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 amendments with respect to claims 1, 7, 15, 20-21 have been fully considered. The rejection of claims 1, 7, 15, 20-21 under 35 USC 112 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 7 and 15 have been fully considered, a new ground for rejection has been made in view of amendment. Claims 1, 7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 (See 103 rejection of claims 1 and 15 below).
Regarding claim 15, the applicant argues “Here the Office relies on a combination of TS 38.473
and Dai.”. The examiner respectfully disagrees. The office relies on a combination of TS 38.473 and Dai and Li. Specifically Li teaches when the UE is operating in the inactive state, refrain from enabling a radio function at the DU (See Li [0066], [0290] and [0291] cited below in rejection of claim 15). Claim 7 recites similar limitations of claim 15, is thus rejected under similar rational. Claim 1 is rejected with TS 38.473 and Kim and Li (See Kim [0004]; Li [0066], [0290] and [0291] cited below in rejection of claim 1.).
Claim Objections
Claims 7 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 7, line 4, “the UE a user equipment (UE)” should read “a user equipment (UE)”.
In claim 15, line 3, “the UE a user equipment (UE)” should read “a user equipment (UE)”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “5G; NG-RAN; F1 Application Protocol (F1AP)”, 3GPP TS 38.473 version 16.5.0 (2021-04) (hereinafter 38.473), in view of US 20220086944 A1 (hereinafter Kim) and US 20240214457 A1 (hereinafter Li).
Regarding claim 1, 38.473 teaches A method implemented in a central unit (CU) of a distributed base station, the distributed base station including the CU and a distributed unit (DU), the method comprising (38.473 page 39, gNB-CU and gNB-DU in Figure 8.3.1.2-1: UE Context Setup Request procedure.):
generating, by the CU, a CU-to-DU message, related to control of data communication with a
user equipment (UE), the generating including (38.473 page 39, The purpose of the UE Context Setup procedure is to establish the UE Context including, among others, SRB, DRB, BHRLC channel, and SL DRB configuration. The procedure uses UE-associated signalling. The gNB-CU initiates the procedure by sending UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the gNB-DU.):
in a first instance, in response to that the data communication is normal data communication
(data communication starts in RRC connected state), determining that the data communication with the UE requires the DU to perform a radio function which includes one of (i) a discontinuous reception operation, (ii) a measurement gap operation, or (iii) a reference signal transmission, including an indication in the CU-to-DU message to enable the radio function (38.473 page 105-106, 9.2.2.1 UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
This message is sent by the gNB-CU to request the setup of a UE context.
Direction: gNB-CU → gNB-DU.
UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST contains optional information element DRX Cycle.
Page 179, 9.3.1.24 DRX Cycle
The DRX Cycle IE is to indicate the desired DRX cycle.
DRX Cycle IE contains Long DRX Cycle Length, Short DRX Cycle length and Short DRX Cycle
Timer.
page 40, If the DRX Cycle IE is contained in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, the
gNB-DU shall use the provided value from the gNB-CU.
Note: Using DRX Cycle at the DU is enabling DRX radio function),
transmitting, from the CU to the DU, the CU-to-DU message (38.473 page 39, Figure 8.3.1.2-1; The gNB-CU initiates the procedure by sending UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the gNB-DU.).
38.473 does not explicitly teach normal data communication (data communication starts in RRC connected state) is not early data communication.
Kim in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches the early data communication is a data communication started before the UE entering RRC connected state (Kim [0004] With the introduction of the new RRC state (i.e., RRC-INACTIVE state) in NR, the UE may incur minimum signaling, minimize power consumption, minimize resource costs in the network. In order to support this concept in NR, the UE may also be able to transmit the data without state transition from the RRC-INACTIVE to the RRC-CONNECTED. Early data transmission (EDT) refers to the operation of transmitting data before the RRC connection setup is completed, if the size of the data to be transmitted is small. In other words, according to the EDT, data transmission is allowed even when the UE is not in the RRC connection state.).
