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 1,2, 4-26, 28-39 are subject under examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
4. 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, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16-19, 21, 22,32-35, 37 and 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 1023 as being unpatentable over LECROART (US 2016/0360563A1) in view of Liao (US2020/0344708 A1).
Regarding claim 1, LECROART (US 2016/0360563A1) teaches a method of wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE), comprising:
establishing a connection session with a second UE (see para 0172 “the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R (using their respective D2D modules 43) initiate the establishment of a D2D bearer 29 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R.”);
establishing a direct radio resource control (RRC) connection with a radio access network via the connection session (See para 0153 “a Layer 2 link 28 (and hence connectivity) is now established between the relayed user communication device 3 and the serving ReNB 5.”; para 00150 “the user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R (using their respective D2D modules 43) initiate the establishment of a D2D bearer 29 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R.”); and
configuring a radio bearer of the second UE (see para 0082 “the relayed user communication device 3 can also access and be served by its associated network 10 via the UE-R 3R (and the base station 5R), using an associated bearer with the network 10 (e.g. an EPS bearer) relayed through the UE-R 3R.”)
LECROART doesn’t teach configuring the second UE with a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE.
Liao (US2020/0344708 A1) teaches configuring the second UE with a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE (See para 0035 “gNB 501 sends a UE-specific RRC configuration message to remote UE 503 via relay UE 502, which forwards the RRC configuration message to remote UE 503 over PC5 link (step 542). Remote UE 503 is able to receive RRC configuration for the RRC connection between the network and remote UE 503 from the network via the PC5 link. In one example, the RRC configuration includes radio resource allocation of sidelink resources to be used by UE 502 and UE 503 for sidelink transmissions.”)[ since configuring information is received by relay UE so it is interpreted first UE is configuring the second UE with resource allocation information, and since configuration information is being sent by relay ue (i.e. first UE), it is implicit that relay UE enables RRC, where resource allocation information is interpreted to be part of connection session profile]
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 configuring the second UE with a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE in the system of LECROART. The motivation is to improve efficiency (Liao : see para 0047)
Regarding claim 30, LECROART (US 2016/0360563A1) teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE) see para 0172 “the relayed user communication device “), comprising:
memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory see para 0172 “the relayed user communication device” it is known in the art that UE has memory and processor] and configured to cause the first UE to:
establish a connection session with a second UE (see para 0172 “the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R (using their respective D2D modules 43) initiate the establishment of a D2D bearer 29 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R.”);
establish a direct radio resource control (RRC) connection with a radio access network via the connection session (See para 0153 “a Layer 2 link 28 (and hence connectivity) is now established between the relayed user communication device 3 and the serving ReNB 5.”; para 00150 “the user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R (using their respective D2D modules 43) initiate the establishment of a D2D bearer 29 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R.”); and
configure a radio bearer of the second UE (see para 0082 “the relayed user communication device 3 can also access and be served by its associated network 10 via the UE-R 3R (and the base station 5R), using an associated bearer with the network 10 (e.g. an EPS bearer) relayed through the UE-R 3R.”)
LECROART doesn’t teach configuring the second UE with a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE.
Liao (US2020/0344708 A1) teaches configuring the second UE with a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE (See para 0035 “gNB 501 sends a UE-specific RRC configuration message to remote UE 503 via relay UE 502, which forwards the RRC configuration message to remote UE 503 over PC5 link (step 542). Remote UE 503 is able to receive RRC configuration for the RRC connection between the network and remote UE 503 from the network via the PC5 link. In one example, the RRC configuration includes radio resource allocation of sidelink resources to be used by UE 502 and UE 503 for sidelink transmissions.”)[ since configuring information is received by relay UE so it is interpreted first UE is configuring the second UE with resource allocation information, and since configuration information is being sent by relay ue (i.e. first UE), it is implicit that relay UE enables RRC, where resource allocation information is interpreted to be part of connection session profile]
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 configuring the second UE with a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE in the system of LECROART. The motivation is to improve efficiency (Liao : see para 0047)
Regarding claim 16, LEOCRAT teaches a method of wireless communication at a second user equipment (UE), comprising: establishing a connection session with a first UE see para 0172 “the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R (using their respective D2D modules 43) initiate the establishment of a D2D bearer 29 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R.”)
; providing, to the first UE, a direct radio resource control (RRC) connection with a radio access network via the connection session See para 0153 “a Layer 2 link 28 (and hence connectivity) is now established between the relayed user communication device 3 and the serving ReNB 5.”; para 00150 “the user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R (using their respective D2D modules 43) initiate the establishment of a D2D bearer 29 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R.”);
receiving a configuration of a radio bearer of the second UE from the first UE see para 0082 “the relayed user communication device 3 can also access and be served by its associated network 10 via the UE-R 3R (and the base station 5R), using an associated bearer with the network 10 (e.g. an EPS bearer) relayed through the UE-R 3R.”).
