DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to the Applicant's arguments and amendments filed on 29 September 2023 in which claims 1-25 are currently pending.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The references listed in the Information Disclosure Statement, filed on 29 September 2023, 21 October 2024, 13 February 2025, have been considered by the examiner (see attached PTO-1449 form or PTO/SB/08A and 08B forms).
Claim Objections
Claims 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 19, it is suggested to replace the limitation “according the determined second cell group” with --according to the determined second cell group--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 18, 24, 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 18, 24, 25 are directed to a communication device, a network node, and a network node respectively; however, the body of the claims contain no clear structure or elements. Rather, they incorporate the method claims to which they depend on (claims 1, 19, 11). A machine is defined as “a concrete thing, consisting of parts, or of certain devices and combination of devices” (MPEP 2106). However, the body of the claims do not consist of at least two parts/components. Since the claims do not include any structural components, claims 18, 24, 25 are indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-4, 9-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Teyeb et al. (PG Pub US 2024/0196458 A1) in view of Zacharias et al. (PG Pub US 2020/0359330 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 18, Teyeb discloses a method performed in a communication device for handling a resume procedure from a power saving mode of operation to a connected mode of operation, wherein the communication device is configured with multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) with a first cell group and a second cell group in a wireless communication network (“A WTRU may be configured to resume with a given SCG activation level (e.g., SCG activation state). A WTRU configured for MR-DC with an MCG and an SCG, configured with an SCG that may be deactivated, and currently operating in the RRC INACTIVE state (e.g., second activity level)” [0143]) and a communication device (fig. 1A).
initiating a resume procedure when there is an uplink (UL) data, available at the communication device while it is in the power saving mode of operation (“for UL triggered resume, data-characteristic condition(s) such as if the pending UL data is above a certain threshold” [0123], “If the WTRU initiates the resume procedure from an RRC INACTIVE state (e.g., the second activity level)” [0125]);
setting an UL data indication indicating whether the UL data is available for the first cell group or the second cell group (“The WTRU may indicate the selected SCG activation level (e.g., SCG state) to the network, e.g., in associated with the resume procedure” [0076], “The WTRU may indicate that it has determined to resume with a deactivated SCG by including an indicator in the RRC Resume Request message (e.g., a Boolean flag with a value of 0). The WTRU may indicate that it has determined to resume with an activated SCG by including an indicator in the RRC Resume Request message (e.g., a Boolean flag with a value of 1)” [0126]); and
transmitting the UL data indication to a network node (“The WTRU may indicate, e.g., to a base station, the selected SCG activation level. The WTRU may indicate, to the base station, at least one of: a cause for the selection of the SCG activation level; or a measurement associated with the selection of the SCG activation level” [0072]).
However, Teyeb does not explicitly disclose whether the UL data is available for the first cell group or the second cell group.
Nevertheless, Zacharias discloses “the UE may implicitly indicate the serving cell restriction to the base station based on, for example, a BSR transmitted to the base station that indicates the identified bearer(s) are to be transmitted using FR1 CC(s)” [0160], “a data radio bearer carrying data for the uplink transmissions of the second carrier group is associated with the second carrier group only, and where the UE transmits a buffer status report subsequent to the scheduling request that requests a change for the data radio bearer to be split between the first carrier group and the second carrier group” [0205].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to indicate whether the UL data is available for the first cell group or the second cell group because “a UE 115 may be configured to operate in a dual connectivity mode in which the UE 115 may be scheduled for uplink transmissions to different cells or base stations 105 (e.g., each associated with a different cell group, such as a MCG or a SCG). In some cases, when operating in CA mode on dual-connectivity mode, different frequency ranges may be used for different CCs or different cell groups, and one or more exposure limits (e.g., MPE thresholds) may limit an available uplink transmission power of the UE 115” [0103].
Regarding claim 2, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses the UL data indication indicates whether the resume is initiated due to the uplink data that is available only for the first cell group, or regardless of uplink data available to the first cell group, the uplink data is available for the second cell group (“requesting the SCG to be deactivated/activated (e.g., due to radio conditions, due to bearer type, data volume, battery level, overheating, etc.)” [0132], “the resume is due to arrival of UL data that belongs to an MCG bearer (e.g., MN terminated MCG bearer, SN terminated MCG bearer); or the resume is due to arrival of UL data that belongs to a split bearer with MCG as the primary path” [0122]).
Regarding claim 3, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses setting an UL data indication indicating whether the UL data is available for the first cell group or the second cell group comprises: setting the UL data indication based on one of the following: a) whether a second cell group bearer has data; or b) whether a split bearer has data (“the resume is due to arrival of UL data that belongs to an MCG bearer (e.g., MN terminated MCG bearer, SN terminated MCG bearer); or the resume is due to arrival of UL data that belongs to a split bearer with MCG as the primary path” [0122]).
