DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is responsive to Applicant’s remarks submitted January 23, 2026. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been carefully considered, but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection set forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 2019/0166486 A1 (hereinafter “Tang”), alternatively in view of U.S. Publication No. 2022/0338092 A1 (hereinafter “Wang`092”), and in further view of either Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art (hereinafter “AAPA”) or U.S. Publication No. 2022/0338092 A1 (hereinafter “Wang`545”).
Regarding claims 1, 9, and 15: Tang teaches a routing method, for a first relay terminal, wherein the method comprises:
receiving a first data packet (see, e.g., figure 1, [0006], [0007]; a relay terminal receives a data packet); and
obtaining first route indication information and a target device identifier that are of the first data packet, wherein the first route indication information indicates a transmission route of the first data packet, and a target device indicated by the target device identifier is a destination device or a source device of the first data packet, and the target device identifier is the first local identifier (see, e.g., [0020]-[0025], [0089]-[0090], [0099]-[0101]; information and identifiers are used for forwarding);
determining a first device based on the first route indication information and the target device identifier; and transmitting a second data packet to the first device, wherein data carried in the second data packet is the same as data carried in the first data packet (see, e.g., [0020]-[0025], [0089]-[0090], [0099]-[0101]; forwarding to a determined device occurs based on obtained information).
To the extent Tang does not inherently include “first routing information [and/or] a target device identifier,” these features are nevertheless taught by Wang (see, e.g., [0033], [0048], [0055]; note information used for multi-hop relay). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate features from the system of Wang, such as the signaling and/or relay functionality, within the system of Tang, in order to improve sidelink efficiency and reliability.
Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092 does not explicitly state the feature “allocating by the first relay terminal, a first local identifier to a first remote terminal.” However, this feature is taught by AAPA (see, e.g., Applicant’s disclosure at [0004]; “[currently]… the relay UE may allocate one local identifier (local ID) to each remote UE”). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate features from AAPA, such as the allocation functionality, within the system of Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092, in order to distinguish between remote UEs.
Alternatively to AAPA, this feature is taught by Wang`545 (see, e.g., [0095]-[0099]; note allocation by the relay UE; note also overlapping teachings with respect routing and relaying functionality [0005], [0064]-[0071], [0088]-[0093]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate features from the system of Wang`545, such as the allocation functionality, within the system of Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092, in order to distinguish between remote UEs.
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 1 is applicable to apparatus and medium of claims 9 and 15, respectively.
Regarding claims 2, 10, and 16: Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092, and AAPA or Wang`545, further teaches wherein the obtaining of the first route indication information and the target device identifier comprises: when the first data packet has a first protocol layer header, and the first protocol layer header comprises the first route indication information and the target device identifier, obtaining the first route indication information and the target device identifier from the first protocol layer header of the first data packet; when the first data packet is received from a first remote terminal, and the first data packet does not have the first protocol layer header, determining that the first route indication information is stored route indication information corresponding to the first remote terminal, and determining that the target device identifier is a device identifier of the first remote terminal; or when the first data packet is received from the first remote terminal, the first data packet has the first protocol layer header, and the first protocol layer header does not comprise the first route indication information or the target device identifier, determining that the first route indication information is the stored route indication information corresponding to the first remote terminal, and determining that the target device identifier is a device identifier of the first remote terminal (see, e.g., Tang [0021]-[0023]; and/or Wang`092 [0048], [0055]; optional header information and/or device identifier(s) are received and/or stored for communications). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 2.
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 2 is applicable to apparatus and medium of claims 10 and 16, respectively.
Regarding claims 3, 11, and 17: Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092, and AAPA or Wang`545, further teaches wherein the route indication information corresponding to the first remote terminal comprises a plurality of pieces of route indication information corresponding to different bearers; and the determining that the first route indication information is the route indication information corresponding to the first remote terminal comprises: determining a target bearer used for transmitting the first data packet; and determining that the first route indication information is route indication information that is in the route indication information corresponding to the first remote terminal and that corresponds to the target bearer (see, e.g., Tang [0014]-[0018], [0021]; and/or Wang`092 [0047]-[0051], [0056]; note bearer selection and multiple remote UEs). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 3.
