DETAILED ACTION
Status of Case
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the RCE filed on 7/24/2026.
Claims 1-9, 11-23, and 25-44 are pending.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/24/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1, 11-12, 15, 25-27, 30, 39, and 42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharma (USPAN 2019/0104403) in view of Huang-Fu (USPAN 2019/0364412) and Cai (USPAN 2011/0199985).
Consider claims 1 and 30, Sharma discloses a method of wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE) (see figure 1, reproduced below for convenience, wherein disclosed is said method), and a corresponding apparatus comprising a memory, and one or more processors coupled to the memory (see figures 3-4 and paragraphs 70, 85, 90, 92, 151, and 157, wherein disclosed is said apparatus) comprising:
establishing a connection session with a second UE (see figure 1 and paragraph 70: a source electronic device 110 communicating with the target electronic device 120 through wireless connectivity);
sharing a subscription credential with the second UE (see paragraphs 85 and 151: subscription credentials);
transmitting a request for establishing a first protocol data unit (PDU) session via the second UE using the subscription credential (see paragraph 90); and
receiving, from the second UE, a radio resource control (RRC) configuration via the connection session to support a radio bearer with a radio access network (see paragraphs 92 and 157: the target UE 120 can trigger (1224) a RRC radio bearer reconfiguration procedure).
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Sharma does not specifically disclose a second UE comprising a second set of antennas, and transmitting a request for establishment of a first PDU session via the second set of antennas of the second UE.
Huang-Fu discloses a second UE comprising a second set of antennas (see paragraph 44: the UE 110 can include an antenna 111…The antenna 111 can include one or more antenna arrays to propagate and intercept radio waves in space), and transmitting a request for establishment of a first PDU session via the second set of antennas of the second UE (see paragraph 55: “The RF module 112 can further process the PDU session establishment request and transmit the PDU session establishment request via the antenna 111 in the non-3GPP access 121 or the 3GPP access 122. The 5GC 131 can then receive the PDU session establishment request and establish the emergency PDU session for the UE 110,” wherein Huang-Fu’s UE is a “second UE” relative to Sharma’s first UE).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Huang-Fu. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for using a different set of antennas for session establishment in order to avoid interference and collision, as well as a method for Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment restriction in emergency registration (see paragraph 2 of Sharma).
Sharma does not specifically disclose a parameter indicating that the first UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a first set of radio bearers (RBs) and the second UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a second set of RBs, wherein the first set of RBs is different from the second set of RBs.
Cai discloses a parameter indicating that the first UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a first set of radio bearers (RBs) and the second UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a second set of RBs, wherein the first set of RBs is different from the second set of RBs (see claim 6: “allocating a first set of resources within a first set of RBs to the first UE; and allocating a second set of resources within the first set of RBs to a second UE, the second set of resources being distinct from the first set of resources”).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Cai. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method to provide more efficient coverage and higher capacity if one or more of the base stations can use the same resource simultaneously (see paragraph 9 of Cai).
Consider claims 11 and 25, Sharma discloses that establishing the connection session with the second UE comprises transmitting a UE radio capability information of at least the first UE (see figure 1 and paragraph 70: a source electronic device 110 communicating with the target electronic device 120 through wireless connectivity; see paragraph 122: “as a capability associated with both the source UE 110 and the target UE 120 may be different, therefore the proposed method allows managing of the session information (downgrade and/or upgrade) based on the capability of the source UE 110 and the target UE 120 (exchanged during RRC connection procedure) respectively, as detailed in FIGS. 7-1”).
Consider claims 12 and 26, Sharma discloses that the UE radio capability information indicates the support for connecting to the radio network via the second UE (see paragraph 71: the source electronic device 110 and the target electronic device 120 may be associated with a capability to perform the 3GPP network procedure).
Consider claims 15 and 39, Sharma discloses a method of wireless communication at a second user equipment (UE) (see figure 1, reproduced below for convenience, wherein disclosed is said method) and a corresponding apparatus comprising a memory, and one or more processors coupled to the memory (see figures 3-4 and paragraphs 70, 85, 90, 92, 151, and 157, wherein disclosed is said apparatus) comprising, comprising:
establishing a connection session with a first UE comprising a first set of antennas (see figure 1 and paragraph 70: a source electronic device 110 communicating with the target electronic device 120 through wireless connectivity);
sharing a subscription credential with the first UE (see paragraphs 85 and 151: subscription credentials);
receiving a request for establishing a first protocol data unit (PDU) session for the first UE using the subscription credential (see paragraph 90); and
transmitting, to the first UE, a radio resource control (RRC) configuration via the connection session to support a radio bearer with a radio access network (see paragraphs 92 and 157: the target UE 120 can trigger (1224) a RRC radio bearer reconfiguration procedure).
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Sharma does not specifically disclose a second UE comprising a second set of antennas, and transmitting a request for establishment of a first PDU session via the second set of antennas of the second UE.
