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
An appeal was filed for this application on 05/29/2026. The claim amendments filed 04/09/2026 with the Appeal Brief have been entered. The claim amendments overcome prior rejections under 35 USC § 112(a) to claim 23. Therefore, the corresponding rejections are withdrawn. Applicant’s arguments, see Appeal Brief with arguments filed 04/09/2026, pages 19-29, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 27, and 40 under 35 USC § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, as applied below. Claims 1 and 22-40 are pending.
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 1 and 22-39 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.
Claim 1 and claim 27 are each directed to a method performed by a user equipment and each recite the limitation “being configured with a shared-5G multicast and broadcast service network (S-5MBSN) configuration information via at least one on-demand SI response received from the at least one of the first base station and the second base station”. The use of “being configured” is indefinite, as it is unclear whether the UE or the at least one of the first base station and the second base station is performing the configuring in this step. For clarity, the examiner requests that the limitation be written as a “receiving” step, as claimed in similar claim 40. Dependent claims 22-26 and 28-39 are dependent on one of independent claims 1 and 27 and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
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.
Claims 1 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert et al. (US 2009/0219849), hereinafter “Alpert”, in view of Urabayashi et al. (US 2017/0094569), hereinafter “Urabayashi”, and further in view of Lavi et al. (US 2015/0131515), hereinafter “Lavi”, and further in view of Mohammed Mikaeil et al. (US 2023/0156434), hereinafter “Mohammed ‘434”.
Regarding claim 1, Alpert teaches:
A wireless communication method for multicast and broadcast service (MBS) by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
continuously receiving, from the at least one of the first base station and the second base station, a shared MBS data transmission (see Alpert, Figs. 7 and 8, par. [0076]: BS #1 (not shown) transmits within its MBS zone frame 174 comprising preamble 175, other zone information 176, MBS burst #1 178 within MBS zone 177, using transmission characteristics including scheme S1 (QAM16, CTC rate 1/2), timing T1 and frequency F1. BS #2 (not shown) transmits the same information content within its MBS zone frame 179 comprising a preamble, other zone information, MBS burst #2 within MBS zone, using transmission characteristics including scheme S2 (QPSK, CTC rate 1/2), timing T2 and frequency F2. Both BS #1 and BS #2 transmit the same MBS burst, i.e. Burst #1 and Burst #2, respectively, using different schemes (waveform), timing and frequencies. The mobile station receives MBS transmissions from BS #1 and BS #2 and functions to decode the MBS transmission information to yield a single MBS burst, and see par. [0079]: two or more bursts are transmitted by two or more base stations (not shown) such that the coding and content are identical but transmission scheme (i.e. modulation, waveform, etc.), frequency and timing are different. This is represented in FIG. 7 as MBS burst #1 (S1, F1, T1) and MBS burst #2 (S2, F2, T2). Each of the two MBS burst transmissions received is handled by a separate path in the receiver), wherein a same MBS session/content is provided by the at least one of the first base station and the second base station (see Alpert, Figs. 7 and 8, par. [0076]: BS #1 (not shown) transmits within its MBS zone frame 174 comprising preamble 175, other zone information 176, MBS burst #1 178 within MBS zone 177, using transmission characteristics including scheme S1 (QAM16, CTC rate 1/2), timing T1 and frequency F1. BS #2 (not shown) transmits the same information content within its MBS zone frame 179 comprising a preamble, other zone information, MBS burst #2 within MBS zone, using transmission characteristics including scheme S2 (QPSK, CTC rate 1/2), timing T2 and frequency F2. Both BS #1 and BS #2 transmit the same MBS burst, i.e. Burst #1 and Burst #2, respectively, using different schemes (waveform), timing and frequencies. The mobile station receives MBS transmissions from BS #1 and BS #2 and functions to decode the MBS transmission information to yield a single MBS burst, and see par. [0079]: two or more bursts are transmitted by two or more base stations (not shown) such that the coding and content are identical but transmission scheme (i.e. modulation, waveform, etc.), frequency and timing are different. This is represented in FIG. 7 as MBS burst #1 (S1, F1, T1) and MBS burst #2 (S2, F2, T2). Each of the two MBS burst transmissions received is handled by a separate path in the receiver), and the same MBS session/content is scheduled by the first base station and the second base station independently without an inter-cell synchronization (see Alpert, Figs. 7 and 8, par. [0076]: BS #1 (not shown) transmits within its MBS zone frame 174 comprising preamble 175, other zone information 176, MBS burst #1 178 within MBS zone 177, using transmission characteristics including scheme S1 (QAM16, CTC rate 1/2), timing T1 and frequency F1. BS #2 (not shown) transmits the same information content within its MBS zone frame 179 comprising a preamble, other zone information, MBS burst #2 within MBS zone, using transmission characteristics including scheme S2 (QPSK, CTC rate 1/2), timing T2 and frequency F2. Both BS #1 and BS #2 transmit the same MBS burst, i.e. Burst #1 and Burst #2, respectively, using different schemes (waveform), timing and frequencies. The mobile station receives MBS transmissions from BS #1 and BS #2 and functions to decode the MBS transmission information to yield a single MBS burst, and see par. [0079]: two or more bursts are transmitted by two or more base stations (not shown) such that the coding and content are identical but transmission scheme (i.e. modulation, waveform, etc.), frequency and timing are different. This is represented in FIG. 7 as MBS burst #1 (S1, F1, T1) and MBS burst #2 (S2, F2, T2). Each of the two MBS burst transmissions received is handled by a separate path in the receiver, and see par. [0019]: In the MBS modified macro-diversity scheme of the present invention, MBS allocations and transmissions from base stations are unsynchronized and independent of each other. The characteristics of the MBS signal, such as waveform and modulation scheme (S), timing (T) and frequency domain (F), used for transmissions in an MBS zone by a base station are uncoordinated and unsynchronized with respect to transmissions in other MBS zones),
However, Alpert does not teach:
transmitting, to at least one of a first base station and a second base station, an on-demand system information (SI) request;
being configured with a shared-5G multicast and broadcast service network (S-5MBSN) configuration information via at least one on-demand SI response received from the at least one of the first base station and the second base station;
continuously receiving a shared MBS data transmission during a radio resource control (RRC) inactive or RRC idle UE mobility
wherein the same MBS session/content is 5MBS session/content
wherein a reception of the shared MBS data transmission is maintained by the UE while in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state;
wherein the UE is configured to receive the shared MBS data transmission via a multicast radio bearer (MRB) and/or a unicast data radio bearer (DRB) based on a prioritized 5MBS frequency of the UE.
