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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-11, 17, 21, and 23-24 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection set forth.
The claim rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) has been withdrawn in view of the claim amendment.
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, 17, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. US (2020/0374966) in view of Chang et al. US (2022/0007392).
Regarding Claim 1, Chang discloses a processing method for rolling back from a small data transmission (SDT) process to a non-SDT process (see Para’s [0003-0006] i.e., fallback to a non-EDT procedure if it is determined according to the received RAR that EDT transmission cannot be performed & [0048] i.e., In the present disclosure, small data can be equivalent to early data), performed by a terminal device (see Fig. 2 & Para [0006] i.e., the method performed by user equipment), comprising: determining whether a specified trigger condition is satisfied during the SDT process (see Para’s [0003-0006], [0048] i.e., i.e., In the present disclosure, small data can be equivalent to early data…a base station broadcasts, through system information, a physical random access resource such as a random access preamble used for initiating EDT (i.e., “SDT process”) …An EDT procedure (i.e., “SDT process”) is described briefly below, & [0049-0050] i.e., UE initiates an EDT procedure (i.e., “SDT process”) & [0051] i.e., After receiving the RAR, the UE judges whether the uplink grant in the RAR is sufficient to accommodate an entire small data packet (i.e., “specific trigger condition”), and if yes, then the UE includes small data in a Msg3 for uplink transmission together with an RRC message on a resource corresponding to the uplink grant; if not (i.e., “specific trigger condition is satisfied”), then the UE falls back to a conventional non-EDT procedure)
and rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process if the specified trigger condition is satisfied. (see Para’s [0003-0006], [0048] i.e., i.e., In the present disclosure, small data can be equivalent to early data…a base station broadcasts, through system information, a physical random access resource such as a random access preamble used for initiating EDT (i.e., “SDT process”) …An EDT procedure (i.e., “SDT process”) is described briefly below, & [0049-0050] i.e., UE initiates an EDT procedure (i.e., “SDT process”) & [0051] i.e., After receiving the RAR, the UE judges whether the uplink grant in the RAR is sufficient to accommodate an entire small data packet (i.e., “specific trigger condition”), and if yes, then the UE includes small data in a Msg3 for uplink transmission together with an RRC message on a resource corresponding to the uplink grant; if not (i.e., “specific trigger condition is satisfied”), then the UE falls back (i.e., “rolling back”) to a conventional non-EDT procedure (i.e., “non-SDT processor”), [0055], [0058], & [0061-0064])
Chang does not disclose the claim features of wherein the specified trigger condition comprises any one of the following: determining that an amount of transmitted data corresponding to a data radio bearer in the SDT process reaches a second threshold. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Chang et al. US (2022/0007392).
Chang discloses wherein a specified trigger condition comprises determining that an amount of transmitted data corresponding to a data radio bearer in the SDT process reaches a second threshold (see Para’s [0003] i.e., small data packets using the EDT mode, [0015], [0038] i.e., For uplink data transmission, the optimized content is mainly to transmit small data along with message 3 in a random access procedure, [0069] i.e., The UE in an RRC idle state can use the dedicated pre-configured uplink resource to transmit uplink data. However when the UE falls back to a conventional transmission mode, [0101] i.e., Generally speaking, UE configured with a pre-configured uplink resource will use the corresponding pre-configured uplink resource to transmit uplink data. However, in some cases, for example, if the UE does not have a valid TA, or the amount of uplink data to be transmitted is large (i.e., the amount of uplink data to be transmitted being determined to be large suggests the amount of data reaches a certain threshold (i.e., “second threshold”) for considering the amount of uplink data as large), the UE will choose to fall back to a conventional uplink transmission method, that is, entering an RRC connected state to transmit the uplink data by triggering a random access procedure to use EDT to transmit uplink data or use a non-EDT conventional RRC connection establishment/recovery procedure (i.e., non-EDT conventional procedure may be a non-SDT procedure) & [0102-0105]).
