DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-Final Office Action addressing U.S. Application No. 18/288,610. Based upon a review of the instant application, the actual filing date of the instant application is October 27, 2023. Since the instant application was filed after September 16, 2012, the statutory provisions of the America Invents Act ("AIA ") will govern this proceeding. The instant application is a National Stage Entry of PCT/EP2022/058112 filed March 28, 2022. The instant application also claims priority to Provisional Application No. 63/186,466 filed May 10, 2021.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9-16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0051758 to Xu et al. (“Xu”).
Referring to claim 1, Xu teaches a method performed by a Layer 2, L2, UE-to-Network Relay User Equipment, UE, in a mobile telecommunication network (see item 704 in figure 7), wherein said Relay UE is arranged to provide functionality to support connectivity for a remote UE in said mobile telecommunication network (see figure 7 and ¶ 98), said method comprising:
detecting, by said Relay UE, a Radio Link Failure, RLF, in an interface between the Relay UE and a network node of the mobile telecommunication network (see ¶¶ 102 and 112);
upon detection of said RLF, signaling, by said Relay UE, at least one of the following information to said remote UE:
1) RLF has been detected by said Relay UE;
2) said Relay UE has recovered from said detected RLF; and
3) said Relay UE has not recovered from said detected RLF (see ¶¶ 102 and 112).
Referring to claim 3, Xu a method in accordance with claim 1 (as shown above), and Xu further teaches the method comprises the step of:
performing, by said Relay UE, a recovery procedure of said interface between said Relay UE and said network node of said mobile telecommunication network (see ¶ 112).
Referring to claim 4, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 3 (as shown above), wherein said step of signaling comprises:
signaling, by said Relay UE, responsive to recovering the interface, an indication that said interface has been recovered (see resume discovery broadcast 1536 in figure 15).
Referring to claim 6, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 1m (as shown above), and Xu further teaches the method further comprises the step of:
slowing or suspending, by said relay UE, transmission and/or reception of relay traffic between the Relay UE and the remote UE, wherein said relay traffic being traffic transmitted between the Remote UE and the network node via the Relay UE (see ¶¶ 102 and 112).
Referring to claim 7, Xu teaches a method performed by a remote User Equipment in a mobile telecommunication network (see item 702 in figure 7), wherein said remote UE has a connection to a mobile telecommunication via a Layer 2, L2, UE-to-Network Relay User Equipment, UE, in said mobile telecommunication network, wherein said Relay UE is arranged to provide functionality to support connectivity for said remote UE in said mobile telecommunication network (see figure 7), said method comprising the steps of:
receiving, by said remote UE, from said Relay UE, at least one of the following information:
1) RLF has been detected by said Relay UE;
2) said Relay UE has recovered from said detected RLF;
3) said Relay UE has not recovered from said detected RLF (see ¶¶ 102 and 112);
performing, by said remote UE, an action associated with a connection between the remote UE and the Relay UE (see ¶ 113).
Referring to claim 9, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 7 (as shown above), and Xu further teaches the step of perming performing the action comprises:
maintaining, by said remote UE, the connection with the Relay UE (see ¶ 93).
Referring to claim 10, Xu teaches a method in accordance claim 7 (as shown above), wherein said method further comprises the steps of:
receiving a message from the Relay UE indicating whether the interface has been recovered (see Resume Discovery Broadcast in figure 15 and ¶ 115); and
determining whether to trigger a relay reselection procedure and/or a cell selection/reselection procedure based on said message (see ¶ 115).
Referring to claim 11, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 7 (as shown above), and Xu further teaches the said step of performing said action comprises:
triggering, by said remote UE, a relay reselection procedure and/or a cell selection/reselection procedure (see ¶ 113).
Referring to claim 12, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 7 (as shown above), and Xu further teaches wherein performing said action comprises:
starting a timer (see ¶ 93); and
maintaining said connection with the Relay UE while the timer is running (see ¶ 93).
Referring to claim 13, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 12 (as shown above), wherein said step of performing said action further comprises:
determining that said timer has expired; and
responsive to determining that said timer has expired, triggering a relay reselection procedure and/or a cell selection/reselection procedure (see ¶ 93).
Referring to claim 14, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 12 (as shown above), wherein said step of performing said action further comprises:
determining that said Relay UE has recovered from said RLF before said timer expires (see ¶ 93), and
stopping said timer (see ¶ 93).
Referring to claim 15, Xu teaches a Layer 2, L2, UE-to-Network Relay User Equipment, UE arranged to operate in a mobile telecommunication network, wherein said Relay UE is arranged to provide functionality to support connectivity for a remote UE in said mobile telecommunication network (see figure 7), said Relay UE comprising:
processing circuitry configured to perform any of the operations of claim 1 (see figure 3); and
power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry (see ¶ 54).
