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 .
Claims 1-3, 5, 7, 9, 14-16, 18-26 are subject under examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant arguments: Applicant argued reference doesn’t teach determining a first forwarding configuration based on any of: the first priority value, a second priority value associated with the device-to-device link, and a priority delta threshold value associated with the device-to-device link; and transmitting the data from the remote WTRU, using the first forwarding configuration.
Examiner Response: Examiner respectfully disagrees. Yu teaches a method implemented in a relay Wireless Transmit/Receive Unit (WTRU)…
receiving, from a remote WTRU… information indicating a first priority value associated with the device-to-device link (see para 0066 “The method of FIG. 4 may be performed by a remote UE in a D2D UE-to-Network relay scenario, for example. …. the method may include, at 410, indicating QoS information of one or more UL packet(s) in the UP or CP to a relay UE”; see para 0025 “ The QoS class identifier (QCI) used as a main QoS indicator in direct 3GPP communication defines not only the priority but also other QoS parameters/attributes”)[ which implies relay UE is receiving Qos information from the remote WTRU, since it is implicit in the art, Qos is based on priority, therefore when relay UE receives Qos information from remote UE, it is interpreted/ implies relay UE receives priority information from remote UE ]
determining a first forwarding configuration based on any of: the first priority value, a second priority value associated with the device-to-device link, and a priority delta threshold value associated with the device-to-device link (see para 0028 “the relay UE may derive the PDB for PC5 transmission based on a network configuration (e.g. QCI)”; see para 0025 “The QoS class identifier (QCI) used as a main QoS indicator in direct 3GPP communication defines not only the priority but also other QoS parameters/attributes, such as packet delay budget (PDB)”)[ deriving PDB based on QCI where QCI also indicated Qos information also implies PDB (interpreted to be forward configuration) is being derived/ determined from Qos information)
a method implemented in a relay Wireless Transmit/Receive Unit (WTRU)….transmitting the data … using the first forwarding configuration(see para 0028 “the relay UE may derive the PDB for PC5 transmission based on a network configuration (e.g. QCI)”; see para 0067 “ the PDB information of the UL packet may include the residual PDB to be used for Uu transmission from the relay UE to the network node”)[ this implies PDB information derived / determined by relay device is used by relay device in transmitting Uu transmission data.] since method is performed in a relay WTRU in preamble, therefore all the steps of receiving, determining and transmitting is done by relay UE.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5,9,14, 16, 18-21, 23,24,26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. as being 102(a)(1) as being by anticipated by Yu (US 20180279319 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Yu teaches a method implemented in a relay Wireless Transmit/Receive Unit (WTRU), the method (see para 0066 “The method of FIG. 4 may be performed, for example, by a UE”) comprising:
receiving, from a remote WTRU of a plurality of remote WTRUs, via a device-to-device link, information indicating a first priority value associated with the device-to-device link (see para 0066 “The method of FIG. 4 may be performed by a remote UE in a D2D UE-to-Network relay scenario, for example. …. the method may include, at 410, indicating QoS information of one or more UL packet(s) in the UP or CP to a relay UE”; see para 0010 “indicating, by a remote user equipment, quality of service information of at least one uplink packet in user plane or control plane to a relay user equipment… wherein the quality of service information comprises at least one of a packet delay of the uplink packet transmitted over a device-to-device interface between the remote user equipment and the relay user equipment ”);
receiving data from the remote WTRU via the device-to- device link (see para 0010 “indicating, by a remote user equipment, quality of service information of at least one uplink packet in user plane or control plane to a relay user equipment… wherein the quality of service information comprises at least one of a packet delay of the uplink packet transmitted over a device-to-device interface between the remote user equipment and the relay user equipment ”; see para 0020 “The D2D communication may also be known as SideLink (SL) communication or Proximity Services (ProSe) over PC5 interface)[ since the qos information is for uplink data packets from the remote user equipment to relay, it is implicit that relay device will receive that uplink data over sidelink or PC5 interface]
determining a first forwarding configuration based on any of: the first priority value, a second priority value associated with the device-to-device link, and a priority delta threshold value associated with the device-to-device link see para 0028 “the relay UE may derive the PDB for PC5 transmission based on a network configuration (e.g. QCI)”; see para 0025 “The QoS class identifier (QCI) used as a main QoS indicator in direct 3GPP communication defines not only the priority but also other QoS parameters/attributes, such as packet delay budget (PDB)”)[ deriving PDB based on QCI where QCI also indicated Qos information also implies PDB (interpreted to be forward configuration) is being derived/ determined from Qos information); and