Therefore normal data communication (data communication starts in RRC connected state) is not early data communication.
By modifying 38.473’s teachings of in a first instance, in response to that the data communication is normal data communication (data communication starts in RRC connected state), determining that the data communication with the UE requires the DU to perform a radio function which includes one of (i) a discontinuous reception operation, (ii) a measurement gap operation, or (iii) a reference signal transmission, including an indication in the CU-to-DU message to enable the radio function
with Kim’s teachings of the early data communication is a data communication started before the UE entering RRC connected state, the modification results in
in a first instance, in response to determining that the data communication is not early data communication (EDT), determining that the data communication with the UE requires the DU to perform a radio function which includes one of (i) a discontinuous reception operation, (ii) a measurement gap operation, or (iii) a reference signal transmission, and, in response, including an indication in the CU-to-DU message to enable the radio function.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified 38.473 with Kim’s above teachings. The motivation is improving the UE's experience (Kim [0008]).
Although 38.473 teaches excluding the indication from the CU-to-DU message to not perform a radio function (38.473 page 105-106, 9.2.2.1 UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
This message is sent by the gNB-CU to request the setup of a UE context.
Direction: gNB-CU → gNB-DU.
UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST contains optional information element DRX Cycle.
Page 179, 9.3.1.24 DRX Cycle
The DRX Cycle IE is to indicate the desired DRX cycle.
DRX Cycle IE contains Long DRX Cycle Length, Short DRX Cycle length and Short DRX Cycle
Timer.
page 40, If the DRX Cycle IE is contained in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, the
gNB-DU shall use the provided value from the gNB-CU.
Note: Since DRX Cycle IE is optional, UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST also supports excluding DRX Cycle. i.e. the gNB-DU does not apply DRX (not perform DRX radio function).).
38.473 does not explicitly teach in a second instance, in response to determining that the data communication is EDT, determining that the data communication with the UE does not require the DU to perform the radio function and, in response, excluding the indication from the CU-to-DU message.
Kim in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches determining that the data communication is EDT, the EDT is the data communication with the UE when the UE is in RRC inactive state (Kim [0004] With the introduction of the new RRC state (i.e., RRC-INACTIVE state) in NR, the UE may incur minimum signaling, minimize power consumption, minimize resource costs in the network. In order to support this concept in NR, the UE may also be able to transmit the data without state transition from the RRC-INACTIVE to the RRC-CONNECTED. Early data transmission (EDT) refers to the operation of transmitting data before the RRC connection setup is completed, if the size of the data to be transmitted is small. In other words, according to the EDT, data transmission is allowed even when the UE is not in the RRC connection state.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified 38.473 with Kim’s above teachings. The motivation is improving the UE's experience (Kim [0008]).
38.473 in view of Kim does not explicitly teach in a second instance, in response to UE in RRC inactive state, does not require the DU to perform a radio function and, in response, sending the CU-to-DU message to not perform the radio function;
Li in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches in a second instance, in response to UE in RRC inactive state, does not require the DU to perform a radio function and, in response, sending the CU-to-DU message to not perform the radio function (Li [0066] The present disclosure provides an information transmission method; when the UE in an inactive state needs to exchange information (e.g., positioning information) with the network, the information transmission method provided by the present disclosure enables the UE in the inactive state to exchange information with the network as well without entering an RRC connection process.
Fig. 18, step 1803. [0290] sending, by the first node to the second node, information for requesting deactivating pre-configuration, the information for requesting deactivating pre-configuration may include one or more pre-configuration IDs (e.g., a preConfigGapID); and deactivating, by the second node, pre-configuration corresponding to the pre-configuration ID according to the information.
[0291] if the first node is a CU and the second node is a DU, the information for requesting deactivating pre-configuration may be included in the F1AP message for transmission; the F1AP message may be a Measurement Deactivation message.