Regarding claim 4, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses setting the UL data indication based on whether an amount of the UL data available for a bearer exceeds a threshold (“for UL triggered resume, data-characteristic condition(s) such as if the pending UL data is above a certain threshold” [0123]).
Regarding claim 9, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses the UL data indication is included in a resume request message and/or multiplexed with a resume request message to be transmitted to the network node (“an indicator in the RRC Resume Request message” [0126]).
Regarding claim 10, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses the UL data indication is transmitted or indicated as any one of the following: a) a resume cause comprised in a resume request message; b) a preamble associated to a preamble group and/or a specific time-frequency resource configured by the network node for the communication device to use for UL data indication; c) data mapped to a second cell group bearer to be transmitted by the second cell group; d) a selection of preamble(s) and/or specific time-frequency resource(s) configured by the network node for the communication device to use for different UL data indications; e) a resume complete message; f) an information element in a resume complete message; g) a selection of Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH, resources configured by the network node for the communication device to use for UL data indication (“an indicator in the RRC Resume Request message” [0126]).
Regarding claims 11, 25, Teyeb discloses a method performed in a communication device for handling a resume procedure from a power saving mode of operation to a connected mode of operation, wherein the communication device is configured with multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) with a first cell group and a second cell group in a wireless communication network (“A WTRU may be configured to resume with a given SCG activation level (e.g., SCG activation state). A WTRU configured for MR-DC with an MCG and an SCG, configured with an SCG that may be deactivated, and currently operating in the RRC INACTIVE state (e.g., second activity level)” [0143]) and a network node (fig. 1A).
checking whether the second cell group bearer has data (“arrival of UL data that belongs to an SCG bearer” [0122]);
if the second cell group bearer does not have data, checking whether the split bearer has data (“the resume is due to arrival of UL data that belongs to a split bearer with MCG as the primary path .. the resume is due to arrival of UL data that belongs to an SCG bearer (e.g., MN terminated SCG bearer, SN terminated SCG bearer); or the resume is due to arrival of UL data that belongs to a split bearer with SCG as the primary path” [0122]);
if the split bearer has data, checking whether a total amount of the data for the split bearer exceeds a split bearer data threshold (“the bearer type satisfies a condition (e.g., resume with SCG deactivated if UL data belongs to an MCG bearer or a split bearer with MCG as the primary path)” [0139], “for UL triggered resume, data-characteristic condition(s) such as if the pending UL data is above a certain threshold” [0123]);
if the total amount of the data for the split bearer exceeds the split bearer data threshold, initiating measurements for the second cell group (“for UL triggered resume, data-characteristic condition(s) such as if the pending UL data is above a certain threshold” [0123], “The WTRU (e.g., in addition to the indication) may include the cause for indicating (e.g., selecting and/or indicating the preference for) the deactivated or the activated SCG (e.g., measurement results, BSR, battery level, overheating level, etc.)” [0141], “the WTRU may include the measurement results towards the MN or/and SN” [0133]).
However, Teyeb does not explicitly disclose the split bearer exceeds the split bearer data threshold.
Nevertheless, Zacharias discloses “when the internal split bearer threshold is satisfied, data may be split across multiple carrier groups, which may be associated with different RATs” [0134].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the split bearer exceeds the split bearer data threshold because “The threshold may be used override a network-configured threshold (e.g., UL-DataSplitThreshold)” [0134].
Regarding claim 12, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses transmitting an indication to the network node for indicating whether the communication device is in a coverage of the second cell group as part of or following the resume procedure from the power saving mode of operation to the connected mode of operation (“The WTRU may indicate, e.g., to a base station, the selected SCG activation level. The WTRU may indicate, to the base station, at least one of: a cause for the selection of the SCG activation level; or a measurement associated with the selection of the SCG activation level” [0072], “A WTRU may be configured to resume from an INACTIVE activity level (e.g., RRC Inactive/RRC INACTIVE state, which may be used as examples herein) to a CONNECTED activity level” [0073]).
Regarding claim 13, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses determining whether the communication device is in the coverage of the second cell group based on whether any one or more measured values on Reference Signal Received Power, Reference Signal Received Quality, Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio, for the second cell group is or are above one or more threshold value(s) (“The condition to resume may be SCG deactivated if: the signal level/quality (e.g., RSRP/RSRQ/RNSI) towards the SN is below a certain threshold; the signal level/quality (e.g., RSRP/RSRQ/RSNI) towards the MN is above a certain threshold; or the signal level/quality (e.g., RSRP/RSRQ/RSNI) towards the MN is stronger than the level/quality towards the SN by a certain threshold. A condition to resume with SCG activated may be if: the signal level/quality (e.g., RSRP/RSRQ/RNSI) towards the SN is above a certain threshold; the signal level/quality (e.g., RSRP/RSRQ/RSNI) towards the MN is below a certain threshold; the signal level/quality (e.g., RSRP/RSRQ/RSNI) towards the MN is lower than the level/quality towards the SN by a certain threshold” [0121]).