(Chang suggests when the amount of uplink data to be transmitted is large, the UE will choose to fall back to a conventional transmission method in order to successfully transmit the large amount of uplink data of the UE (see Para [0101])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the specified trigger condition for rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process as disclosed in the teachings of Chang (‘966) to comprise determining that an amount of transmitted data corresponding to a data radio bearer in the SDT process reaches a second threshold as disclosed in the teachings of Chang (‘392), because the motivation lies in Chang (‘392) when the amount of uplink data to be transmitted is large, the UE will choose to fall back to a conventional transmission method in order to successfully transmit the large amount of uplink data of the UE.
Regarding Claim 17, Chang discloses a terminal device (see Fig. 2), comprising a processor (see Fig. 2 i.e., processor 210 & Para’s [0125-0127]) and a memory (see Fig. 2 i.e., memory 220 & [0125-0127]) having computer programs stored thereon (see Fig. 2 & Para’s [0125-0127]), wherein when the computer programs are executed by the processor (see Para’s [0125-0127]), the processing apparatus (see Fig. 2) is caused to implement the following: determining whether a specified trigger condition is satisfied during the SDT process (see Para’s [0003-0006], [0048] i.e., i.e., In the present disclosure, small data can be equivalent to early data…a base station broadcasts, through system information, a physical random access resource such as a random access preamble used for initiating EDT (i.e., “SDT process”) …An EDT procedure (i.e., “SDT process”) is described briefly below, & [0049-0050] i.e., UE initiates an EDT procedure (i.e., “SDT process”) & [0051] i.e., After receiving the RAR, the UE judges whether the uplink grant in the RAR is sufficient to accommodate an entire small data packet (i.e., “specific trigger condition”), and if yes, then the UE includes small data in a Msg3 for uplink transmission together with an RRC message on a resource corresponding to the uplink grant; if not (i.e., “specific trigger condition is satisfied”), then the UE falls back to a conventional non-EDT procedure)
and rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process if the specified trigger condition is satisfied. (see Para’s [0003-0006], [0048] i.e., i.e., In the present disclosure, small data can be equivalent to early data…a base station broadcasts, through system information, a physical random access resource such as a random access preamble used for initiating EDT (i.e., “SDT process”) …An EDT procedure (i.e., “SDT process”) is described briefly below, & [0049-0050] i.e., UE initiates an EDT procedure (i.e., “SDT process”) & [0051] i.e., After receiving the RAR, the UE judges whether the uplink grant in the RAR is sufficient to accommodate an entire small data packet (i.e., “specific trigger condition”), and if yes, then the UE includes small data in a Msg3 for uplink transmission together with an RRC message on a resource corresponding to the uplink grant; if not (i.e., “specific trigger condition is satisfied”), then the UE falls back (i.e., “rolling back”) to a conventional non-EDT procedure (i.e., “non-SDT processor”), [0055], [0058], & [0061-0064])
Chang does not disclose the claim features of wherein the specified trigger condition comprises any one of the following: determining that an amount of transmitted data corresponding to a data radio bearer in the SDT process reaches a second threshold. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Chang et al. US (2022/0007392).
Chang discloses wherein a specified trigger condition comprises determining that an amount of transmitted data corresponding to a data radio bearer in the SDT process reaches a second threshold (see Para’s [0003] i.e., small data packets using the EDT mode, [0015], [0038] i.e., For uplink data transmission, the optimized content is mainly to transmit small data along with message 3 in a random access procedure, [0069] i.e., The UE in an RRC idle state can use the dedicated pre-configured uplink resource to transmit uplink data. However when the UE falls back to a conventional transmission mode, [0101] i.e., Generally speaking, UE configured with a pre-configured uplink resource will use the corresponding pre-configured uplink resource to transmit uplink data. However, in some cases, for example, if the UE does not have a valid TA, or the amount of uplink data to be transmitted is large (i.e., the amount of uplink data to be transmitted being determined to be large suggests the amount of data reaches a certain threshold (i.e., “second threshold”) for considering the amount of uplink data as large), the UE will choose to fall back to a conventional uplink transmission method, that is, entering an RRC connected state to transmit the uplink data by triggering a random access procedure to use EDT to transmit uplink data or use a non-EDT conventional RRC connection establishment/recovery procedure (i.e., non-EDT conventional procedure may be a non-SDT procedure) & [0102-0105]).
