yilmaz teach the method of claim 6, further comprising:
receiving, from the MN, additional information regarding reconfiguring a secondary cell group (SCG) DRB (Zhou: para. [00161] wireless device may be configured to operate in a multi connectivity mode. A wireless device in RRC_CONNECTED with multiple RX/TX may be configured to utilize radio resources provided by multiple schedulers located in a plurality of base stations. The plurality of base stations may be connected via a non-ideal or ideal backhaul over the Xn interface. In an example, a base station in a plurality of base stations may act as a master base station or as a secondary base station. A wireless device may be connected to one master base station and one or more secondary base stations. A wireless device may be configured with multiple MAC entities, e.g. one MAC entity for master base station, and one or more other MAC entities for secondary base station(s). In an example, a configured set of serving cells for a wireless device may comprise two subsets: an MCG comprising serving cells of a master base station, and one or more SCGs comprising serving cells of a secondary base station(s))
Zhou does not explicitly teaches: reconfiguring a secondary cell group (SCG) DRB as a master cell group (MCG) DRB.
Teyeb from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches: reconfiguring a secondary cell group (SCG) DRB as a master cell group (MCG) DRB. (Teyeb: para. [0014 & 0167] and FIG. 2 SCG split bearer 23 is present in the SN 22, in addition to the split bearer in the MN 21, which is referred to as an MCG split bearer 24). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Teyeb in the method of Zhou and Yilmaz. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for improve the handling of failures in a wireless communications network using carrier aggregation (Teyeb: para. [0034-0035]).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou and Yilmaz as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cirik et al. US 20210159967 A1 (Cirik: para. [0001] application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US2019/046204, filed Aug. 12, 2019), hereinafter Cirik.
Regarding claim 9, Zhou and Yilmaz teach the method of claim 8, Zhou does not explicitly teach: further comprising at least one of: in response to the BSR being triggered, deactivating the SN; or triggering, in response to the BSR being triggered, deactivating the SN; or triggering, in response to the BSR being triggered, a random access (RA) procedure to transmit information to the SN, and transmitting the BSR during the RA procedure.
Yilmaz from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches: in response to the BSR being triggered, deactivating the SN; (Yilmaz: page 48 lines 1-5 UE 120 decides to request for the resumption of stored SCG configurations. This may e.g. be due to UL data arrival to an SCG terminated bearer. The indication from the UE 120 to resume the SCG, in RRC_CONNECTED, may be related to the sending of the data volume, e.g. a Buffer Status Report (BSR), to the MN 110 with an indication that the BSR is related to the Secondary Node SN 111. When SCG was suspended page 47 lines 20-35)
or
triggering, in response to the BSR being triggered, a random access (RA) procedure to transmit information to the SN, and transmitting the BSR during the RA procedure (Yilmaz: page 42 lines 17-26 Action 3, the MN 110 transmits an RRCReconfiguration Request to the UE 120, and in Action 4, the UE 120 may then transmit the RRCResumeComplete message to the MN 110, which in turn forwards it to the SN 111 by S-NODE RECONFIGURATION COMPLETE message, and performs a Random Access to the SN 111) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yilmaz in the method of Zhou. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for the handling of the SCG operations, e.g. the handling of resume or suspend operations, is made independent from the handling of the MCG operations. By handling the SCG independently from the handling of the MCG, the SCG does not for example have to be resumed just because the MCG is to be resumed. Thereby, a more efficient usage of the connection between the UE and the communications network is provided. This results in an improved performance of the communications network (Yilmaz: page 24 lines 18-28).
Zhou and Yilmaz does not explicitly teach: restarting, in response to the BSR being triggered, a timer associated with deactivating the SN.
Cirik from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches: restarting, in response to the BSR being triggered, a timer associated with deactivating the SN.
(Cirik: claim 5 - restarting the deactivation timer of the first secondary cell in response to transmitting a medium access control protocol data unit in a configured uplink grant on any secondary cell, other than the first secondary cell, in the cell group. Para. [0291] wireless device may start transmitting a buffer status report (BSR) to the second network node) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Cirik in the method of Zhou and Yilmaz. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for topology adaptation for physically fixed relays may be supported to enable robust operation, e.g., mitigate blockage and/or load variation on backhaul links (Cirik: para. [0185]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. With regard to applicant’s remark on claim 1, 15, 22 and 26 on pages 9-10, applicant submits:
In the rejection of dependent claim 3, the Office concedes that Zhou does not explicitly disclose an "indication of data associated with deactivating the SN of the UE" (Office Action, p. 11). Instead, the Office relies on Yilmaz as allegedly overcoming the deficiencies of Zhou. Yilmaz is generally directed to an MN handling a secondary cell group (SCG) for a UE (see e.g., Yilmaz, Abstract). At portions cited by the Office, Yilmaz describes that, while a UE is in an RRCCONNECTED state, an MN sends "an indication of whether or not the SCG should be suspended, i.e. deactivated, released or resumed, i.e., activated if previously suspended" (id., p. 39, lines 33-35). Thus, Yilmaz describes an MN sending an indication to a UE of whether or not the SCG should be suspended, released, or resumed.
However, an MN sending an indication of whether or not the SCG should be suspended, released, or resumed is different from a UE "transmitting, to the MN and based at least in part on the deactivation indication, an indication of buffered data for transmission via the SN," as recited in amended independent claim 1. That is, the indication described by Yilmaz is sent from an MN to a UE, rather than a UE transmitting an indication of buffered data to an MN, as recited in amended independent claim 1. Further, the indication described by Yilmaz indicates whether or not an SCG should be suspended, released, or resumed, rather than an indication "of buffered data for transmission via the SN," as recited in amended independent claim 1. Thus, Zhou and Yilmaz, alone or in any combination, do not disclose, teach, or suggest all of the features of amended independent claim 1. (page 10)
However, Yilmaz in page 48 lines 1-5 teaches UE 120 decides to request (corresponds to claim limitation “UE transmitting”) for the resumption of stored SCG configurations. This may e.g. be due to UL data arrival to an SCG terminated bearer. The indication from the UE 120 to resume the SCG, in RRC_CONNECTED, may be related to the sending of the data volume, e.g. a Buffer Status Report (BSR) (corresponds to claim limitation “of buffered data for transmission via the SN”), to the MN 110 with an indication that the BSR is related to the Secondary Node SN 111. Therefore, Yilmaz teaches the claimed limitation, and thus rejection is maintained.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please also see PTO-892.
Dai et al. US 20210084130 A1 in para. [0185] teaches information related to integrity protected data rate of the UE exchanged by the MN and SN can be at least one or more of the following: (1) PDU session IDs, or the DRB IDs, or the QoS flow IDs that are IP activated but with no data transferred or scheduled (or the transferring begin again or the transferring status change).
Da Silva et al. WO 2022019821 A1 teaches activation/deactivation can be performed via RRC signaling (during SCell addition/Handover/Connection Resume), or a MAC CE. Implicit transition from activated to deactivate.
Teyeb et al. WO 2022024092 A1 teaches in para. [0028] activation/deactivation mechanism is based on the combination of a MAC control element and deactivation timers. The MAC control element carries a bitmap for the activation and deactivation of SCells
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 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 WUTCHUNG CHU whose telephone number is (571)272-4064. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 AM - 4:00 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, Moo R Jeong can be reached at (571) 272-9617. 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.
/WUTCHUNG CHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2418
Prosecution Insights