Urabayashi, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
transmitting, to at least one of a first base station and a second base station, an on-demand system information (SI) request (see Urabayashi, par. [0165]: the UE 100 transmits, to the cell #1, an MBMS interest indication that indicates that the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data transmitted from the cell #2. In the step C, the cell #1 (the eNB 200) unicasts the second information to the UE 100 through individual signaling in response to the reception of MBMS interest indication from the UE 100; in this case, a MBMS interest indication corresponds to an on-demand SI request);
being configured with a shared-5G multicast and broadcast service network (S-5MBSN) configuration information via at least one on-demand SI response received from the at least one of the first base station and the second base station (see Urabayashi, par. [0161]: in FIG. 17, similar to a general SIB 13, the system information (the SIB 13) of the cell #1 includes the first information that is necessary for the reception of the MBMS control information from the cell #1. The system information (the SIB 13) of the cell #1 is different from a general SIB 13 in regard to the point that the system information of the cell #1 includes the second information E1 that is necessary for the reception of the MBMS control information from the cell #2. The second information E1 is information related to the MCCH of the cell #2, and see par. [0165]: the UE 100 transmits, to the cell #1, an MBMS interest indication that indicates that the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data transmitted from the cell #2. In the step C, the cell #1 (the eNB 200) unicasts the second information to the UE 100 through individual signaling in response to the reception of MBMS interest indication from the UE 100, and see par. [0200]: In each of the above-described embodiments, the LTE system is described as an example of the mobile communication system; however, the present invention may be applied not only to the LTE system but also to a system other than the LTE system; in this case, system information is received in response to the interest indication. The system information includes information for MBMS in other cells, corresponding to the shared MBS configuration information);
continuously receiving a shared MBS data transmission during a UE mobility (see Urabayashi, par. [0168]: the modification of the second embodiment describes an operation related to MBMS reception during the application of dual connectivity. The operation environment of the modification of the second embodiment is similar to that of the modification of the first embodiment (see FIG. 12 and FIG. 13). In other words, the UE 100 simultaneously performs communication with the eNB 200-1 that operates as the MeNB, and communication with the eNB 200-2 that operates as the SeNB. Further, the cell of the eNB 200-1 belongs to an MBMS service area 1, and the cell of the eNB 200-2 belongs to an MBMS service area 2, and see par. [0133]: in FIG. 14, in step S21, the UE 100 determines that the MeNB is to be changed from the eNB 200-1 to the eNB 200-2. For example, if the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data that is transmitted from the cell of the eNB 200-2 by multicast, the UE 100 determines that the MeNB is to be changed from the cell of the eNB 200-1 to the cell of the eNB 200-2; in this case, dual connectivity when changing cells corresponds to continuously receiving shared MBS during UE mobility)
wherein the same MBS session/content is 5MBS session/content (see Urabayashi, par. [0200]: In each of the above-described embodiments, the LTE system is described as an example of the mobile communication system; however, the present invention may be applied not only to the LTE system but also to a system other than the LTE system)
wherein a reception of the shared MBS data transmission is maintained by the UE (see Urabayashi, par. [0168]: the modification of the second embodiment describes an operation related to MBMS reception during the application of dual connectivity. The operation environment of the modification of the second embodiment is similar to that of the modification of the first embodiment (see FIG. 12 and FIG. 13). In other words, the UE 100 simultaneously performs communication with the eNB 200-1 that operates as the MeNB, and communication with the eNB 200-2 that operates as the SeNB. Further, the cell of the eNB 200-1 belongs to an MBMS service area 1, and the cell of the eNB 200-2 belongs to an MBMS service area 2, and see par. [0133]: in FIG. 14, in step S21, the UE 100 determines that the MeNB is to be changed from the eNB 200-1 to the eNB 200-2. For example, if the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data that is transmitted from the cell of the eNB 200-2 by multicast, the UE 100 determines that the MeNB is to be changed from the cell of the eNB 200-1 to the cell of the eNB 200-2; in this case, dual connectivity when changing cells corresponds to continuously receiving shared MBS during UE mobility);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of Alpert with the shared MBS configuration and continuous reception of Urabayashi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improved throughput (see Urabayashi, par. [0118]).
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi does not teach:
continuously receiving a shared MBS data transmission during a radio resource control (RRC) inactive or RRC idle UE mobility
wherein a reception of the shared MBS data transmission is maintained by the UE while in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state;
wherein the UE is configured to receive the shared MBS data transmission via a multicast radio bearer (MRB) and/or a unicast data radio bearer (DRB) based on a prioritized 5MBS frequency of the UE.
Lavi, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
continuously receiving a shared MBS data transmission during a radio resource control (RRC) inactive or RRC idle UE mobility (see Lavi, par. [0041]: Therefore the solution provided by the present invention enables the MS to continue receiving MBS data while concurrently updating its location or registering at the new base station, e.g. while performing as location update procedure, by carrying out as handover procedure, or other applicable type of a registration procedure. As was previously explained, connectivity is maintained while following the method of the present invention regardless of the state of the mobile terminal (MS), even during Idle-Mode and Sleep-Mode; in this case idle or sleep mode corresponds to RRC inactive or RRC idle state)
wherein a reception of the shared MBS data transmission is maintained by the UE while in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state (see Lavi, par. [0041]: Therefore the solution provided by the present invention enables the MS to continue receiving MBS data while concurrently updating its location or registering at the new base station, e.g. while performing as location update procedure, by carrying out as handover procedure, or other applicable type of a registration procedure. As was previously explained, connectivity is maintained while following the method of the present invention regardless of the state of the mobile terminal (MS), even during Idle-Mode and Sleep-Mode; in this case idle or sleep mode corresponds to RRC inactive or RRC idle state);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the shared MBS reception of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi with the shared MBS reception when the UE is in idle state of Lavi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving transmission efficiency (see Lavi, par. [0002]).
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein the UE is configured to receive the shared MBS data transmission via a multicast radio bearer (MRB) and/or a unicast data radio bearer (DRB) based on a prioritized 5MBS frequency of the UE.