Note: deactivating measurement gap configuration is not performing measurement gap radio function.);
By modifying 38.473’s teachings of excluding the indication from the CU-to-DU message to not perform a radio function
with Kim’s teachings of determining that the data communication is EDT, the EDT is the data communication with the UE when the UE is in RRC inactive state,
and Li’s teachings of in a second instance, in response to UE in RRC inactive state, does not require the DU to perform a radio function and, in response, sending the CU-to-DU message to not perform the radio function;
the modification results in
in a second instance, in response to determining that the data communication is EDT, determining that the data communication with the UE does not require the DU to perform the radio function and, in response, excluding the indication from the CU-to-DU message;
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified 38.473 as modified by Kim with Li’s above teachings. The motivation is reducing power consumption of the UE (Li [0010]).
Regarding claim 4, 38.473 in view of Kim and Li teaches The method of claim 1.
38.473 teaches wherein transmitting the CU-to-DU message includes: transmitting a request to set up a context of the UE (38.473 page 39, Figure 8.3.1.2-1; The purpose of the UE Context Setup procedure is to establish the UE Context including, among others, SRB, DRB, BHRLC channel, and SL DRB configuration. The procedure uses UE-associated signalling. The gNB-CU initiates the procedure by sending UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the gNB-DU.).
Regarding claim 5, 38.473 in view of Kim and Li teaches The method of claim 1.
38.473 teaches wherein the indication includes a configuration for the radio function (38.473 page 105-106, 9.2.2.1 UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
This message is sent by the gNB-CU to request the setup of a UE context.
Direction: gNB-CU → gNB-DU.
UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST contains optional information element DRX Cycle.
Page 179, 9.3.1.24 DRX Cycle
The DRX Cycle IE is to indicate the desired DRX cycle.
DRX Cycle IE contains Long DRX Cycle Length, Short DRX Cycle length and Short DRX Cycle
Timer.
Note: DRX Cycle IE contains configuration for the DRX.).
Regarding claim 6, 38.473 in view of Kim and Li teaches The method of claim 5.
38.473 teaches wherein the configuration is an information element formatted in accordance with a protocol for controlling radio resources (38.473 page 105-106, 9.2.2.1 UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
This message is sent by the gNB-CU to request the setup of a UE context.
Direction: gNB-CU → gNB-DU.
UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST contains optional information element DRX Cycle.
Page 179, 9.3.1.24 DRX Cycle
The DRX Cycle IE is to indicate the desired DRX cycle.
DRX Cycle IE contains Long DRX Cycle Length, Short DRX Cycle length and Short DRX Cycle
Timer.
Note: DRX Cycle IE contains configuration for the DRX. DRX Cycle IE is formatted per F1 application protocol.).
Claim(s) 7-10 and 12-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 38.473 in view of US 20230397286 A1 (hereinafter Dai) and Li.
Regarding claim 15, 38.473 teaches A distributed unit (DU) of a distributed base station (38.473
38.473 page 39, gNB-CU and gNB-DU in Figure 8.3.1.2-1: UE Context Setup Request procedure), the DU configured to:
in a second instance, in response that the UE is not operating in the inactive state, enable the radio function at the DU (38.473 page 39, Figure 8.3.1.2-1; The purpose of the UE Context Setup procedure is to establish the UE Context including, among others, SRB, DRB, BHRLC channel, and SL DRB configuration. The procedure uses UE-associated signalling. The gNB-CU initiates the procedure by sending UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the gNB-DU.
page 105-106, 9.2.2.1 UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
This message is sent by the gNB-CU to request the setup of a UE context.
Direction: gNB-CU → gNB-DU.
UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST contains optional information element DRX Cycle.
Page 179, 9.3.1.24 DRX Cycle
The DRX Cycle IE is to indicate the desired DRX cycle.