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 3 is applicable to apparatus and medium of claims 11 and 17, respectively.
Regarding claims 4, 12, and 18: Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092, and AAPA or Wang`545, further teaches wherein the first route indication information comprises a destination address, and the first data packet has the first protocol layer header; and the determining of the first device based on the first route indication information and the target device identifier comprises: when the destination address is the same as an address of the first relay terminal, determining that the device indicated by the target device identifier is the first device; or when the destination address is the same as the address of the first relay terminal, and the first relay terminal is an initial relay terminal connected to the access network device, determining an interface used for receiving the first data packet, wherein when the interface is a Uu interface, determining that the device indicated by the target device identifier is the first device; or when the interface is a PC5 interface, determining that the first device is the access network device (see, e.g., Tang [0019]-[0023], [0036], [0079]; and/or Wang`092 [0027], [0048]-[0055]; note address implementation and respective interfaces). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 4.
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 4 is applicable to apparatus and medium of claims 12 and 18, respectively.
Regarding claims 5, 13, and 19: Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092, and AAPA or Wang`545, further teaches wherein the first route indication information comprises a target path identifier, and the first data packet has the first protocol layer header; and the determining of the first device based on the first route indication information and the target device identifier comprises: when the first route indication information does not have a corresponding next-hop node device identifier, determining that the device indicated by the target device identifier is the first device (see, e.g., Tang [0083], [0120]; and/or Wang`092 [0048]-[0055]; a header including path ID is used for multi-hop relaying). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 5.
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 5 is applicable to apparatus and medium of claims 13 and 19, respectively.
Regarding claims 6, 14, and 20: Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092, and AAPA or Wang`545, further teaches wherein the determining that the device indicated by the target device identifier is the first device comprises: when the target device identifier indicates the first remote terminal that accesses the first relay terminal, determining that the first device is the first remote terminal; and the transmitting [[a]]of the second data packet to the first device comprises: decapsulating the first data packet to obtain the second data packet, wherein the second data packet does not have the first protocol layer header; and transmitting the second data packet to the first remote terminal (see, e.g., Tang [0004], [0021]-[0023]; and/or Wang`092 [0048], [0055]; header processing functionality, device identifier(s), and bearer selection are implemented for multi-hop relaying). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 6.
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 6 is applicable to apparatus and medium of claims 14 and 20, respectively.
Regarding claim 7: Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092, and AAPA or Wang`545, further teaches wherein the first protocol layer header further comprises a bearer identifier, and the bearer identifier indicates the target bearer used for transmitting the first data packet; and the determining that the device indicated by the target device identifier is the first device comprises: when the target device identifier indicates the first remote terminal that accesses the first relay terminal, determining that the first device is the first remote terminal; and the transmitting of the second data packet to the first device comprises: deleting the first route indication information and the target device identifier that are comprised in the first protocol layer header from the first data packet, to obtain the second data packet, wherein a first protocol layer header of the second data packet comprises the bearer identifier; and transmitting the second data packet to the first device; or decapsulating the first data packet to obtain a target data packet, wherein the target data packet does not have the first protocol layer header; adding the first protocol layer header to the target data packet to generate the second data packet, wherein the first protocol layer header of the second data packet comprises the bearer identifier; and transmitting the second data packet to the first device; or transmitting the second data packet that is the same as the first data packet to the first device (see, e.g., Tang [0004], [0021]-[0023]; and/or Wang`092 [0048], [0055]; header processing functionality, device identifier(s), and bearer selection are implemented for multi-hop relaying). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 7.
Regarding claim 8: Tang alternatively modified by Wang`092, and AAPA or Wang`545, further teaches wherein the method further comprises: when the target device identifier indicates the first relay terminal, determining that data carried in the first data packet is data of the first relay terminal (see, e.g., Tang [0004], [0021]-[0023]; and/or Wang`092 [0048], [0055]; header processing functionality, device identifier(s), and bearer selection are implemented for multi-hop relaying). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 8.
Conclusion
7. 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.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS SLOMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7520. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM EST.
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/NICHOLAS SLOMS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476