Huang-Fu discloses a second UE comprising a second set of antennas (see paragraph 44: the UE 110 can include an antenna 111…The antenna 111 can include one or more antenna arrays to propagate and intercept radio waves in space), and transmitting a request for establishment of a first PDU session via the second set of antennas of the second UE (see paragraph 55: “The RF module 112 can further process the PDU session establishment request and transmit the PDU session establishment request via the antenna 111 in the non-3GPP access 121 or the 3GPP access 122. The 5GC 131 can then receive the PDU session establishment request and establish the emergency PDU session for the UE 110,” wherein Huang-Fu’s UE is a “second UE” relative to Sharma’s first UE).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Huang-Fu. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for using a different set of antennas for session establishment in order to avoid interference and collision, as well as a method for Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment restriction in emergency registration (see paragraph 2 of Sharma).
Sharma does not specifically disclose a parameter indicating that the first UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a first set of radio bearers (RBs) and the second UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a second set of RBs, wherein the first set of RBs is different from the second set of RBs.
Cai discloses a parameter indicating that the first UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a first set of radio bearers (RBs) and the second UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a second set of RBs, wherein the first set of RBs is different from the second set of RBs (see claim 6: “allocating a first set of resources within a first set of RBs to the first UE; and allocating a second set of resources within the first set of RBs to a second UE, the second set of resources being distinct from the first set of resources”).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Cai. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method to provide more efficient coverage and higher capacity if one or more of the base stations can use the same resource simultaneously (see paragraph 9 of Cai).
Consider claims 27 and 42, Sharma discloses a method of wireless communication at a radio access network (see figure 1, reproduced below for convenience, wherein disclosed is said method) and a corresponding apparatus comprising a memory, and one or more processors coupled to the memory (see figures 3-4 and paragraphs 70, 85, 90, 92, 151, and 157, wherein disclosed is said apparatus) comprising, comprising:
receiving, from a first user equipment (UE) comprising a first set of antennas, a UE capability indication for a second UE (see figure 1 and paragraph 70: a source electronic device 110 communicating with the target electronic device 120 through wireless connectivity; see paragraph 122: “as a capability associated with both the source UE 110 and the target UE 120 may be different, therefore the proposed method allows managing of the session information (downgrade and/or upgrade) based on the capability of the source UE 110 and the target UE 120 (exchanged during RRC connection procedure) respectively, as detailed in FIGS. 7-1”); and
transmitting, to the first UE, an RRC configuration via a connection session to support establishment of a radio bearer with the radio access network (see paragraphs 92 and 157: the target UE 120 can trigger (1224) a RRC radio bearer reconfiguration procedure).
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Sharma does not specifically disclose a second UE comprising a second set of antennas, and transmitting a request for establishment of a first PDU session via the second set of antennas of the second UE.
Huang-Fu discloses a second UE comprising a second set of antennas (see paragraph 44: the UE 110 can include an antenna 111…The antenna 111 can include one or more antenna arrays to propagate and intercept radio waves in space), and transmitting a request for establishment of a first PDU session via the second set of antennas of the second UE (see paragraph 55: “The RF module 112 can further process the PDU session establishment request and transmit the PDU session establishment request via the antenna 111 in the non-3GPP access 121 or the 3GPP access 122. The 5GC 131 can then receive the PDU session establishment request and establish the emergency PDU session for the UE 110,” wherein Huang-Fu’s UE is a “second UE” relative to Sharma’s first UE).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Huang-Fu. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for using a different set of antennas for session establishment in order to avoid interference and collision, as well as a method for Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment restriction in emergency registration (see paragraph 2 of Sharma).
Sharma does not specifically disclose a parameter indicating that the first UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a first set of radio bearers (RBs) and the second UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a second set of RBs, wherein the first set of RBs is different from the second set of RBs.
Cai discloses a parameter indicating that the first UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a first set of radio bearers (RBs) and the second UE is to be connected to the radio access network via a second set of RBs, wherein the first set of RBs is different from the second set of RBs (see claim 6: “allocating a first set of resources within a first set of RBs to the first UE; and allocating a second set of resources within the first set of RBs to a second UE, the second set of resources being distinct from the first set of resources”).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Cai. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method to provide more efficient coverage and higher capacity if one or more of the base stations can use the same resource simultaneously (see paragraph 9 of Cai).
Claims 2-3 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharma (USPAN 2019/0104403) in view of in view of Huang-Fu (USPAN 2019/0364412), Cai (USPAN 2011/0199985), and Yang (USPAN 2013/0023255).
Consider claims 2 and 16, although Sharma discloses a first UE and a second UE (see above), Sharma does not disclose that the second UE is a vehicle UE.
Yang discloses that a UE is a vehicle UE (see paragraph 14: in-vehicle communication device (e.g. car phone)).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Yang. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method of configuring a Bluetooth SIM access profile SAP) of a communication device which is coupled to a plurality of SIM cards and to allow for the automatic selection of the most suitable SIM card from a plurality of SIM cards for the configuration of Bluetooth SAP (see paragraph 4 of Yang).