DRX Cycle IE contains Long DRX Cycle Length, Short DRX Cycle length and Short DRX Cycle
Timer.
page 40, If the DRX Cycle IE is contained in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, the
gNB-DU shall use the provided value from the gNB-CU.
Note: DRX Cycle IE contains configuration for the DRX. Using DRX Cycle at the DU is enabling DRX radio function.).
38.473 does not explicitly teach the DU including processing hardware, determine, by the DU, whether a user equipment (UE) is operating in an inactive state associated with a protocol for controlling radio resources; in a first instance, in response to determining that the UE is operating in the inactive state, refrain from enabling a radio function at the DU, the radio function including one of (i) a discontinuous reception operation, (ii) a measurement gap operation, or (iii) a reference signal transmission;
Dai in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches the DU including processing hardware (Dai Fig. 1, [0053] A gNB may consist of two parts: a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) and at least one gNB distributed unit (gNB-DU). [0032] an apparatus includes … a processor … to implement a method performed by a gNB.):
determine, by the DU, whether a user equipment (UE) is operating in an inactive state associated with a protocol for controlling radio resources; determining that the UE is operating in the inactive state (Dai [0062] As shown in FIG. 3 in combination with FIG. 2, in the operation 210, the gNB-CU 330 determines the UE 310 to enter into RRC inactive state but keep (i.e., not release) the UE context in the gNB-DU 320 at least for SDT; in the operation 220, the gNB-CU 330 sends a UE context suspension indication 340 and a UE ID of SDT 350 to the gNB-DU 320; in the operation 230, when the gNB-DU 320 receives the UE context suspension indication 340, the gNB-DU 320 stores the UE ID of SDT 350 and keep the UE contexts of the UE 310 at least for SDT; and in the operation 240, at the same time, the gNB-DU 320 treats the UE 310 as in the RRC_INACTIVE state, and forwards an RRC release message 360 to the UE 310.
[0063] The UE context suspension indication 340 is to indicate the gNB-DU 320 to keep the UE context of the UE 310 at least for SDT when UE 310 goes to the RRC_INACTIVE state; and the UE ID of SDT 350 which is used in a Uu interface is used for identifying the UE context of SDT for the UE 310.
[0064] In some embodiments, the gNB-CU 330 may send the message at least including the UE context suspension indication 340 and the UE ID of SDT 350 to at least one gNB-DU. The at least one gNB-DU may include the gNB-DU 320 and other gNB-DUs that are not shown in FIG. 3. Each of the at least one gNB-DU, when receiving the message, may store the UE ID of SDT 350, keep the UE context of SDT for the UE 310 at least for SDT, and treat the UE 310 as in the RRC_INACTIVE state.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified 38.473 to incorporate the teachings of Dai to determine whether the UE is operating in an inactive state, in order to reduce power consumption and signaling overhead (Dai [0002]).
38.473 in view of Dai does not explicitly teach in a first instance, in response to that the UE is operating in the inactive state, refrain from enabling a radio function at the DU, the radio function including one of (i) a discontinuous reception operation, (ii) a measurement gap operation, or (iii) a reference signal transmission;
Li in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches in a first instance, in response to that the UE is
operating in the inactive state (Li [0066] The present disclosure provides an information transmission method; when the UE in an inactive state needs to exchange information (e.g., positioning information) with the network, the information transmission method provided by the present disclosure enables the UE in the inactive state to exchange information with the network as well without entering an RRC connection process. ),
refrain from enabling a radio function at the DU, the radio function including one of (i) a discontinuous reception operation, (ii) a measurement gap operation, or (iii) a reference signal transmission (Li Fig. 18, step 1803. [0290] sending, by the first node to the second node, information for requesting deactivating pre-configuration, the information for requesting deactivating pre-configuration may include one or more pre-configuration IDs (e.g., a preConfigGapID); and deactivating, by the second node, pre-configuration corresponding to the pre-configuration ID according to the information.