(Chang suggests when the amount of uplink data to be transmitted is large, the UE will choose to fall back to a conventional transmission method in order to successfully transmit the large amount of uplink data of the UE (see Para [0101])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the specified trigger condition for rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process as disclosed in the teachings of Chang (‘966) to comprise determining that an amount of transmitted data corresponding to a data radio bearer in the SDT process reaches a second threshold as disclosed in the teachings of Chang (‘392), because the motivation lies in Chang (‘392) when the amount of uplink data to be transmitted is large, the UE will choose to fall back to a conventional transmission method in order to successfully transmit the large amount of uplink data of the UE.
Regarding Claim 21, Chang discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein when the instructions are executed, the method of claim 1 is implemented, (see rejection of claim 1 & Chang, Fig. 2 & Para’s [0125-0127] i.e., The program instructions, when run by the processor 210, can perform the aforementioned method performed by the user equipment…the program running on the device may be a program that enables a computer to implement the functions of the embodiments of the present disclosure…the program for implementing the functions of the embodiments of the present disclosure may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium). Therefore claim 21 is rejected as obvious over the combination of Chang (‘966) in view of Chang (‘392) as in claim 1.
Claims 2-5, 8, and 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. US (2020/0374966) in view of Chang et al. US (2022/0007392) as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, and further in view of Xu et al. US (2022/0361239).
Regarding Claim 2, Chang (‘966) discloses the processing method of claim 1, and suggests wherein the rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process (see Para’s [0017-0018]) comprises: processing connection configuration corresponding to the SDT process according to a connection configuration requirement of the non-SDT process, (see Para’s [0017-0018] i.e., the performing fallback to a non-EDT procedure comprises at least one of the following: suspending a data radio bearer (DRB) (i.e., connection configuration requirement of the non-SDT process), [0046] i.e., DRB…UE and the eNB suspend an RRC connection (indicated by an RRC connection release message including a suspend indication), store a UE context, and enter an RRC idle state. When the UE needs to perform data transmission, the UE initiates an RRC connection resume procedure to the eNB by transmitting an RRC connection resume request…Since the UE and the eNB store UE context, the RRC connection, the DRB and security can be resumed through the procedure without the need to re-setup the RRC connection, [0051] i.e., if not, then the UE falls back to a conventional non-EDT procedure, namely does not include the small data packet in a Msg3 for transmission together. That is, only an RRC message is transmitted in the Msg3 to request RRC connection setup/resumption and hope to transmit data after the RRC connection setup/resumption (i.e., falling back to the non-EDT procedure includes performing an RRC resume procedure in which the DRB will be resumed) & [0111]), but does not explicitly disclose wherein the rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process comprises: processing connection configuration corresponding to the SDT process according to a connection configuration requirement of the non-SDT process. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Xu et al. US (2022/0361239).
Xu discloses wherein a rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process (see Fig. 10B & Para [0148]) comprises: processing connection configuration corresponding to the SDT process according to a connection configuration requirement of the non-SDT process (see Fig. 10B & Para [0148] i.e., a Non-SDT DRB may be suspended (i.e., “connection configuration requirement of the non-SDT process”)…At 1034, based, at least in part, on a size and/or amount of the UE’s non-SDT data, e.g. as indicated by the non-SDT data arrival information, the base station may instruct the UE to transmit the non-SDT data via the SDT procedure. Thus the base station may transmit a MAC CE 1036 indicating the resumption of the non-SDT transmission. In response to receipt of the MAC CE 1036, the UE may transition the non-SDT DRB (i.e., “processing connection configuration”) to a resumed state at 1038. Then, the UE may transmit non-SDT DRB data at 1040, e.g., in a subsequent SDT transmission procedure).