Consider claims 3 and 17, although Sharma discloses a connection session (see above), Sharma does not disclose a Bluetooth subscriber identification module (SIM) access profile (BT-SAP) session.
Yang discloses a Bluetooth subscriber identification module (SIM) access profile (BT-SAP) session (see paragraphs 5 and 16: BT SAP).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Yang. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method of configuring a Bluetooth SIM access profile SAP) of a communication device which is coupled to a plurality of SIM cards and to allow for the automatic selection of the most suitable SIM card from a plurality of SIM cards for the configuration of Bluetooth SAP (see paragraph 4 of Yang).
Claims 4-5, 7, 9, 14, 18-19, 21, 23, 28, 29, 35-38, 41, and 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharma (USPAN 2019/0104403) in view of in view of Huang-Fu (USPAN 2019/0364412), Cai (USPAN 2011/0199985), and Park (USPAN 2019/0124572).
Consider claims 4 and 18, although Sharma discloses a connection session (see above), Sharma does not disclose a wireless local area network (WLAN).
Park discloses a wireless local area network (WLAN) (see paragraphs 306-307: WLAN).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Park. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a packet transmission system that allows for a wireless device to obtain desired services using Ethernet over wireless communications (see paragraph 2 of Park).
Consider claims 5, 19, and 28, although Sharma discloses the RRC configuration that includes a parameter indicating the second UE to be connected to the radio access network (see above), Sharma does not disclose a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG).
Park discloses a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG) (see paragraphs 87 and 109: master cell group (MCG) and secondary cell group (SCG)).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Park. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a packet transmission system that allows for a wireless device to obtain desired services using Ethernet over wireless communications (see paragraph 2 of Park).
Consider claims 6, 20, and 29, although Sharma discloses a first PDU session comprising a first bearer and a second bearer (see above), Sharma does not disclose a quality of service (QoS) flow identifier (ID) associated with a bearer.
Park discloses quality of service (QoS) flow identifier (ID) associated with a bearer (see paragraphs 153, 178, 192, and 199: QOS identifier associated with a bearer).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Park. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a packet transmission system that allows for a wireless device to obtain desired services using Ethernet over wireless communications (see paragraph 2 of Park).
Consider claims 7 and 21, although Sharma discloses transmitting information to a second UE for a first PDU session (see above), Sharma does not disclose identifying a set of URSP rules.
Park discloses identifying a set of URSP rules (see paragraph 138, wherein disclosed is URSP policy rules).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Park. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a packet transmission system that allows for a wireless device to obtain desired services using Ethernet over wireless communications (see paragraph 2 of Park).
Consider claims 9 and 23, although Sharma discloses receiving, from a second UE, data for a first PDU session (see above), Sharma does not disclose one or more uplink (UL) filters.
Park discloses one or more uplink (UL) filters (see paragraphs 61, 144, and 157, wherein disclosed is uplink filtering).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Park. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a packet transmission system that allows for a wireless device to obtain desired services using Ethernet over wireless communications (see paragraph 2 of Park).
Consider claim 14, although Sharma discloses that a connection session supports at least a first PDU session that supports transmissions for at least a first and second entity (see above), Sharma does not disclose a first service data adaptation protocol (SDAP).
Park discloses that a first service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) (see paragraph 186, wherein disclosed is SDAP).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Park. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a packet transmission system that allows for a wireless device to obtain desired services using Ethernet over wireless communications (see paragraph 2 of Park).
Consider claims 35-38, 41, and 44, although Cai discloses a first set of RBs and a second set of RBs (see above and claim 6 of Cai), Cai does not disclose that said resource blocks RBs are signaling radio bearers (SRBs).
Park discloses resource blocks that are signaling resource blocks (SRBs) (see paragraphs 71, 86, and 108: SRBs).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Park. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a packet transmission system that allows for a wireless device to obtain desired services using Ethernet over wireless communications (see paragraph 2 of Park).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharma (USPAN 2019/0104403) in view of in view of Huang-Fu (USPAN 2019/0364412), Cai (USPAN 2011/0199985), and Kotecha (USPAN 2012/0281685).
Consider claim 13, Sharma does not disclose that the first UE supports a first data rate and the second UE supports a second data rate, the first data rate being different from the second data rate.
Kotecha discloses that the first UE supports a first data rate and the second UE supports a second data rate, the first data rate being different from the second data rate (see paragraph 11: “…the second data rate includes a data rate for the first UE and another data rate for the second UE”).
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 invention of Sharma and combine it with the noted teachings of Kotecha. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method that has a modified bearer for an LTE device at a second data rate, where the second data rate includes a data rate for a first UE and another data rate for a second UE, to thereby provide transmission efficiency (see paragraph 11 of Kotecha).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 22, 31-34, 40, and 43 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jamal Javaid whose telephone number is 571-270-5137 and email address is Jamal.Javaid@uspto.gov.
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/JAMAL JAVAID/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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