LECROART doesn’t teach receiving a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE.
Liao (US2020/0344708 A1) teaches receiving a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE (See para 0035 “gNB 501 sends a UE-specific RRC configuration message to remote UE 503 via relay UE 502, which forwards the RRC configuration message to remote UE 503 over PC5 link (step 542). Remote UE 503 is able to receive RRC configuration for the RRC connection between the network and remote UE 503 from the network via the PC5 link. In one example, the RRC configuration includes radio resource allocation of sidelink resources to be used by UE 502 and UE 503 for sidelink transmissions.”)[ since configuring information is received by relay UE so it is interpreted first UE is configuring the second UE with resource allocation information, and since configuration information is being sent by relay ue (i.e. first UE), it is implicit that relay UE enables RRC, where resource allocation information is interpreted to be part of connection session profile]
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 configuring the second UE with a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE in the system of LECROART. The motivation is to improve efficiency (Liao : see para 0047)
Regarding claim 35, LEOCRAT teaches An apparatus for wireless communication at a second user equipment (UE), comprising: memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to cause the second UE to: establish a connection session with a first UE see para 0172 “the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R (using their respective D2D modules 43) initiate the establishment of a D2D bearer 29 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R.”)
; provide, to the first UE, a direct radio resource control (RRC) connection with a radio access network via the connection session See para 0153 “a Layer 2 link 28 (and hence connectivity) is now established between the relayed user communication device 3 and the serving ReNB 5.”; para 00150 “the user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R (using their respective D2D modules 43) initiate the establishment of a D2D bearer 29 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the UE-R 3R.”);
receive a configuration of a radio bearer of the second UE from the first UE see para 0082 “the relayed user communication device 3 can also access and be served by its associated network 10 via the UE-R 3R (and the base station 5R), using an associated bearer with the network 10 (e.g. an EPS bearer) relayed through the UE-R 3R.”).
LECROART doesn’t teach receive a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE.
Liao (US2020/0344708 A1) teaches receiving a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE (See para 0035 “gNB 501 sends a UE-specific RRC configuration message to remote UE 503 via relay UE 502, which forwards the RRC configuration message to remote UE 503 over PC5 link (step 542). Remote UE 503 is able to receive RRC configuration for the RRC connection between the network and remote UE 503 from the network via the PC5 link. In one example, the RRC configuration includes radio resource allocation of sidelink resources to be used by UE 502 and UE 503 for sidelink transmissions.”)[ since configuring information is received by relay UE so it is interpreted first UE is configuring the second UE with resource allocation information, and since configuration information is being sent by relay ue (i.e. first UE), it is implicit that relay UE enables RRC, where resource allocation information is interpreted to be part of connection session profile]
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 configuring the second UE with a connection session profile that enables RRC by the first UE in the system of LECROART. The motivation is to improve efficiency (Liao : see para 0047)
Regarding claim 2, LECROART teaches, wherein configuring the radio bearer of the second UE comprises configuring the radio bearer of the second UE based on the RRC configuration received from the direct RRC connection from the radio access network(see para 0082 “the relayed user communication device 3 can also access and be served by its associated network 10 via the UE-R 3R (and the base station 5R), using an associated bearer with the network 10 (e.g. an EPS bearer) relayed through the UE-R 3R.”).
Regarding claim 4, 17, 33, 37,LECROART doesn’t teach receiving/ transmitting a capability information from the second UE.
Liao teaches receiving a capability information from the second UE. (see para 0038 “The entire connection setup procedure comprises four parts: 1) Relay UE discovery, 2) Connection setup, 3) UE capability negotiation”)
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 receiving a capability information form the second UE in the system of LECROART. The motivation is to improve efficiency (Liao : see para 0047)
Regarding claim 5, 18, 34, 38, LECROART teaches wherein the connection session comprises a Bluetooth session. (See para 0203 “it will be appreciated that a D2D interface between the relayed UE and the UE-R may be realised using any communication technology, for example, WLAN, Wi-Fi, FlashLinQ, WiMAX, Bluetooth, BLE, ZigBee, etc. (irrespective of the communication technology used between the base station and the relaying user communication device).”)
Regarding claim 6, LECROART teaches controlling the second UE to establish one or more radio bearers of the second UE with the radio access network for a PDU session (see para 0140 “the UE-R 3R (using its relay-server module 45) identify/select a suitable ReNB 5 for the user communication device 3, and proceed to establish a Layer 2 link between the relayed user communication device 3 and the ReNB 5”; see para 0084 “an end-to-end Layer 2 link is provided between the relayed user communication device 3 and the ReNB 5 (via the UE-R's 3R) for conveying control-plane and user-plane Packet Data Units (PDUs) between them”) ; and
establishing the one or more radio bearers of the first UE with the radio access network for the PDU session (see para 0163 “for the relayed user communication device 3, various RRC services may be realised in the ‘RRC_connected_mode’, including security and mobility functions in particular. RRC security functions are made possible by the establishment of a data bearer and an associated PDCP connection 24 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the ReNB 5”).