(Xu suggests the UE is triggered to resume transmission of non-SDT data via the SDT procedure based on an amount of the UE’s non-SDT data exceeding a threshold for satisfying communication of the UEs arrived non-SDT data and transitioning the non-SDT DRB to a resumed state which results in fast transition to the non-SDT procedure, (see Fig. 10B & Para’s [0147-0148] & [0165]))
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process by the UE as disclosed in Chang in view of Chang to comprise processing connection configuration corresponding to the SDT process according to a connection configuration requirement of the non-SDT process as disclosed in the teachings of Xu, because the motivation lies in Xu that the UE is triggered to resume transmission of non-SDT data via the SDT procedure based on an amount of the UE’s non-SDT data exceeding a threshold for satisfying communication of the UEs arrived non-SDT data and transitioning the non-SDT DRB to a resumed state which results in fast transition to the non-SDT procedure.
Regarding Claim 3, Chang (‘966) discloses the processing method of claim 2, and suggests wherein processing the connection configuration corresponding to the SDT process according to the connection configuration requirement of the non-SDT process, comprises at least one of the following processing actions: processing a radio bearer (RB) for resuming a data transmission in the SDT process according to an RB requirement of the non-SDT process; (see Para’s [0017-0018] i.e., the performing fallback to a non-EDT procedure comprises at least one of the following: suspending a data radio bearer (DRB) (i.e., RB requirement of the non-SDT process), [0046] i.e., DRB…UE and the eNB suspend an RRC connection (indicated by an RRC connection release message including a suspend indication), store a UE context, and enter an RRC idle state. When the UE needs to perform data transmission, the UE initiates an RRC connection resume procedure to the eNB by transmitting an RRC connection resume request…Since the UE and the eNB store UE context, the RRC connection, the DRB and security can be resumed through the procedure without the need to re-setup the RRC connection, [0051] i.e., if not, then the UE falls back to a conventional non-EDT procedure, namely does not include the small data packet in a Msg3 for transmission together. That is, only an RRC message is transmitted in the Msg3 to request RRC connection setup/resumption and hope to transmit data after the RRC connection setup/resumption (i.e., falling back to the non-EDT procedure includes performing an RRC resume procedure in which the DRB will be resumed) & [0111]), but does not explicitly disclose wherein processing the connection configuration corresponding to the SDT process according to the connection configuration requirement of the non-SDT process, comprises at least one of the following processing actions: processing a radio bearer (RB) for resuming a data transmission in the SDT process according to an RB requirement of the non-SDT process. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Xu et al. US (2022/0361239).
Xu discloses wherein processing the connection configuration corresponding to the SDT process according to the connection configuration requirement of the non-SDT process, comprises at least one of the following processing actions: processing a radio bearer (RB) for resuming a data transmission in the SDT process according to an RB requirement of the non-SDT process (see Fig. 10B & Para [0148] i.e., a Non-SDT DRB may be suspended (i.e., “RB requirement of the non-SDT process”)…At 1034, based, at least in part, on a size and/or amount of the UE’s non-SDT data, e.g. as indicated by the non-SDT data arrival information, the base station may instruct the UE to transmit the non-SDT data via the SDT procedure. Thus the base station may transmit a MAC CE 1036 indicating the resumption of the non-SDT transmission. In response to receipt of the MAC CE 1036, the UE may transition the non-SDT DRB (i.e., “processing a RB for resuming a data transmission”) to a resumed state at 1038. Then, the UE may transmit non-SDT DRB data at 1040, e.g., in a subsequent SDT transmission procedure).
(Xu suggests the UE is triggered to resume transmission of non-SDT data via the SDT procedure based on an amount of the UE’s non-SDT data exceeding a threshold for satisfying communication of the UEs arrived non-SDT data and transitioning the non-SDT DRB to a resumed state which results in fast transition to the non-SDT procedure, (see Fig. 10B & Para’s [0147-0148] & [0165]))
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process by the UE as disclosed in Chang in view of Chang to comprise processing a radio bearer (RB) for resuming a data transmission in the SDT process according to an RB requirement of the non-SDT process as disclosed in the teachings of Xu, because the motivation lies in Xu that the UE is triggered to resume transmission of non-SDT data via the SDT procedure based on an amount of the UE’s non-SDT data exceeding a threshold for satisfying communication of the UEs arrived non-SDT data and transitioning the non-SDT DRB to a resumed state which results in fast transition to the non-SDT procedure.