Regarding claim 14, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses transmitting measurement results for the second cell group to the network node in or following the resume procedure from the power saving mode of operation to the connected mode of operation (“The WTRU may indicate, e.g., to a base station, the selected SCG activation level. The WTRU may indicate, to the base station, at least one of: a cause for the selection of the SCG activation level; or a measurement associated with the selection of the SCG activation level” [0072]).
Regarding claim 15, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses the indication of whether the communication device is in a coverage of the second cell group and/or the measurement results for the second cell group is/are transmitted to the network node together with an UL data indication (“The WTRU may indicate, e.g., to a base station, the selected SCG activation level. The WTRU may indicate, to the base station, at least one of: a cause for the selection of the SCG activation level; or a measurement associated with the selection of the SCG activation level” [0072], “The WTRU may (e.g., additionally) include the cause for requesting (e.g., selecting) the SCG activation level (e.g., the SCG activation state) to be deactivated/activated (e.g., due to radio conditions, due to bearer type, data volume, battery level, overheating, etc.)” [0128]).
Regarding claim 16, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses the indication of whether the communication device is in a coverage of the second cell group and/or the measurement results for the second cell group is/are transmitted within or multiplexed with a resume request message as one or more separate field(s) or using specific resume cause values (“The WTRU may indicate that it has determined to resume with a deactivated SCG by including an indicator in the RRC Resume Request message (e.g., a Boolean flag with a value of 0). The WTRU may indicate that it has determined to resume with an activated SCG by including an indicator in the RRC Resume Request message (e.g., a Boolean flag with a value of 1)” [0126]).
Regarding claim 17, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses the indication of whether the communication device is in a coverage of the second cell group and/or the measurement results for the second cell group is/are transmitted within a resume complete message or in an assistance information message that is sent as part of, or after the resume procedure (“The WTRU may indicate that it has determined to resume with a deactivated SCG by including an indicator in the RRC Resume Complete message (e.g., a Boolean flag with a value of 0). The WTRU may indicate that it has determined to resume with an activated SCG by including an indicator in the RRC Resume Complete message (e.g., a Boolean flag with a value of 1)” [0130]).
Regarding claims 19, 24, Teyeb discloses a method performed in a network node for handling a resume procedure for a communication device from a power saving mode of operation to a connected mode of operation in a wireless communication network, wherein the communication device is configured with multi-radio dual connectivity, MR-DC, with a first cell group and a second cell group (“A WTRU may be configured to resume with a given SCG activation level (e.g., SCG activation state). A WTRU configured for MR-DC with an MCG and an SCG, configured with an SCG that may be deactivated, and currently operating in the RRC INACTIVE state (e.g., second activity level)” [0143]) and a network node (fig. 1A).
receiving an uplink (UL) data indication or a second cell group coverage indication from the communication device during a resume procedure initiated by the communication device (“The WTRU may indicate, e.g., to a base station, the selected SCG activation level. The WTRU may indicate, to the base station, at least one of: a cause for the selection of the SCG activation level; or a measurement associated with the selection of the SCG activation level” [0072], “If the WTRU initiates the resume procedure from an RRC INACTIVE state (e.g., the second activity level)” [0125]), wherein the UL data indication indicates whether the UL data is available for the first cell group bearer or the second cell group bearer and the second cell group coverage indication indicates whether the communication device is in a coverage of the second cell group (“the resume is due to arrival of UL data that belongs to an MCG bearer (e.g., MN terminated MCG bearer, SN terminated MCG bearer); or the resume is due to arrival of UL data that belongs to a split bearer with MCG as the primary path” [0122], “the signal level/quality (e.g., RSRP/RSRQ/RNSI) towards the SN is below a certain threshold; the signal level/quality (e.g., RSRP/RSRQ/RSNI) towards the MN is above a certain threshold; or the signal level/quality (e.g., RSRP/RSRQ/RSNI) towards the MN is stronger than the level/quality towards the SN by a certain threshold” [0121]);
determining a second cell group configuration for the communication device based on the received UL data indication or second cell group coverage indication (“The configuration information may indicate one or more conditions associated with determining (e.g., selecting) which SCG activation level (e.g., the SCG activation state) to resume in. The WTRU may receive an indication from the network indicating which SCG activation level (e.g., the SCG activation state), for example activated or deactivated, should be used if the WTRU resumes” [0117]); and
configuring the communication device according the determined second cell group configuration (‘If the WTRU resumes (e.g., may be transitioned to the RRC CONNECTED state/first activity level), the network may configure the WTRU to resume with or without the SCG, e.g., in the RRCResume message” [0093], “A WTRU may be configured to receive configuration information (e.g., explicit configuration information) from the network to resume the SCG in a given SCG activation level” [0117]).