transmitting the data from the remote WTRU , using the first forwarding configuration(see para 0028 “the relay UE may derive the PDB for PC5 transmission based on a network configuration (e.g. QCI)”; see para 0067 “ the PDB information of the UL packet may include the residual PDB to be used for Uu transmission from the relay UE to the network node”)[ this implies PDB information derived / determined by relay device is used by relay device in transmitting Uu transmission data.] since method is performed in a relay WTRU in preamble, examiner is reading this limitation as relay WTRU transmitting the data based on forwarding configuration]
Regarding claim 18, Yu teaches A relay wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), the WTRU comprising: circuitry, including a transmitter, a receiver and a processor, configured to (see para 0066 “The method of FIG. 4 may be performed, for example, by a UE”)[ it is known in the art that UE includes transmitter , receiver and a processor] comprising:
receiving, from a remote WTRU of a plurality of remote WTRUs, via a device-to-device link, information indicating a first priority value associated with the device-to-device link (see para 0066 “The method of FIG. 4 may be performed by a remote UE in a D2D UE-to-Network relay scenario, for example. .”; see para 0010 “indicating, by a remote user equipment, quality of service information of at least one uplink packet in user plane or control plane to a relay user equipment… wherein the quality of service information comprises at least one of a packet delay of the uplink packet transmitted over a device-to-device interface between the remote user equipment and the relay user equipment ”);
receiving data from the remote WTRU via the device-to- device link (see para 0010 “indicating, by a remote user equipment, quality of service information of at least one uplink packet in user plane or control plane to a relay user equipment… wherein the quality of service information comprises at least one of a packet delay of the uplink packet transmitted over a device-to-device interface between the remote user equipment and the relay user equipment ”; see para 0020 “The D2D communication may also be known as SideLink (SL) communication or Proximity Services (ProSe) over PC5 interface)[ since the qos information is for uplink data packets from the remote user equipment to relay, it is implicit that relay device will receive that uplink data over sidelink or PC5 interface]
determining a first forwarding configuration based on any of: the first priority value, a second priority value associated with the device-to-device link, and a priority delta threshold value associated with the device-to-device link (See para 0057 “derive the PDB for PC5 transmission based on network configuration (e.g., QCI)” see para 0025 “The QoS class identifier (QCI) used as a main QoS indicator in direct 3GPP communication defines not only the priority but also other QoS parameters/attributes, such as packet delay budget (PDB)”; and
transmitting the data from the remote WTRU , using the first forwarding configuration see para 0028 “the relay UE may derive the PDB for PC5 transmission based on a network configuration (e.g. QCI)”; see para 0067 “ the PDB information of the UL packet may include the residual PDB to be used for Uu transmission from the relay UE to the network node”)[ this implies PDB information derived / determined by relay device is used by relay device in transmitting Uu transmission data.] since method is performed in a relay WTRU in preamble, examiner is reading this limitation as relay WTRU transmitting the data based on forwarding configuration,
Regarding claim 2, 19, Yu teaches in a preliminary step: configuring the relay WTRU with at least one of a second forwarding configuration and/or the second priority value associated with the device-to-device link (see para 0067 “In an embodiment, the PDB information of the UL packet may include the residual PDB to be used for Uu transmission from the relay UE to the network node. According to one embodiment, the method may include, at 400, deriving the residual PDB based on network configuration (e.g., QCI) and estimated transmission delay over the PC5.”) [ network configuration is interpreted as second configuration which is used to determine residual PDB to transmit from relay to the network node]
Regarding claim 3,20, Yu teaches receiving, from a network node, at least one of the second forwarding configuration and/or one or more priority delta threshold values associated respectively to one or more device-to-device link (see para 0028 “a network node (e.g., eNB or gNB) may indicate the PDB information of the downlink (DL) packet in the user plane (UP) to the relay UE.”)
Regarding claim 5, 21, Yu teaches wherein any of: the data is received by the relay WTRU via an ingress channel associated with the device-to-device link, the first priority value is associated with the ingress channel, the priority delta threshold value is associated with the ingress channel, and the data is transmitted by the relay WTRU using the first forwarding configuration via an egress channel (see para 0031 “schedule the relayed UL data from the relay UE by taking into account the reported PDB information of the UL packet.”)