Regarding Claim 4, Chang (‘966) discloses the processing method of claim 3, wherein the RB requirement comprises any one of the following: suspending the RB (see Para’s [0017-0018]); or processing a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity of the RB, but does not explicitly disclose an RB requirement of the non-SDT process comprises suspending the RB. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Xu et al. US (2022/0361239).
Xu discloses an RB requirement of the non-SDT process comprises suspending the RB (see Fig. 10B & Para [0148] i.e., a Non-SDT DRB may be suspended (i.e., “RB requirement of the non-SDT process”)…In response to receipt of the MAC CE 1036, the UE may transition the non-SDT DRB to a resumed state at 1038. Then, the UE may transmit non-SDT DRB data at 1040, e.g., in a subsequent SDT transmission procedure).
(Xu suggests the UE is triggered to resume transmission of non-SDT data via the SDT procedure based on an amount of the UE’s non-SDT data exceeding a threshold for satisfying communication of the UEs arrived non-SDT data and transitioning the non-SDT DRB to a resumed state which results in fast transition to the non-SDT procedure, (see Fig. 10B & Para’s [0147-0148] & [0165]))
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process by the UE as disclosed in Chang in view of Chang to comprise processing a radio bearer (RB) for resuming a data transmission in the SDT process according to an RB requirement of the non-SDT process comprising suspending the RB as disclosed in the teachings of Xu, because the motivation lies in Xu that the UE is triggered to resume transmission of non-SDT data via the SDT procedure based on an amount of the UE’s non-SDT data exceeding a threshold for satisfying communication of the UEs arrived non-SDT data and transitioning the non-SDT DRB to a resumed state which results in fast transition to the non-SDT procedure.
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu discloses the processing method of claim 4, wherein processing the PDCP entity of the RB, comprises any one of the following: re-establishing the PDCP entity of the RB according to PDCP entity configuration information corresponding to the non-SDT process, (Chang (‘966), see Para’s [0017] i.e., performing fallback to a non-EDT procedure further comprises at least one of the following & [0021] i.e., re-establishing a PDCP entity & [0046] i.e., DRB can be resumed after RRC connection resume, [0051] i.e., fall back to non-EDT procedure includes RRC connection resume, [0067], [0090] i.e., PDCP entity corresponding to a DRB, & [0101-0102])
or transmitting data packets of the PDCP entity of the RB, wherein a radio resource control (RRC) connection is established in the non-SDT process (Chang (‘966), see Para’s [0046] i.e., data is transmitted on a data radio bearer (DRB) in an RRC connected state, [0051] i.e., fall back to non-EDT procedure includes RRC connection resume, [0067], [0071], [0090], & [0101-0102] i.e., re-establish a PDCP entity…the PDCP entity corresponding to a DRB & [0114] i.e., UE enters RRC connected state when fall back to non-EDT procedure is performed)
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Chang in view of Chang discloses the processing method of claim 1, but does not disclose the claim feature of wherein the trigger condition further comprises: receiving indication information sent by a network device, wherein the indication information is configured to instruct the terminal device to roll back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Xu et al. US (2022/0361239).
Xu discloses wherein a trigger condition comprises: receiving indication information sent by a network device, wherein the indication information is configured to instruct the terminal device to roll back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process (see Para’s [0007], [0142] i.e., In some aspects, upon receiving the non-SDT data arrival information, the network may send an RRC message to trigger the UE to transition to an RRC connected state and/or inform the UE to transmit the non-SDT data via the SDT procedure (i.e., “roll back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process”), [0146-0147] & [0168])
(Xu suggests the UE is triggered to resume transmission of non-SDT data via the SDT procedure based on an amount of the UE’s non-SDT data exceeding a threshold for satisfying communication of the UEs arrived non-SDT data, (see Fig. 10B & Para’s [0147-0148] & [0165])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the trigger condition for the UE rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process as disclosed in Chang in view of Chang to be performed by receiving indication information sent by a network device, wherein the indication information is configured to instruct the terminal device to roll back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process as disclosed in the teachings of Xu, because the motivation lies in Xu that the UE is triggered to resume transmission of non-SDT data via the SDT procedure based on an amount of the UE’s non-SDT data exceeding a threshold for satisfying communication of the UEs arrived non-SDT data.