Mohammed ‘434, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the UE is configured to receive the shared MBS data transmission via a multicast radio bearer (MRB) and/or a unicast data radio bearer (DRB) based on a prioritized 5MBS frequency of the UE (see Mohammed ‘434, par. [0042]: The third IE is “mbms-Priority-r11” IE which is used to indicate whether the UE prioritizes MBMS reception over unicast reception and vice versa. For example, presence or a true value of “mbms-Priority-r11” indicates that the UE prioritizes reception of all listed MBMS frequencies over the reception of any of the unicast bearers, and the absence or a false value of this IE indicates that a unicast service has a higher priority than MBMS, and see par. [0040]: The disclosure provides a method allowing a UE, such as one of the UEs 10a and 10b, to receive MBMS and unicast service in the 5G NR system).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the UE receiving the MBS based on a prioritized frequency of Mohammed ‘434 with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of enabling a UE to receive MBMS and unicast service in the 5G NR system (see Mohammed ‘434, par. [0040]).
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, teaches the method.
Alpert does not teach, but Urabayashi teaches:
being configured with S-5MBSN configuration information via at least one on-demand SI response (see Urabayashi, par. [0161]: in FIG. 17, similar to a general SIB 13, the system information (the SIB 13) of the cell #1 includes the first information that is necessary for the reception of the MBMS control information from the cell #1. The system information (the SIB 13) of the cell #1 is different from a general SIB 13 in regard to the point that the system information of the cell #1 includes the second information E1 that is necessary for the reception of the MBMS control information from the cell #2. The second information E1 is information related to the MCCH of the cell #2, and see par. [0165]: the UE 100 transmits, to the cell #1, an MBMS interest indication that indicates that the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data transmitted from the cell #2. In the step C, the cell #1 (the eNB 200) unicasts the second information to the UE 100 through individual signaling in response to the reception of MBMS interest indication from the UE 100, and see par. [0200]: In each of the above-described embodiments, the LTE system is described as an example of the mobile communication system; however, the present invention may be applied not only to the LTE system but also to a system other than the LTE system; in this case, system information is received in response to the interest indication. The system information includes information for MBMS in other cells, corresponding to the shared MBS configuration information);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of Alpert with the shared MBS configuration of Urabayashi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improved throughput (see Urabayashi, par. [0118]).
The combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach, but Mohammed ‘434 teaches:
wherein the prioritized 5MBS frequency of the UE is determined by UE interests (see Mohammed ‘434, par. [0042]: The UE sends an RRC signaling message called MBMS interest indication message to the NW to indicate to NW that the UE intends to receive or continue receiving MBMS service, and see par. [0042]: The third IE is “mbms-Priority-r11” IE which is used to indicate whether the UE prioritizes MBMS reception over unicast reception and vice versa. For example, presence or a true value of “mbms-Priority-r11” indicates that the UE prioritizes reception of all listed MBMS frequencies over the reception of any of the unicast bearers, and the absence or a false value of this IE indicates that a unicast service has a higher priority than MBMS, and see par. [0040]: The disclosure provides a method allowing a UE, such as one of the UEs 10a and 10b, to receive MBMS and unicast service in the 5G NR system; in this case, prioritized frequencies being part of the interest indication corresponds to the prioritized frequency being determined by UE interests).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the UE receiving the MBS based on a prioritized frequency of Mohammed ‘434 with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of enabling a UE to receive MBMS and unicast service in the 5G NR system (see Mohammed ‘434, par. [0040]).
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, as applied to claims 1 and 22 above, and further in view of Won et al. (US 2018/0248708), hereinafter “Won”.
Regarding claim 23, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, does not teach:
wherein the UE is configured to receive the shared MBS data transmission based on MBS quality of service (QoS) requirements.
Won, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the UE is configured to receive the shared MBS data transmission based on MBS quality of service (QoS) requirements (see Won, par. [0197]: the eNB according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a communication unit 620 and a control unit 610. The control unit 610 controls the eNB to perform the operation of one of the above-described embodiments. For example, the control unit 610 may control the eNB to receive MBMS bearer information including a QoS parameter from an MCE, update the bearer information for the UE using the MBMS bearer information, determine handover of the UE, transmit a handover request message including MBMS bearer information to the MME or the second eNB which does not supporting MBMS, transmit a handover command message to the UE, and forwards the MBMS data to the second eNB during a predetermined period, and see par. [0045]: The LTE 130 is a network of a plurality of eNBs connected complicatedly. The eNBs 110 are connected to each other through X2 interface 113. Each eNB 110 serves the UE within its service area which is called coverage. Since the coverage is restricted, the UE 100 has to establish a radio connection with an appropriated eNB 110 through the Uu interface 105 on the move).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, with the UE configuration based on independently determined QoS requirements of Won with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of seamless group communication (see Won, par. [0028]).
Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, as applied to claims 1 and 22 above, and further in view of Zhang et al. (WO 2022/077444), hereinafter “Zhang”, and further in view of Matolia et al. (US 2021/0352443), hereinafter “Matolia”.
Regarding claim 24, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, does not teach:
wherein a point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission is delivered by the MRB, a point-to-point (PTP) transmission is delivered by the DRB, and at least one of the PTM transmission and the PTP transmission is determined based on 5MBS QoS requirements.
Zhang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein a point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission is delivered by the MRB, a point-to-point (PTP) transmission is delivered by the DRB (see Zhang, par. [0007], lines 1-2: The RAN node (e.g., gNB) may use PTM, PTP or a combination of PTP/PTM mode to deliver the MBS data of a particular MBS to the interested UEs within a cell, and see Zhang, par. [0104], lines 1-4: It RBs of the MBS corresponding to the PTP mode and the PTM mode have been configured, that is, DRB and MRB have been configured or established previously, the base station may transmit and the UE may receive a message to instruct the UE to do one or more operations (activation/deactivation) for switching from the initial delivery mode to the target delivery mode for delivering the MBS data packets),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, with the PTM transmission delivered by MRB and PTP transmission delivered by PTP of Zhang with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving utilization of network and spectrum resources (see Zhang, par. [0018], lines 1-3).
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, and further in view of Zhang, does not teach:
and at least one of the PTM transmission and the PTP transmission is determined based on 5MBS QoS requirements.