Referring to claim 16, Xu teaches a remote User Equipment, UE, arranged to operate in a mobile telecommunication network, wherein said remote UE has a connection to a mobile telecommunication via a Layer 2, L2, UE-to-Network Relay User Equipment, UE, in said mobile telecommunication network, wherein said Relay UE is arranged to provide functionality to support connectivity for said remote UE in said mobile telecommunication network (see figure 7), said remote UE comprising:
processing circuitry configured to perform any of the operations of claim 7 (see figure 3);
power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry (see ¶ 54).
Referring to claim 19, Xu teaches a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon which instructions, when executed by a User Equipment, UE, of a mobile telecommunication network, cause said UE to implement a method in accordance with claim 1 (see ¶ 155).
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 2 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu in view of WO 2020/222308 to Ishii (“Ishii”).
Referring to claim 2, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 1 (as shown above), and while Xu further teaches transmitting, by the Relay UE, an indication of the RLF to said remote UE, however Xu fails to explicitly disclose transmitting information associated with the RLF.
Ishii teaches, in an analogous system, a Relay UE transmitting and indication of an RLF and information associated with the RLF to a remote UE (see ¶¶ 134, 138, 140, 142-143).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the applicant’s invention to modify the method of Xu with the above teachings of Ishii. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to make such modification to provide additional information to the network regarding the cause of the failure as suggested by Ishii (see ¶ 134). The Examiner also finds that it would be a matter of mere substitution to replace the RLF notification of Xu with the RLF notification of Ishii, and such a modification would have a predictable result.
Referring to claim 8, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 7 (as shown above), and while Xu further teaches transmitting, by the Relay UE, an indication of the RLF to said remote UE, however Xu fails to explicitly disclose transmitting information associated with the RLF.
Ishii teaches, in an analogous system, a Relay UE transmitting and indication of an RLF and information associated with the RLF to a remote UE (see ¶¶ 134, 138, 140, 142-143).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the applicant’s invention to modify the method of Xu with the above teachings of Ishii. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to make such modification to provide additional information to the network regarding the cause of the failure as suggested by Ishii (see ¶ 134). The Examiner also finds that it would be a matter of mere substitution to replace the RLF notification of Xu with the RLF notification of Ishii, and such a modification would have a predictable result.
Claim(s) 5, 17, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu in view of WO 2022/027555 to Wu et al. (“Wu”).
Referring to claim 5, Xu teaches a method in accordance with claim 3 (as shown above), however Xu fails to explicitly disclose signaling, by said Relay UE, responsive to failing to recover said interface, an indication that said interface has failed to be recovered.
Wu teaches, in an analogous system, signaling, by said Relay UE, responsive to failing to recover said interface, an indication that said interface has failed to be recovered (see ¶ 96).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the Applicant’s invention to modify the method of Xu with the above teachings of Wu. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to make such modification to facilitate the link reselection process as suggested by Wu (see ¶ 96).
Referring to claim 17, Xu teaches a remote User Equipment, UE, arranged to operate in a mobile telecommunication network (see figure 7), comprising:
processing circuitry configured to perform any of the operations of claim 7 (see item 300 in figure 3);
power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry (see ¶ 54).
Xu only fails to disclose a vehicle comprising the claimed remote UE.
Wu teaches in an analogous system, that it is old and well known for a vehicle to comprise a remote UE (see ¶ 32) and that V2X has been introduce into 5G wireless technology (see ¶ 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Xu such that the remote UE is part of a vehicle because Wu suggests it is old and well known to do so.
Referring to claim 18, Xu teaches a Relay User Equipment, UE, arranged to operate in a mobile telecommunication network (see figure 7), comprising:
processing circuitry configured to perform any of the operations of claim 1 (see item 300 in figure 3);
power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry (see ¶ 54).
Xu only fails to disclose a vehicle comprising the claimed relay UE.
Wu teaches in an analogous system, that it is old and well known for a vehicle to comprise a remote UE (see ¶ 32) and that V2X has been introduce into 5G wireless technology (see ¶ 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Xu such that the relay UE is part of a vehicle because Wu suggests it is old and well known to do so.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are cited to further show the state of the art as it pertains to the Applicant’s invention:
U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0385714 to Paladugu et al., and
U.S. Pub. No. 2022/0330352 to Horn et al. disclose the same network communication method as set forth in at least claims 1 and 7;
U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0067762 to Tang teaches a method including a UE sending a RLF indication with information related to a RLF.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERON J SORRELL whose telephone number is (571)272-4160. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-6PM EST.
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Signed:
/ERON J SORRELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992