Regarding Claim 23, the claim directed towards a terminal device which performs the same claim features as claim 2. Therefore claim 23 is rejected as obvious over the combination of Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu as in claim 2.
Regarding Claim 24, the claim directed towards a terminal device which performs the same claim features as claim 3. Therefore claim 24 is rejected as obvious over the combination of Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu as in claim 3.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. US (2020/0374966) in view of Chang et al. US (2022/0007392), and further in view of Xu et al. US (2022/0361239) as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Wang et al. US (2024/0121847).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu discloses the processing method of claim 5, wherein transmitting the data packets of the PDCP entity of the RB, comprises any one of the following: transmitting a data packet not sent yet in the data packets of the PDCP entity of the RB, (Chang, see Para’s [0017], [0021], [0046] i.e., data on the application layer is transmitted on a data radio bearer (DRB) in an RRC connected state, [0067], fallback to a non-EDT procedure includes re-establishing a PDCP entity & [0070] i.e., PDCP entity transmits PDCP SDU or PDCP PDU (i.e., “data packets”) & [0071] i.e., the UE may fall back to a non-EDT random access procedure and/or RRC connection setup/resume procedure, and enter an RRC connected state to perform data transmission), but does not disclose the claim feature of wherein a transmission mode corresponding to the RB is an unacknowledged mode (UM). However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Wang et al. US (2024/0121847).
Wang discloses wherein a transmission mode corresponding to the RB is an unacknowledged mode (UM), (see Para’s [0005] i.e., maintaining, in a PDCP re-establishment, a state variable of PDCP entities of unacknowledged mode (UM) data radio bearers (DRBs) & [0066] i.e., During the RRC resume procedure, a PDCP re-establishment is performed and unacknowledged mode (UM) DRBs is set to an initial value, & [0075] i.e., the terminal device 110 may maintain 331 a state variable of PDCP entities of unacknowledged mode (UM) DRBs in the PDCP re-establishment for the resume of the connection).
(Wang suggests during the RRC resume procedure, a PDCP re-establishment is performed (see Para [0066]) in which PDCP entities of unacknowledged mode (UM) DRB is used as the transmission mode in the PDCP re-establishment for resuming the connection (see Para [0075]) which results in less overhead of signaling acknowledgements according to using the unacknowledged mode (UM) for the data transmission, (see Para’s [0005], [0066], & [0075]))
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the fallback to a non-EDT procedure which includes re-establishing a PDCP entity of the RB for transmitting data packets as disclosed in Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu to use an unacknowledged mode (UM) as the transmission mode corresponding to the RB of the PDCP entity as disclosed in the teachings of Wang, because the motivation lies in Wang that during a RRC resume procedure, a PDCP re-establishment is performed in which PDCP entities of unacknowledged mode (UM) DRB is used as the transmission mode in the PDCP re-establishment for resuming the connection which results in less overhead of signaling acknowledgements according to using the unacknowledged mode (UM) for the data transmission.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. US (2020/0374966) in view of Chang et al. US (2022/0007392), and further in view of Xu et al. US (2022/0361239) as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Chang et al. US (2021/0051734).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu discloses the processing method of claim 3, but does not disclose wherein the connection resume request message requirement comprises any one of the following: regenerating the connection resume request message corresponding to the SDT process according to security configuration information; or reusing the connection resume request message used in the SDT process. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Chang et al. US (2021/0051734).