[0291] if the first node is a CU and the second node is a DU, the information for requesting deactivating pre-configuration may be included in the F1AP message for transmission; the F1AP message may be a Measurement Deactivation message.
Note: deactivating measurement gap configuration is not enabling measurement gap radio function.);
By modifying 38.473’s teachings of A distributed unit (DU) of a distributed base station, the DU configured to:
in a second instance, in response that the UE is not operating in the inactive state, enable the radio function at the DU with
Dai’s teachings of the DU including processing hardware, determine, by the DU, whether a user equipment (UE) is operating in an inactive state associated with a protocol for controlling radio resources; determining that the UE is operating in the inactive state, and
Li’s teachings of in a first instance, in response to that the UE is operating in the inactive state, refrain from enabling a radio function at the DU, the radio function including one of (i) a discontinuous reception operation, (ii) a measurement gap operation, or (iii) a reference signal transmission; the modification results in
A distributed unit (DU) of a distributed base station, the DU including processing hardware and configured to: determine, by the DU, whether a user equipment (UE) is operating in an inactive state associated with a protocol for controlling radio resources; in a first instance, in response to determining that the UE is operating in the inactive state, refrain from enabling a radio function at the DU, the radio function including one of (i) a discontinuous reception operation, (ii) a measurement gap operation, or (iii) a reference signal transmission; and in a second instance, in response to determining that the UE is not operating in the inactive state, enable the radio function at the DU.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified 38.473 as modified by Dai to incorporate the teachings of Li to refrain from enabling a radio function at the DU when the UE is operating in the inactive state, in order to reduce power consumption of the UE (Li [0010]).
Claim 7 recites similar limitations of claim 15, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Regarding claim 16, 38.473 in view of Dai and Li teaches The DU of claim 15.
Li teaches wherein to refrain from enabling the radio function, the DU is configured to: refrain from applying a configuration for the radio function at the DU (Li Fig. 18, step 1803. [0290] sending, by the first node to the second node, information for requesting deactivating pre-configuration, the information for requesting deactivating pre-configuration may include one or more pre-configuration IDs (e.g., a preConfigGapID); and deactivating, by the second node, pre-configuration corresponding to the pre-configuration ID according to the information.
[0291] if the first node is a CU and the second node is a DU, the information for requesting deactivating pre-configuration may be included in the F1AP message for transmission; the F1AP message may be a Measurement Deactivation message.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified 38.473 as modified by Dai and Li with Li’s above teachings. The motivation is reducing power consumption of the UE (Li [0010]).
Claim 8 recites similar limitations of claim 16, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Regarding claim 17, 38.473 in view of Dai and Li teaches The DU of claim 16.
Dai teaches wherein to determine that the UE is operating in the inactive state, the DU
configured to: determine that the DU is performing early data communication with the UE (Dai [0064] In some embodiments, the gNB-CU 330 may send the message at least including the UE context suspension indication 340 and the UE ID of SDT 350 to at least one gNB-DU. The at least one gNB-DU may include the gNB-DU 320 and other gNB-DUs that are not shown in FIG. 3. Each of the at least one gNB-DU, when receiving the message, may store the UE ID of SDT 350, keep the UE context of SDT for the UE 310 at least for SDT, and treat the UE 310 as in the RRC_INACTIVE state).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified 38.473 as modified by Dai and Li with Dai’s above teachings. The motivation is reducing power consumption and signaling overhead (Dai [0002]).
Claim 9 recites similar limitations of claim 17, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Regarding claim 18, 38.473 in view of Dai and Li teaches The DU of claim 15.
38.473 teaches wherein to enable the radio function, the DU is configured to: apply a
configuration for the radio function at the DU (38.473 page 105-106, 9.2.2.1 UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
This message is sent by the gNB-CU to request the setup of a UE context.
Direction: gNB-CU → gNB-DU.
UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST contains optional information element (IE) DRX Cycle.