Matolia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
and at least one of the PTM transmission and the PTP transmission is determined based on 5MBS QoS requirements (see Matolia, par. [0095], lines 1-3: FIG. 7 shows a method 700 for multicast to unicast handover based on QoS according to various exemplary embodiments, and see Matolia, par. [0099], lines 1-6: In 725, the UE 110 determines whether the QoS parameters satisfy the QoS thresholds. If the QoS parameters do not fall below the QoS thresholds, the method 700 returns to 720 where the UE 110 continues to monitor the QoS Parameters. If the QoS parameters fall below the QoS thresholds, the method 700 continues to 730, and see Matolia, par. [0100], lines 1-2: In 730, the UE 110 switches to a unicast PDU session, and see Matolia, par. [0023]: The exemplary embodiments include various MBS session management techniques performed at the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the simultaneous transmission of PTM and PTP bearers of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, and further in view of Zhang, with the selection of individual PTM and PTP based on quality of service parameters of Matolia with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of enforcing quality of service throughout the network (see Matolia, par. [0049], lines 1-10).
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, as applied to claims 1 and 22 above, and further in view of Zhang.
Regarding claim 25, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, does not teach:
wherein a PTM transmission is delivered by the MRB, a PTP transmission is delivered by the DRB, and at least one of the PTM transmission and the PTP transmission is determined based on a number of interested UEs.
Zhang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein a point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission is delivered by the MRB, a point-to-point (PTP) transmission is delivered by the DRB (see Zhang, par. [0007], lines 1-2: The RAN node (e.g., gNB) may use PTM, PTP or a combination of PTP/PTM mode to deliver the MBS data of a particular MBS to the interested UEs within a cell, and see Zhang, par. [0104], lines 1-4: It RBs of the MBS corresponding to the PTP mode and the PTM mode have been configured, that is, DRB and MRB have been configured or established previously, the base station may transmit and the UE may receive a message to instruct the UE to do one or more operations (activation/deactivation) for switching from the initial delivery mode to the target delivery mode for delivering the MBS data packets), and at least one of the PTM transmission and the PTP transmission is determined based on a number of interested UEs (see Zhang, par. [0143]: FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a mode switch from PTP mode to PTM mode based on DCI. As illustrated in FIG. 10, if both MRB and DRM configurations have been stored, and if gNB decides PTP mode as the delivery mode to deliver MBS data packets, the gNB may instruct the UE to do related operations by DCI with C-RNTI such that the UE knows whether the instruction is for it. If the gNB decides to switch from the PTP mode to PTM mode, the gNB may again transmit DCI to the UE to instruct the UE to perform the mode switch. The DCI copes with a G-RNTI to identify which group of UEs is to be applied, and thus the UE knows whether it belongs to the group, and see Zhang, par. [0007], lines 1-2: The RAN node (e.g., gNB) may use PTM, PTP or a combination of PTP/PTM mode to deliver the MBS data of a particular MBS to the interested UEs within a cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, with the PTM transmission delivered by MRB and PTP transmission delivered by PTP of Zhang with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving utilization of network and spectrum resources (see Zhang, par. [0018], lines 1-3).
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, as applied to claims 1 and 22 above, and further in view of Wei et al. (US 2023/0051095), hereinafter “Wei”.
Regarding claim 26, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, does not teach:
wherein after the UE is configured with the S-5MBSN configuration information, the UE is further configured with a group UE identifier for a group of UEs requiring the same 5MBS session/content before or upon the UE entering the RRC inactive state or the RRC idle state.
Wei, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein after the UE is configured with the S-5MBSN configuration information, the UE is further configured with a group UE identifier for a group of UEs requiring the same 5MBS session/content before or upon the UE entering the RRC inactive state or the RRC idle state (see Wei, pars. [0057-0058]: When the network changes (some of) the MCCH information, it notifies the UEs about the change during a first modification period (n) (the MCCH information change notification is transmitted periodically on PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel)). In the next modification period (n+1), the network transmits the updated MCCH information. This is illustrated in FIG. 2, in which different fill patterns indicate different MCCH information. Upon receiving a change notification, a UE interested to receive MBMS services acquires the new MCCH information immediately from the start of the next modification period. The UE applies the previously acquired MCCH information until the UE acquires the new MCCH information. Indication of an MBMS specific RNTI (Radio Network Temporary Identifier), the M-RNTI (MBMS RNTI), on PDCCH is used to inform UEs in RRC_IDLE mode and UEs in RRC_CONNECTED mode about an MCCH information change. When receiving an MCCH information change notification, the UE knows that the MCCH information will change at the next modification period boundary; in this case, the RNTI identifies UEs for changing MCCH information (i.e. requiring the same MBS content) for UEs in idle and connected mode).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Mohammed ‘434, with the group UE identifier of Wei with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of enabling MBS services over the 5G system to improve coexisting situations of multicast and unicast reception (see Wei, pars. [0009-0011]).
Claims 27 and 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi.