Regarding claim 9, 23, Yu teaches determining a remaining quality of service for data to be received from the remote WTRU (See para 0064 “receiving an indication of QoS information of one or more DL packet(s) in the UP from a network node (e.g., eNB, gNB, or WLAN AP), for example, so that the corresponding PDB used for PC5 transmission can be derived”); determining a third priority value associated with the device-to-device link based on any of: the determined remaining quality of service of the data to be received via the device-to-device link, and measurement information associated with the device-to-device link; and wherein the measurement information corresponds to at least one of a quality metric of the device-to-device link and/or one or more load conditions of the device-to-device link (see para 0057 “See para 0057 “derive the PDB for PC5 transmission based on network configuration (e.g., QCI)”;see para 0066-0069).
Regarding claim 14, 24, Yu teaches wherein the data received from the remote WTRU via the device-to-device link, is transmitted to a further remote WTRU of the plurality of remote WTRUs or to a network node (see para 0066 “The method of FIG. 4 may be performed, for example, by a UE, mobile station, mobile device, IoT device, wearable device, or the like. In one example embodiment, the method of FIG. 4 may be performed by a remote UE in a D2D UE-to-Network relay scenario, for example.”; see para 0067 “. In an embodiment, the PDB information of the UL packet may include the residual PDB to be used for Uu transmission from the relay UE to the network node.”)
Regarding claim 16, 26, Yu teaches wherein the device-to-device link is a PC5 link. (see para 0067 “the PDB information of the UL packet may include the packet delay of the data transmitted over the PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE.”)
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.
6. 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.
7. Claim(s) 7, 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (US 20180279319 A1) in view of Bangolae (WO 2016/182597 A1)
Regarding claim 7,22, Yu doesn’t teach on condition that a delta between the first priority value and the second priority value is higher than the priority delta threshold value, the first forwarding configuration is different from a second forwarding configuration, and wherein on condition that the delta between the first priority value and the second priority value is lower than the priority delta threshold value, the first forwarding configuration corresponds to the second forwarding configuration.
Bangolae (WO 2016/182597 A1) condition that a delta between the first priority value and the second priority value is higher than the priority delta threshold value, the first forwarding configuration is different from a second forwarding configuration, and wherein on condition that the delta between the first priority value and the second priority value is lower than the priority delta threshold value, the first forwarding configuration corresponds to the second forwarding configuration.(See para 0042 “e s-relay parameter (threshold relay lower) can represent a Uu link quality threshold above which a given UE can act as a relay. In other words, the given UE can have a link quality of a certain level in order to support acting as a relay for the remote UE 202. The Uu link quality threshold can be a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and/or a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) threshold. The s- relay parameter (threshold relay lower) can be used to ensure that UEs in poor coverage situations do not become relays”)
Thus it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine condition that a delta between the first priority value and the second priority value is higher than the priority delta threshold value, the first forwarding configuration is different from a second forwarding configuration, and wherein on condition that the delta between the first priority value and the second priority value is lower than the priority delta threshold value, the first forwarding configuration corresponds to the second forwarding configuration in the system of Yu. The motivation to avoid interference (Bangolae: see para 0043)
8. Claim(s)15 and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (US 20180279319 A1) in view of Wang (US-20210160957 A1)
Regarding claims 15, 25, Yu doesn’t teach wherein the first forwarding configuration and/or second forwarding configuration comprise any of: information indicating a mapping of one or more ingress channels to an egress channel; information indicating an order of a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs) received from one or more ingress channels when transmitting the plurality of PDUs received via an egress channel; and information indicating a schedule of data transmission of the data received from one or more ingress channels when transmitting the data received via an egress channel.
Wang teaches the first forwarding configuration and/or second forwarding configuration comprise any of: information indicating a mapping of one or more ingress channels to an egress channel; information indicating an order of a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs) received from one or more ingress channels when transmitting the plurality of PDUs received via an egress channel; and information indicating a schedule of data transmission of the data received from one or more ingress channels when transmitting the data received via an egress channel.
(See para 0041 “In one embodiment, bearer mapping is based on a fixed logical channel configuration with one logical channel associated with a fixed priority. All the nodes in the relay path adopt consistent fixed logical channel configuration for both ingress logical channels and egress logical channels. For example, the PDU received at the ingress logical channel with a high priority is mapped to the egress logical channel with the same level of priority”)
Thus it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine information indicating a mapping of one or more ingress channels to an egress channel in the system of Yu. The motivation is to improve efficiency. (wang: see para 0003)
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/PAMIT KAUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2416