Chang discloses wherein the connection resume request message requirement comprises any one of the following: reusing the connection resume request message used in the SDT process (see Para [0061] i.e., In this embodiment, UE performs prior security processing on an RRC connection resume message in an EDT procedure...Subsequent security processing is still performed on an RRC connection resume message in a non-EDT procedure. That is, depending on whether the RRC connection resume message is from the EDT procedure (i.e., “reusing”), the UE performs different security processing methods).
(Chang suggests the UE performs different security processing methods on the RRC connection resume message in a non-EDT procedure for ensuring secure transmission of the RRC connection resume message in order to successfully perform the non-EDT procedure (see Para’s [0034] & [0061])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process including an RRC resume procedure performed by the UE as disclosed in Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu, to reuse the connection resume request message used in the SDT or EDT process as disclosed in the teachings of Chang, because the motivation lies in Chang that the UE performs different security processing methods on the RRC connection resume message in a non-EDT procedure for ensuring secure transmission of the RRC connection resume message in order to successfully perform the non-EDT procedure.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. US (2020/0374966) in view of Chang et al. US (2022/0007392), and further in view of Xu et al. US (2022/0361239) as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Huawei “Control plane common aspects for SDT”, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG#2113-e, R2-2101184.
Regarding Claim 9, Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu discloses the processing method of claim 8, but does not disclose wherein the trigger condition comprises determining that the resource state of the CG PUSCH resource that supports the SDT process is in the unavailable state, comprises any one of the following: identifying reselection from a cell that supports the CG PUSCH resource to a cell that does not support the CG PUSCH resource, determining that the resource state of the CG PUSCH resource that supports the SDT process is in the unavailable state; or identifying invalidity of an uplink timing advance of the CG PUSCH resource, determining that the resource state of the CG PUSCH resource that supports the SDT process is in the unavailable state. However the claim features would be rendered obvious in view of Huawei “Control plane common aspects for SDT”, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG#2113-e, R2-2101184.
Huawei discloses wherein a trigger condition (see Pg. 1 i.e., Section 2.1, “SDT triggering” & Pg. 2 i.e., Section 2.2 Fallback to non-SDT transmission) comprises determining that the resource state of a configured grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource that supports the SDT process is in an unavailable state comprises identifying invalidity of an uplink timing advance of the CG PUSCH resource, determining that the resource state of the CG PUSCH resource that supports the SDT process is in the unavailable state, (see Pg. 2, Section 2.3 i.e., “SDT type selection” i.e., CG based scheme includes PUSCH resource to a UE-specific traffic requirement…Hence the UE should prioritize CG based scheme over RA based scheme in case both are configured and the UE has a valid CG resource (e.g., with a valid TA etc.), Pg. 3 i.e., In case RA-SDT was selected for the initial transmission due to TA invalidity (i.e., CG resource is determined to be in “unavailable state”), TA becomes valid after MSG2/MSGB reception. In this case we think the UE can use the CG resource again for the subsequent transmission & proposal 7 i.e., If the UE is configured with both CG-SDT and RA-SDT, but the UE chooses RA-SDT due to TA invalidity, CG resource configured for CG-SDT can be used for subsequent data transmissions after the UE receives a TA command & Pg. 9 proposal 7).
(Huawei suggests the UE should prioritize CG based scheme over RA based scheme in case both are configured and the UE has a valid CG resource with a valid TA since the CG based scheme is advantageous over RA based scheme as it has more potential to save UE power by avoiding additional steps of RA procedure and provides better efficiency, (see Pg. 2, Section 2.3 i.e., “SDT type selection”))
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the trigger condition for the UE rolling back from the SDT process to the non-SDT process as disclosed in Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu to be performed by determining that the resource state of a configured grant (CG) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource that supports the SDT process is in an unavailable state by identifying invalidity of an uplink timing advance of the CG PUSCH resource and determining that the resource state of the CG PUSCH resource that supports the SDT process is in the unavailable state, because the motivation lies in Huawei that the UE should prioritize CG based scheme over RA based scheme in case both are configured and the UE has a valid CG resource with a valid TA since the CG based scheme is advantageous over RA based scheme as it has more potential to save UE power by avoiding additional steps of RA procedure and provides better efficiency.