Regarding claims 27, 40, Alpert teaches:
A wireless communication method for multicast and broadcast service (MBS) by a user equipment (UE), or a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a memory (see Alpert, Fig. 2, par. [0054]: The mobile station may also comprise internal RAM and ROM memory 110, Flash memory 112 and external memory 114);
a transceiver (see Alpert, Fig. 2, par. [0054]: The MS may comprise a plurality of RF transceivers 94 and associated antennas 98); and
a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver (see Alpert, Fig. 2, par. [0054]: The mobile station, generally referenced 70, comprises a baseband processor or CPU 71 having analog and digital portions); wherein the transceiver is configured to:
continuously receive, from the at least one of the first base station and the second base station, a shared MBS data transmission (see Alpert, Figs. 7 and 8, par. [0076]: BS #1 (not shown) transmits within its MBS zone frame 174 comprising preamble 175, other zone information 176, MBS burst #1 178 within MBS zone 177, using transmission characteristics including scheme S1 (QAM16, CTC rate 1/2), timing T1 and frequency F1. BS #2 (not shown) transmits the same information content within its MBS zone frame 179 comprising a preamble, other zone information, MBS burst #2 within MBS zone, using transmission characteristics including scheme S2 (QPSK, CTC rate 1/2), timing T2 and frequency F2. Both BS #1 and BS #2 transmit the same MBS burst, i.e. Burst #1 and Burst #2, respectively, using different schemes (waveform), timing and frequencies. The mobile station receives MBS transmissions from BS #1 and BS #2 and functions to decode the MBS transmission information to yield a single MBS burst, and see par. [0079]: two or more bursts are transmitted by two or more base stations (not shown) such that the coding and content are identical but transmission scheme (i.e. modulation, waveform, etc.), frequency and timing are different. This is represented in FIG. 7 as MBS burst #1 (S1, F1, T1) and MBS burst #2 (S2, F2, T2). Each of the two MBS burst transmissions received is handled by a separate path in the receiver), wherein a same MBS session/content is provided by the at least one of the first base station and the second base station (see Alpert, Figs. 7 and 8, par. [0076]: BS #1 (not shown) transmits within its MBS zone frame 174 comprising preamble 175, other zone information 176, MBS burst #1 178 within MBS zone 177, using transmission characteristics including scheme S1 (QAM16, CTC rate 1/2), timing T1 and frequency F1. BS #2 (not shown) transmits the same information content within its MBS zone frame 179 comprising a preamble, other zone information, MBS burst #2 within MBS zone, using transmission characteristics including scheme S2 (QPSK, CTC rate 1/2), timing T2 and frequency F2. Both BS #1 and BS #2 transmit the same MBS burst, i.e. Burst #1 and Burst #2, respectively, using different schemes (waveform), timing and frequencies. The mobile station receives MBS transmissions from BS #1 and BS #2 and functions to decode the MBS transmission information to yield a single MBS burst, and see par. [0079]: two or more bursts are transmitted by two or more base stations (not shown) such that the coding and content are identical but transmission scheme (i.e. modulation, waveform, etc.), frequency and timing are different. This is represented in FIG. 7 as MBS burst #1 (S1, F1, T1) and MBS burst #2 (S2, F2, T2). Each of the two MBS burst transmissions received is handled by a separate path in the receiver), and the same MBS session/content is scheduled by the first base station and the second base station independently without an inter-cell synchronization (see Alpert, Figs. 7 and 8, par. [0076]: BS #1 (not shown) transmits within its MBS zone frame 174 comprising preamble 175, other zone information 176, MBS burst #1 178 within MBS zone 177, using transmission characteristics including scheme S1 (QAM16, CTC rate 1/2), timing T1 and frequency F1. BS #2 (not shown) transmits the same information content within its MBS zone frame 179 comprising a preamble, other zone information, MBS burst #2 within MBS zone, using transmission characteristics including scheme S2 (QPSK, CTC rate 1/2), timing T2 and frequency F2. Both BS #1 and BS #2 transmit the same MBS burst, i.e. Burst #1 and Burst #2, respectively, using different schemes (waveform), timing and frequencies. The mobile station receives MBS transmissions from BS #1 and BS #2 and functions to decode the MBS transmission information to yield a single MBS burst, and see par. [0079]: two or more bursts are transmitted by two or more base stations (not shown) such that the coding and content are identical but transmission scheme (i.e. modulation, waveform, etc.), frequency and timing are different. This is represented in FIG. 7 as MBS burst #1 (S1, F1, T1) and MBS burst #2 (S2, F2, T2). Each of the two MBS burst transmissions received is handled by a separate path in the receiver, and see par. [0019]: In the MBS modified macro-diversity scheme of the present invention, MBS allocations and transmissions from base stations are unsynchronized and independent of each other. The characteristics of the MBS signal, such as waveform and modulation scheme (S), timing (T) and frequency domain (F), used for transmissions in an MBS zone by a base station are uncoordinated and unsynchronized with respect to transmissions in other MBS zones),
However, Alpert does not teach:
transmit, to at least one of a first base station and a second base station, an on-demand system information (SI) request;
receive a shared-5G multicast and broadcast service network (S-5MBSN) configuration information via at least one on-demand SI response received from the at least one of the first base station and the second base station; and
continuously receive a shared MBS data transmission during a radio resource control (RRC) inactive or RRC idle UE mobility,
wherein the same MBS session/content is 5MBS session/content
wherein a reception of the shared MBS data transmission is maintained by the UE while in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state;
wherein the transceiver is configured to receive the shared MBS data transmission based on the at least one on-demand SI response.
Urabayashi, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
transmit, to at least one of a first base station and a second base station, an on-demand system information (SI) request (see Urabayashi, par. [0165]: the UE 100 transmits, to the cell #1, an MBMS interest indication that indicates that the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data transmitted from the cell #2. In the step C, the cell #1 (the eNB 200) unicasts the second information to the UE 100 through individual signaling in response to the reception of MBMS interest indication from the UE 100; in this case, a MBMS interest indication corresponds to an on-demand SI request);
receive a shared-5G multicast and broadcast service network (S-5MBSN) configuration information via at least one on-demand SI response received from the at least one of the first base station and the second base station (see Urabayashi, par. [0161]: in FIG. 17, similar to a general SIB 13, the system information (the SIB 13) of the cell #1 includes the first information that is necessary for the reception of the MBMS control information from the cell #1. The system information (the SIB 13) of the cell #1 is different from a general SIB 13 in regard to the point that the system information of the cell #1 includes the second information E1 that is necessary for the reception of the MBMS control information from the cell #2. The second information E1 is information related to the MCCH of the cell #2, and see par. [0165]: the UE 100 transmits, to the cell #1, an MBMS interest indication that indicates that the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data transmitted from the cell #2. In the step C, the cell #1 (the eNB 200) unicasts the second information to the UE 100 through individual signaling in response to the reception of MBMS interest indication from the UE 100, and see par. [0200]: In each of the above-described embodiments, the LTE system is described as an example of the mobile communication system; however, the present invention may be applied not only to the LTE system but also to a system other than the LTE system; in this case, system information is received in response to the interest indication. The system information includes information for MBMS in other cells, corresponding to the shared MBS configuration information); and
