DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to applicant’s response filed 6/26/2026 in response to a final office action. Claims 55 and 61 have been cancelled. Claims 50-54 and 56-60 are subject to examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 6/26/2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of Zheng et al. (US 2024/0080930 A1) and Turtinen et al. (US 2024/0090063 A1).
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 50-51 and 56-57 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng et al. (US 2024/0080930 A1, hereinafter “Zheng”) in view of Agiwal et al. (US 2023/0380003 A1, hereinafter “Agiwal”).
Regarding Claim 50, Zheng teaches a method of a User Equipment (UE), the method comprising: initiating a Small Data Transmission (SDT) procedure (Zheng: As shown by reference number 625, UE 120 may transmit data of the SDT type during an SDT subsequent data transmission period 630, see paragraph [0089]); and
transmitting, to a network, a message to inform about an arrival of data mapped to a radio bearer not configured for the SDT procedure, in a case where the data mapped to the radio bearer not configured for the SDT procedure becomes available during the SDT procedure, wherein the message includes a resume cause for the arrival of the data mapped to the radio bearer not configured for the SDT procedure (Zheng: As shown by reference number 635, UE 120 may detect that new data has arrived in the buffer for a non-SDT DRB. As shown by reference number 640, UE 120 may transmit ... a new RRC message that is capable of indicating new data for the non-SDT DRB .... The RRC message may include a resume cause, see paragraph [0090]).
Zheng does not explicitly teach that the message is a Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) message. However, in the same field of endeavor, Agiwal teaches that the message is a DCCH message (Agiwal: The RRC message is sent by UE using DCCH logical channel, see paragraph [0208]). *Note: see highlighted portion of p. 22 of attached foreign priority document for evidence.
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 Zheng to include the features as taught by Agiwal above in order to ensure that data transmission on non-SDT radio bearer is not delayed (Agiwal: see paragraph [0050]).
Regarding Claim 51, Zheng-Agiwal teaches the method according to claim 50.
Agiwal further teaches the DCCH message is mapped to a signaling radio bearer, wherein the signaling radio bearer is Signaling Radio Bearer 1 (SRB1) (Agiwal: The RRC message is sent by UE using DCCH logical channel and signaling radio bearer SRB1, see paragraph [0208]). *Note: see highlighted portion of p. 22 of attached foreign priority document for evidence.
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Agiwal is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 50.
Regarding Claim 56, Zheng teaches a User Equipment (UE) comprising: a memory (Zheng: a UE for wireless communication includes a memory, see paragraph [0009]); and
a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to: initiate a Small Data Transmission (SDT) procedure (Zheng: a UE for wireless communication includes a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory including instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to detect, while in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state, that data of an SDT type for a non-SDT DRB has entered a buffer of the UE, and transmit a message indicating the data in the buffer for the non-SDT DRB, see paragraph [0009]).
Regarding all other limitations of claim 56, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 50, and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claims 57, the limitations of the claim are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 51, and claim 57 is therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 52 and 58 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng-Agiwal in view of Turtinen et al. (US 2024/0090063 A1, hereinafter “Turtinen”).
Regarding Claim 52, Zheng-Agiwal teaches the method according to claim 50, but does not explicitly teach, wherein the DCCH message is a UE Assistance Information message.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Turtinen teaches the DCCH message is a UE Assistance Information message (Turtinen: if ... the SDT procedure is ongoing, and there is non-SDT data to be transmitted, in this case, the first device 110 may transmit ... an existing RRC message, e.g. UE assistance information message, see paragraph [0104]).
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 Zheng-Agiwal to include the features as taught by Turtinen above in order to improve data transmission efficiency (Turtinen: see paragraph [0043]).
Regarding Claim 58, the limitations of the claim are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 52, and claim 58 is therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 53-54 and 59-60 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng-Agiwal in view of Shih et al. (US 2021/0211994 A1, hereinafter “Shih”).
Regarding Claim 51, Zheng-Agiwal teaches the method according to claim 50, but does not explicitly teach triggering a Power Headroom Report (PHR) procedure.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Shih teaches triggering a Power Headroom Report (PHR) procedure (Shih: the UE may trigger a Power Headroom Report (PHR) in response to initiating a small data transmission procedure, see paragraph [0384]).
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 Zheng-Agiwal to include the features as taught by Shih above in order to provide support for power aware packet scheduling (Shih: see paragraph [0055]).
Regarding Claim 54, Zheng-Agiwal-Shih teaches the method according to claim 53.
Shih further teaches cancelling the PHR procedure, in a case where the SDT procedure is ongoing and an Uplink (UL) grant can accommodate all pending data available for transmission but is not sufficient to additionally accommodate a PHR Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) plus its header fields (Shih: the UE may cancel a triggered PHR if the first UL resource can accommodate the first pending data available for transmission (e.g., all pending data available for transmission) but is not sufficient to additionally accommodate the power headroom information, see paragraph [0407]; the power headroom information may be a PHR MAC CE, see paragraph [0442]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Shih is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 53.
Regarding Claims 59-60, the limitations of the claims are substantially the same as the limitations of claims 53-54, and claims 59-60 are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILLIP J EGAN KEARNS whose telephone number is 571-272-4869. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6 EST.
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/P.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/SHARMIN CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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