Page 179, 9.3.1.24 DRX Cycle
The DRX Cycle IE is to indicate the desired DRX cycle.
DRX Cycle IE contains Long DRX Cycle Length, Short DRX Cycle length and Short DRX Cycle
Timer.
page 40, If the DRX Cycle IE is contained in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, the
gNB-DU shall use the provided value from the gNB-CU.
Note: DRX Cycle IE contains configuration for the DRX. Using DRX Cycle at the DU is applying a configuration for the radio function (DRX)).
Claim 10 recites similar limitations of claim 18, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Regarding claim 19, 38.473 in view of Dai and Li teaches The DU of claim 15.
38.473 teaches wherein the DU is further configured to: receive, from the CU, a CU-to-DU
message related to control of data communication with the UE; wherein the enabling or the refraining from enabling the radio function is in response to receiving the CU-to-DU message (38.473 page 39, Figure 8.3.1.2-1; The purpose of the UE Context Setup procedure is to establish the UE Context including, among others, SRB, DRB, BHRLC channel, and SL DRB configuration. The procedure uses UE-associated signalling. The gNB-CU initiates the procedure by sending UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the gNB-DU.
page 105-106, 9.2.2.1 UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
This message is sent by the gNB-CU to request the setup of a UE context.
Direction: gNB-CU → gNB-DU.
UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST contains optional information element DRX Cycle.
Page 179, 9.3.1.24 DRX Cycle
The DRX Cycle IE is to indicate the desired DRX cycle.
DRX Cycle IE contains Long DRX Cycle Length, Short DRX Cycle length and Short DRX Cycle
Timer.
page 40, If the DRX Cycle IE is contained in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, the
gNB-DU shall use the provided value from the gNB-CU.
Note: DRX Cycle IE contains configuration for the DRX. Using DRX Cycle at the DU is enabling DRX radio function.).
Claim 12 recites similar limitations of claim 19, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Regarding claim 20, 38.473 in view of Dai and Li teaches The DU of claim 19.
38.473 teaches wherein to receive the CU-to-DU message, the DU is configured to: receive a
request to set up a context of the UE (38.473 page 39, Figure 8.3.1.2-1; The purpose of the UE Context Setup procedure is to establish the UE Context including, among others, SRB, DRB, BHRLC channel, and SL DRB configuration. The procedure uses UE-associated signalling. The gNB-CU initiates the procedure by sending UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the gNB-DU).
Claim 13 recites similar limitations of claim 20, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Regarding claim 21, 38.473 in view of Dai and Li teaches The DU of claim 19.
38.473 teaches wherein the CU-to-DU message includes an information element formatted in accordance with a protocol for signaling between the CU and the DU, the information element for enabling the radio function for communicating with the UE (38.473 page 39, Figure 8.3.1.2-1; The purpose of the UE Context Setup procedure is to establish the UE Context including, among others, SRB, DRB, BHRLC channel, and SL DRB configuration. The procedure uses UE-associated signalling. The gNB-CU initiates the procedure by sending UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message to the gNB-DU.
page 105-106, 9.2.2.1 UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
This message is sent by the gNB-CU to request the setup of a UE context.
Direction: gNB-CU → gNB-DU.
UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST contains optional information element (IE) DRX Cycle.
Page 179, 9.3.1.24 DRX Cycle
The DRX Cycle IE is to indicate the desired DRX cycle.
DRX Cycle IE contains Long DRX Cycle Length, Short DRX Cycle length and Short DRX Cycle
Timer.
page 40, If the DRX Cycle IE is contained in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, the
gNB-DU shall use the provided value from the gNB-CU.
Note: DRX Cycle IE contains configuration for the DRX. DRX Cycle IE is formatted per F1 application protocol.).
Claim 14 recites similar limitations of claim 21, is thus rejected under similar rational.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David Z Sun whose telephone number is (571)270-0750. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 0800am-0500pm.
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/D.Z.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2418
/Moo Jeong/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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