continuously receive a shared MBS data transmission during a UE mobility (see Urabayashi, par. [0168]: the modification of the second embodiment describes an operation related to MBMS reception during the application of dual connectivity. The operation environment of the modification of the second embodiment is similar to that of the modification of the first embodiment (see FIG. 12 and FIG. 13). In other words, the UE 100 simultaneously performs communication with the eNB 200-1 that operates as the MeNB, and communication with the eNB 200-2 that operates as the SeNB. Further, the cell of the eNB 200-1 belongs to an MBMS service area 1, and the cell of the eNB 200-2 belongs to an MBMS service area 2, and see par. [0133]: in FIG. 14, in step S21, the UE 100 determines that the MeNB is to be changed from the eNB 200-1 to the eNB 200-2. For example, if the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data that is transmitted from the cell of the eNB 200-2 by multicast, the UE 100 determines that the MeNB is to be changed from the cell of the eNB 200-1 to the cell of the eNB 200-2; in this case, dual connectivity when changing cells corresponds to continuously receiving shared MBS during UE mobility),
wherein the same MBS session/content is 5MBS session/content (see Urabayashi, par. [0200]: In each of the above-described embodiments, the LTE system is described as an example of the mobile communication system; however, the present invention may be applied not only to the LTE system but also to a system other than the LTE system)
wherein a reception of the shared MBS data transmission is maintained by the UE (see Urabayashi, par. [0168]: the modification of the second embodiment describes an operation related to MBMS reception during the application of dual connectivity. The operation environment of the modification of the second embodiment is similar to that of the modification of the first embodiment (see FIG. 12 and FIG. 13). In other words, the UE 100 simultaneously performs communication with the eNB 200-1 that operates as the MeNB, and communication with the eNB 200-2 that operates as the SeNB. Further, the cell of the eNB 200-1 belongs to an MBMS service area 1, and the cell of the eNB 200-2 belongs to an MBMS service area 2, and see par. [0133]: in FIG. 14, in step S21, the UE 100 determines that the MeNB is to be changed from the eNB 200-1 to the eNB 200-2. For example, if the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data that is transmitted from the cell of the eNB 200-2 by multicast, the UE 100 determines that the MeNB is to be changed from the cell of the eNB 200-1 to the cell of the eNB 200-2; in this case, dual connectivity when changing cells corresponds to continuously receiving shared MBS during UE mobility);
wherein the transceiver is configured to receive the shared MBS data transmission based on the at least one on-demand SI response (see Urabayashi, par. [0161]: in FIG. 17, similar to a general SIB 13, the system information (the SIB 13) of the cell #1 includes the first information that is necessary for the reception of the MBMS control information from the cell #1. The system information (the SIB 13) of the cell #1 is different from a general SIB 13 in regard to the point that the system information of the cell #1 includes the second information E1 that is necessary for the reception of the MBMS control information from the cell #2. The second information E1 is information related to the MCCH of the cell #2, and see par. [0165]: the UE 100 transmits, to the cell #1, an MBMS interest indication that indicates that the UE 100 has an interest in receiving the MBMS data transmitted from the cell #2. In the step C, the cell #1 (the eNB 200) unicasts the second information to the UE 100 through individual signaling in response to the reception of MBMS interest indication from the UE 100, and see par. [0200]: In each of the above-described embodiments, the LTE system is described as an example of the mobile communication system; however, the present invention may be applied not only to the LTE system but also to a system other than the LTE system; in this case, system information is received in response to the interest indication. The system information includes information for MBMS in other cells, corresponding to the shared MBS configuration information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or UE of Alpert with the shared MBS configuration and continuous reception of Urabayashi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improved throughput (see Urabayashi, par. [0118]).
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi does not teach:
continuously receive a shared MBS data transmission during a radio resource control (RRC) inactive or RRC idle UE mobility,
wherein a reception of the shared MBS data transmission is maintained by the UE while in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state;
Lavi, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
continuously receive a shared MBS data transmission during a radio resource control (RRC) inactive or RRC idle UE mobility (see Lavi, par. [0041]: Therefore the solution provided by the present invention enables the MS to continue receiving MBS data while concurrently updating its location or registering at the new base station, e.g. while performing as location update procedure, by carrying out as handover procedure, or other applicable type of a registration procedure. As was previously explained, connectivity is maintained while following the method of the present invention regardless of the state of the mobile terminal (MS), even during Idle-Mode and Sleep-Mode; in this case idle or sleep mode corresponds to RRC inactive or RRC idle state),
wherein a reception of the shared MBS data transmission is maintained by the UE while in an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state (see Lavi, par. [0041]: Therefore the solution provided by the present invention enables the MS to continue receiving MBS data while concurrently updating its location or registering at the new base station, e.g. while performing as location update procedure, by carrying out as handover procedure, or other applicable type of a registration procedure. As was previously explained, connectivity is maintained while following the method of the present invention regardless of the state of the mobile terminal (MS), even during Idle-Mode and Sleep-Mode; in this case idle or sleep mode corresponds to RRC inactive or RRC idle state);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the shared MBS reception of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi with the shared MBS reception when the UE is in idle state of Lavi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving transmission efficiency (see Lavi, par. [0002]).
Claims 28, 30, and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, as applied to claims 27 and 40 above, and further in view of Fujishiro et al. (US 2023/0171791), hereinafter “Fujishiro”.
Regarding claim 28, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response comprises a system information block (SIB) including a frequency and a second SIB including a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration for MBS transmission.
Fujishiro, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response comprises a system information block (SIB) including a frequency and a second SIB including a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration for MBS transmission (see Fujishiro, Fig. 8, pars. [0084-0085]: In step S103, the gNB 200 transmits MBS system information to the UE 100 via a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH). The MBS system information is transmitted by broadcast using a predetermined Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI). The UE 100 receives the MBS system information. Note that the system information may be referred to as System Information Blocks (SIBs). The MBS system information includes scheduling information required for receiving the MBS control channel, and see par. [0087]: the MBS system information may include the identifier (name) of each of the plurality of MBS control channels. Such an MBS control channel identifier may include a predetermined tag, and see par. [0090]: the scheduling information for the MBS traffic channel includes an MBS service identifier (e.g., TMGI) and a group RNTI corresponding to the MBS traffic channel, and Discontinuous Reception (DRX) information (or scheduling information) for the MBS traffic channel; in this case, system information (i.e. the SI response) includes information on channels and DRX information, corresponding to frequency and DRX configuration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the SI response of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the frequency and DRX configuration of Fujishiro with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the reliability of broadcast/multicast services (see Fujishiro, pars. [0252-0257]).
Regarding claim 30, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response comprises an identifier of the shared MBS data transmission and a frequency of the shared MBS data transmission.