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. US (2020/0374966) in view of Chang et al. US (2022/0007392), and further in view of Xu et al. US (2022/0361239) as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Turtinen et al. US (2024/0090063).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu discloses the processing method of claim 8, but does not disclose wherein the indication information further comprises security configuration information. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Turtinen et al. US (2024/0090063).
Turtinen discloses wherein an indication information from a network device further comprises security configuration information (see Fig. 2 i.e., step 202 & Para’s [0004] i.e., data transmission with security configurations, [0042] i.e., rollback from SDT procedure to non-SDT procedure is performed, [0043] i.e., In general, a network device (e.g., the gNB) serving a terminal device (e.g., the UE) provides at least one set of security configurations in advance, and the terminal device is capable of performing the SDT and the non-SDT procedures by using different security configurations, [0053-0054] i.e., As shown in Fig. 2, the second device 120 transmits 202 a first plurality of parameters to the first device 110. The first plurality of parameters may be security parameters (i.e., “security configuration information”) associated with the RRC connection resume procedure between the first device 110 and the second device 120. The RRC connection resume procedure may include one of the SDT procedure or non-SDT procedure, [0056], & [0065], & [0073], & [0093-0096])
(Turtinen suggests rolling back from an SDT procedure to a non-SDT procedure performed by the UE, in which the UE is capable of performing the non-SDT procedure using the security configuration sent from the network in advance in an RRC message (see Para [0056]) which results in the data transmission being secured, more efficient and flexible, and unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead can be reduced, (see Para’s [0042-0043])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the indication information such as an RRC message used for triggering the UE to roll back from the SDT procedure to the non-SDT procedure as disclosed in Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu to further comprise the security configuration information associated with the non-SDT procedure included in the RRC message indication sent from the network device to the UE as disclosed in Turtinen, because the motivation lies in Turtinen for rolling back from an SDT procedure to a non-SDT procedure performed by the UE, in which the UE is capable of performing the non-SDT procedure using the security configuration sent from the network in advance in an RRC message which results in the data transmission being secured, more efficient and flexible, and unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead can be reduced.
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu discloses the processing method of claim 10, but does not disclose the claim feature of wherein the security configuration information comprises at least one of the following: a security algorithm, a security key, a next hop chaining count for updating the security key, or a next hop count for updating the security key. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Turtinen et al. US (2024/0090063).
Turtinen discloses wherein the security configuration information comprises at least one of the followings: a next hop chaining count for updating the security key (see Para’s [0047] i.e., Next-hop chaining counts (NCCs), [0053] i.e., As shown in Fig. 2, the second device 120 transmits 202 a first plurality of parameters to the first device 110. The first plurality of parameters may be security parameters associated with the RRC connection resume procedure between the first device 110 and the second device 120. The RRC connection resume procedure may include one of the SDT procedure or non-SDT procedure & [0054] i.e., The first plurality of parameters may include the NCC (i.e., “Next-hop chaining count”))
(Turtinen suggests rolling back from an SDT procedure to a non-SDT procedure performed by the UE, in which the UE is capable of performing the non-SDT procedure using the security configuration sent from the network in advance in an RRC message (see Para [0056]) which results in the data transmission being secured, more efficient and flexible, and unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead can be reduced, (see Para’s [0042-0043])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the indication message such as an RRC message used for triggering the UE to roll back from the SDT procedure to the non-SDT procedure as disclosed in Chang in view of Chang, and further in view of Xu to further comprise the security configuration information associated with the non-SDT procedure including a next hop chaining count for updating the security key which is included in the RRC message indication sent from the network device to the UE as disclosed in Turtinen, because the motivation lies in Turtinen for rolling back from an SDT procedure to a non-SDT procedure performed by the UE, in which the UE is capable of performing the non-SDT procedure using the security configuration sent from the network in advance in an RRC message which results in the data transmission being secured, more efficient and flexible, and unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead can be reduced.
Conclusion
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.
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/ADNAN BAIG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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