Regarding claim 19, LECROART teaches establishing, based on at least in part on controlling signal from the first UE, one or more radio bearers of the second UE with the radio access network for a PDU Session. (see para 0163 “for the relayed user communication device 3, various RRC services may be realised in the ‘RRC_connected_mode’, including security and mobility functions in particular. RRC security functions are made possible by the establishment of a data bearer and an associated PDCP connection 24 between the relayed user communication device 3 and the ReNB 5”).
Regarding claim 7,32, LECROART teaches controlling one or more of a radio link control (RLC), a medium access control (MAC), or a physical layer (PHY) of the second UE. (see para 0091 “The Layer 2 link 28 is established through the UE-R 3R, the base station 5R serving the UE-R 3R, and the gateways 13R/14R. The Layer 2 link 28 established between the relayed user communication device 3 and the ReNB 5 can be regarded as being analogous to a regular radio link composed on the MAC and PHY layers between user equipment and a serving base station operating in accordance with the 3GPP TS 36.300 standard. Accordingly, the ReNB 5, using the Layer 2 link, is able to provide similar (or the same) functionality to the relayed user communication device 3, as a standard eNB to a non-relayed UE.”)
Regarding claim 9, LECROART teaches controlling a cell selection or a public land mobile network (PLMN) selection of the second UE (see para 0140 “the UE-R 3R (using its relay-server module 45) identify/select a suitable ReNB 5 for the user communication device 3,”)
Regarding claim 10, 21, LECROART teaches establishing the direct RRC connection with the radio access network further comprises transmitting a registration request (see para 0036 “initiate establishment of an RRC connection with said base station by including, in said at least one PDU, an appropriately formatted signalling message (e.g. an RRC connection request message.”)
Regarding claim 11, 22, LECROART teaches wherein the connection session comprises a wireless local area network (WLAN) session(See para 0203 “it will be appreciated that a D2D interface between the relayed UE and the UE-R may be realised using any communication technology, for example, WLAN, Wi-Fi, FlashLinQ, WiMAX, Bluetooth, BLE, ZigBee, etc. (irrespective of the communication technology used between the base station and the relaying user communication device).”).
7. Claim(s) 12, 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LECROART (US 2016/0360563A1) in view of Liao (US2020/0344708 A1) and further in view of Ozturk (US 20150117357 A1)
Regarding claim 12, 23, LECROART doesn’t teach wherein the WLAN session comprises general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling user plane (GTP-U).
Ozturk US 20150117357 A1 teaches wherein the WLAN session comprises general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling user plane (GTP-U). (see para 0068 “he WLAN AP 505-b may include multiple components or entities. For example, the WLAN AP 505-b may include a MAC layer entity 512, a PHY entity 514, a GPRS tunneling protocol over user datagram protocol (GTP-U)”).
Thus it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skills in the art before the filing date of the invention to combine the WLAN session comprises general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling user plane (GTP-U) in the system of LECROART. The motivation is to improve data handling.( Ozturk: see para 0005)
8. Claim(s) 13, 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LECROART (US 2016/0360563A1) in view of Liao (US2020/0344708 A1) and further in view of Wang (US 20210160957)
Regarding claim 13, 24, LECROART doesn’t teach wherein a connection between the first UE and the second UE provides a lower layer medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) disaggregation.
Wang (US 20210160957) teaches wherein a connection between the first UE and the second UE provides a lower layer medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) disaggregation. (See para 0038 “A first wireless link 791 is established between UE 706 lower layer stack and a first lower layer protocol stack of relay node 707. A second wireless link 792 is established between the second lower layer protocol stack of relay node 707 and a lower layer protocol stack end-point UE 708.”)[ PHY and RLC are both considered lower layer]
Thus it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skills in the art before the effecite filing date of the invention to combine a connection between the first UE and the second UE provides a lower layer medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) disaggregation in the system of LECROART. The motivation is to improve efficiency (Wang: see para 0004) .
9. Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LECROART (US 2016/0360563A1) in view of Liao (US2020/0344708 A1) and further in view of BELLESCHI MARCO (EP-3689064-B1), hereafter referred as Marco.
Regarding claim 14, LECROART doesn’t teach wherein 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.
Marco (ep3689064) teaches wherein 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 para 0043 “In a first example, for each carrier and for each UE, a configuration with different thresholds on the amount of data may be provided. More specifically, the UE can be configured with a threshold on the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted on a certain carrier per UE”)
Thus it would have obvious to a person with ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine 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 in the system of LECROART. The motivation is to improve latency (Macro: see para 0198)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 25,26, 28, 29, and 39 are allowed.
Claims 8, 15,20, 31,36 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 PAMIT KAUR whose telephone number is (571)270-5665. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM.
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, NOEL BEHARRY can be reached at 5712705630. 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.
/PAMIT KAUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2416