Fujishiro, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response comprises an identifier of the shared MBS data transmission and a frequency of the shared MBS data transmission (see Fujishiro, Fig. 8, pars. [0084-0085]: In step S103, the gNB 200 transmits MBS system information to the UE 100 via a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH). The MBS system information is transmitted by broadcast using a predetermined Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI). The UE 100 receives the MBS system information. Note that the system information may be referred to as System Information Blocks (SIBs). The MBS system information includes scheduling information required for receiving the MBS control channel, and see par. [0087]: the MBS system information may include the identifier (name) of each of the plurality of MBS control channels. Such an MBS control channel identifier may include a predetermined tag, and see par. [0088]: The MBS system information may include a set of a network slice identifier and an MBS service identifier for each MBS control channel; in this case, the system information (i.e. the SI response) includes information on channels and MBS identifiers, corresponding to frequency and identifiers).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the SI response of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the frequency and MBS identifier of Fujishiro with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the reliability of broadcast/multicast services (see Fujishiro, pars. [0252-0257]).
Regarding claim 31, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Fujishiro, teaches the method.
The combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach, but Fujishiro teaches:
wherein the frequency of the shared MBS data transmission comprises a transmitted frequency of at least one of the first base station and the second base station and a UE interested frequency (see Fujishiro, par. [0089]: In step S104, the gNB 200 transmits a plurality of MBS control channels (a plurality of pieces of MBS control information) in accordance with a schedule complying with the MBS system information transmitted in step S103. The MBS control information is transmitted by broadcast (or multicast) using a predetermined RNTI. The RNTI may vary with each MBS control channel, and see par. [0091]: The UE 100 receives only the MBS control channel corresponding to the service quality requirement (service category) required by the UE 100 among the plurality of MBS control channels based on the MBS system information received in step S103. For example, when taking no interest in a low latency service, the UE 100 receives no MBS control channel intended for low latency. This enables waiting with low consumption power. The UE 100 may receive only the MBS control channel corresponding to a network slice that is accessible to the UE 100 (i.e., the network slice to which the UE 100 has the access right or with which the UE 100 is already registered) or a network slice in which UE 100 takes interest; in this case, the system information regarding channels (i.e. frequencies) includes channels for which the UE has interest and for which the UE does not have interest, corresponding to a transmitted frequency and a UE interested frequency).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the SI response of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the frequency of Fujishiro with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the reliability of broadcast/multicast services (see Fujishiro, pars. [0252-0257]).
Claims 29, 34, and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, as applied to claims 27 and 40 above, and further in view of Wei.
Regarding claim 29, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response comprises information related to a service continuity for MBS transmission.
Wei, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response comprises information related to a service continuity for MBS transmission (see Wei, Fig. 4, pars. [0150-0152]: In response to the received request, the BS 3 transmits the on-demand MBS-SI to the UE 6 at 14, wherein the on-demand MBS-SI includes the multicast (control) channel(s), the notificationConfig field of the SIB13 and the areaInfoList field of the SIB13. The on-demand MBS-SI is included in a system information message in response to the RRCSystemInfoRequest. Moreover, the on-demand MBS-SI includes multicast control channel scheduling information (MCCH scheduling information), which, include an indication whether a MCCH message (e.g. MBSFNAreaConfiguration) is broadcasted on-demand and when the MCCH message is broadcasted (e.g. time domain scheduling and lower layer configuration). At 15, the UE 6 receives the on-demand MBS-SI including the MCCH scheduling information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the SI request and response of Wei with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of enabling MBS services over the 5G system to improve coexisting situations of multicast and unicast reception (see Wei, pars. [0009-0011]).
Regarding claim 34, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein the on-demand system information request is a preamble required by a UE that is interested in receiving the shared MBS data transmission.
Wei, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the on-demand system information request is a preamble required by a UE that is interested in receiving the shared MBS data transmission (see Wei, par. [0119]: the UE sends a RACH preamble for requesting the on-demand MBS-SI and the network (i.e. base station) determines that the UE should switch to unicast (e.g. based on a number of subscribers or a number of requests for the on-demand MBS-SI and the like) and sends the RAR with the same content as Msg2/4 of 4 step/2 step RACH procedure, and see par. [0077]: a UE which is interested in MBS and detects that the on-demand MBS-SI is not being broadcasted, the circuitry of the user equipment requests the on-demand MBS-SI based on the scheduling information from the base station).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the SI request and response of Wei with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of enabling MBS services over the 5G system to improve coexisting situations of multicast and unicast reception (see Wei, pars. [0009-0011]).
Regarding claim 35, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response carrying the S-5MBSN configuration information is delivered via unicast or broadcast based on a number of interested UEs.
Wei, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response carrying the S-5MBSN configuration information is delivered via unicast or broadcast based on a number of interested UEs (see Wei, par. [0173]: the information required to receive and use multicast service in the cell 2 established by the BS 3 is provided in an on-demand-manner and signaling overhead may be reduced. Moreover, the BS 3 and the UE 6 can use unicast and multicast services in parallel depending on the number of users interested in such services in the cell 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the SI request and response of Wei with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of enabling MBS services over the 5G system to improve coexisting situations of multicast and unicast reception (see Wei, pars. [0009-0011]).
Claim 32 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, as applied to claims 27 and 40 above, and further in view of Wang et al. (US 2023/0262422), hereinafter “Wang”.
Regarding claim 32, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response carries a sequence number for MBS transmission.
Wang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the at least one on-demand SI response carries a sequence number for MBS transmission (see Wang, par. [0136]: Configuration information of a broadcast service or multicast service transmission channel of each CU side includes any combination or at least one of: system information of a broadcast service or multicast service, and see par. [0137]: the configuration information of the air interface radio bearer of the broadcast service or multicast service includes any combination or at least one of the following information: identification information of the air interface radio bearer of the broadcast service or multicast service, a sequence number length of a PDCP layer, a maximum context identifier, a reordering timer, a sequence number length of an RLC layer or a reassembly timer; in this case, configuration information including system information includes a sequence number for MBS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the SI response of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the sequence number of Wang with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving reception reliability of the UE via configuration (see Wang, par. [0041]).
Claim 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, as applied to claims 27 and 40 above, and further in view of Narayanan Thangaraj et al. (US 2023/0029998), hereinafter “Narayanan”.
Regarding claim 33, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein a threshold of the S-5MBSN configuration information is configured in an initial radio access phase and is associated with a 5MBS QoS requirement and/or channel quality.
Narayanan, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein a threshold of the S-5MBSN configuration information is configured in an initial radio access phase and is associated with a 5MBS QoS requirement and/or channel quality (see Narayanan, par. [0120]: a WTRU may be configured to perform conditional handover according to any of the following conditions being satisfied: (1) a WTRU fails to acquire a MBMS BWP within a preconfigured time period; (2) a quality of the RS associated with MBMS transmission is and/or becomes below a preconfigured threshold; in this case, a preconfigured threshold corresponds to a threshold configured in an initial radio access phase. The threshold is associated with quality of MBMS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the threshold of Narayanan with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of maintaining service continuity (see Narayanan, par. [0120]).