However, Teyeb does not explicitly disclose whether the UL data is available for the first cell group bearer or the second cell group bearer.
Nevertheless, Zacharias discloses “the UE may implicitly indicate the serving cell restriction to the base station based on, for example, a BSR transmitted to the base station that indicates the identified bearer(s) are to be transmitted using FR1 CC(s)” [0160], “a data radio bearer carrying data for the uplink transmissions of the second carrier group is associated with the second carrier group only, and where the UE transmits a buffer status report subsequent to the scheduling request that requests a change for the data radio bearer to be split between the first carrier group and the second carrier group” [0205].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have whether the UL data is available for the first cell group bearer or the second cell group bearer because “a UE 115 may be configured to operate in a dual connectivity mode in which the UE 115 may be scheduled for uplink transmissions to different cells or base stations 105 (e.g., each associated with a different cell group, such as a MCG or a SCG). In some cases, when operating in CA mode on dual-connectivity mode, different frequency ranges may be used for different CCs or different cell groups, and one or more exposure limits (e.g., MPE thresholds) may limit an available uplink transmission power of the UE 115” [0103].
Regarding claim 20, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses configuring the communication device is performed by transmitting the determined second cell group configuration in a resume message or in a separate reconfiguration message to the communication device (“the network may configure the WTRU to resume with or without the SCG, e.g., in the RRCResume message” [0093]).
Regarding claim 21, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses determining a second cell group configuration for the communication device based on the received UL data indication comprises one or more of the following actions: a) determining whether a suspended second cell group is to be resumed, and if it is determined that the suspended second cell group is to be resumed, setting a mode of operation to the second cell group with deactivated or activated; b) determining whether a second cell group is to be released in case the communication device is attempting to resume is configured with a second cell group; c) determining whether a second cell group is to be added in case the communication device is attempting to resume is not configured with a second cell group, and, if it is determined that a second cell group is to be added, setting a mode of operation to the second cell group with deactivated or activated (“The configuration information may indicate one or more conditions associated with determining (e.g., selecting) which SCG activation level (e.g., the SCG activation state) to resume in. The WTRU may receive an indication from the network indicating which SCG activation level (e.g., the SCG activation state), for example activated or deactivated, should be used if the WTRU resumes. The SCG activation level (e.g., the SCG activation state) may include an activated SCG (e.g., the SCG in an activated state) or a deactivated SCG (e.g., the SCG in a deactivated state)” [0117]).
Regarding claim 22, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, Teyeb discloses configuring, by system information or a dedicated signaling, any one or a combination of the following: a) a preamble or a group of preamble(s), b) one or a set of specific time-frequency resource(s), c) a data volume threshold, d) a set of Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) resources, for the communication device to use for different UL data indications (“The WTRU may receive configuration information (e.g., using RRC Release, RRC Reconfiguration message) with a one or more preambles to use for RA when resuming” [0119]).
Regarding claim 23, Teyeb, Zacharias discloses everything claimed as applied above. receiving an uplink (UL) data indication or a second cell group coverage indication comprises any one of: a) receiving an UL data indication or second cell group coverage indication in a resume request message sent by the communication device, wherein the UL data indication is a parameter comprised in the resume request message; b) receiving an UL data indication as a resume cause, wherein a new resume cause is set to indicate that the resume procedure has been triggered due to a certain amount of data mapped to a second cell group bearer or split bearer being above a data volume threshold, or a new resume cause is set to indicate that the communication device has an amount of UL data in buffer above a data volume threshold regardless of that being associated to second cell group bearers, or when the UL data is for a second cell group bearer, an existing resume cause is set to a value “mo-data” or to another existing resume cause; c) receiving an UL data indication in an assistance information message or in an assistance information message multiplexed with a resume request message, or in a resume complete message, or in an information element in a resume complete message; e) receiving an UL data indication in a preamble or a group of preamble(s), or in one or a set of specific time-frequency resource(s) or Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH, resource(s), wherein the preambles, the specific time-frequency resource(s) or PRACH resources are configured to indicate different UL data indications (“The WTRU may indicate that it has determined to resume with a deactivated SCG by including an indicator in the RRC Resume Request message (e.g., a Boolean flag with a value of 0). The WTRU may indicate that it has determined to resume with an activated SCG by including an indicator in the RRC Resume Request message (e.g., a Boolean flag with a value of 1)” [0126]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 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 CHRISTINE D FUQUA whose telephone number is (571)270-1664. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 AM - 6 PM EST with every other Friday off.
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CHRISTINE DUONG FUQUA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2462
/CHRISTINE T DUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462 01/28/2026