Claims 36-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, as applied to claims 27 and 40 above, and further in view of Koskinen et al. (US 2016/0241413), hereinafter “Koskinen”.
Regarding claim 36, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein the RRC inactive or RRC idle UE mobility comprises a tracking area update (TAU) which is performed by a group of UEs via a PTP radio bearer or a PTM radio bearer.
Koskinen, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the RRC inactive or RRC idle UE mobility comprises a tracking area update (TAU) which is performed by a group of UEs via a PTP radio bearer or a PTM radio bearer (see Koskinen, par. [0065]: Although features are described herein as being used with a UE, features may be used with a SC-PTM group informing about the cell re-selection. The UE may indicate, with a signaling message about the re-selection to a new cell, that the UE in idle mode and shall establish RRC connection in order to transfer the information. The information may be sent during the connection establishment procedure (on RRC layer) with additional information element, or there could be a new signaling (procedure) and/or message specified for the indication followed by the establishment procedure. Re-selection may be indicated in idle mode after/during ATTACH or Tracking Area Update (TAU) procedures, or after any cell selection/reselection within a tracking area, change of carrier, and see par. [0040]: An example network architecture is illustrated in FIG. 1. This MBMS architecture may be used for Single Cell point-to-multipoint (SC-PTM) transmission. Single cell point-to-multipoint (SC-PTM) transmission mode is a feature intended to provide means for multicasting service data to a formed group of User Equipment (UE) on a per cell basis).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the tracking area update of Koskinen with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improved service continuity (see Koskinen, par. [0069]).
Regarding claim 37, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein during the RRC inactive or RRC idle UE mobility, when a 5MBS service continuity UE TAU condition is met, the UE transmits an indication for service continuity, and the 5MBS service continuity UE TAU condition is associated with a detection of a boundary of at least one of the first base station, the second base station, and a S-5MBSN.
Koskinen, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein during the RRC inactive or RRC idle UE mobility, when a 5MBS service continuity UE TAU condition is met, the UE transmits an indication for service continuity, and the 5MBS service continuity UE TAU condition is associated with a detection of a boundary of at least one of the first base station, the second base station, and a S-5MBSN (see Koskinen, Fig. 3, par. [0065]: The UE may indicate, with a signaling message about the re-selection to a new cell, that the UE in idle mode and shall establish RRC connection in order to transfer the information. The information may be sent during the connection establishment procedure (on RRC layer) with additional information element, or there could be a new signaling (procedure) and/or message specified for the indication followed by the establishment procedure. Re-selection may be indicated in idle mode after/during ATTACH or Tracking Area Update (TAU) procedures, or after any cell selection/reselection within a tracking area, change of carrier, etc, and see par. [0068]: the UE may send signaling under applied rules or conditions, and the rules and conditions may have multiple inputs which affects when and how signaling is to be sent, and see par. [0068]: The “rule” or “condition” in case of SC-PTM or MBMS may be the intention to receive multicast service in a re-selected cell, actively receiving the multicast service, UE moving to a cell which is not sending a service UE is intending to receive or actively receiving, UE stopping active reception of one or more multicast services in the serving cell, or the like; in this case, the UE transmits a service continuity indication based on a condition of moving cells (i.e. a condition associated with a detection of a boundary)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the conditional service continuity indication of Koskinen with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improved service continuity (see Koskinen, par. [0069]).
Regarding claim 38, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Koskinen, teaches the method.
The combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach, but Koskinen teaches:
wherein the 5MBS service continuity UE TAU condition is associated with a mobility restriction when an MBS transmission is applicable to a private network (see Koskinen, par. [0068]: The “rule” or “condition” in case of SC-PTM or MBMS may be the intention to receive multicast service in a re-selected cell, actively receiving the multicast service, UE moving to a cell which is not sending a service UE is intending to receive or actively receiving, UE stopping active reception of one or more multicast services in the serving cell, or the like. The signaling may also be “conditioned” based on the UE capabilities to receive only either one of the SC-PTM or MBMS service, support of reception on the band or frequency transmitting SC-PTM or MBMS, UE being either in RRC connected or RRC idle, and see Fig. 5, par. [0070]: in the wireless system 230 a wireless network 235 is adapted for communication over a wireless link 232 with an apparatus, such as a mobile communication device which may be referred to as a UE 10, via a network access node, such as a Node B (base station), and more specifically an eNB 13. The network 235 may include a network control element (NCE) 240 that may include MME/S-GW functionality, and which provides connectivity with a network, such as a telephone network and/or a data communications network (e.g., the internet 238)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the service continuity condition of Koskinen with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improved service continuity (see Koskinen, par. [0069]).
Claim 39 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, as applied to claims 27 and 40 above, and further in view of Koskinen, and further in view of Mohammed Mikaeil et al. (WO 2022/077341), hereinafter “Mohammed ‘341”.
Regarding claim 39, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, does not teach:
wherein during the RRC inactive or RRC idle UE mobility, when the UE detects a boundary of a cell coverage based on an identifier of the shared MBS data transmission, the UE transmits the on-demand SI request to the second base station.
Koskinen, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein during the RRC inactive or RRC idle UE mobility, when the UE detects a boundary of a cell coverage based on an identifier of the shared MBS data transmission, the UE transmits the on-demand SI request (see Koskinen, pars. [0045-0054]: The UE providing terminal/feature specific signaling information to the network. The signaling could be triggered by the UE such as, for example, based on the following: Autonomously according to pre-defined (specified) rules. If configured by the network (dynamic or semi-dynamic manner i.e. with signaling or pre-provision). The configuration could be UE type or supported feature specific. With procedure per UE type. When the location of the UE changes. Granularity of the location could be, for example, cell/(e)NodeB/TA/RA/LA/PLMN/carrier/frequency. When requested by the network. Optionally the network would request certain UE type(s) to report signaling. Regardless of the UE state (idle/connected). Any combination of above. The signaling message may include further information such as, for example, UE type, identification, Cell ID/carrier/PLMN/RAT, Service ID/TMGI/group indication)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, with the transmitting based on detecting a boundary of Koskinen with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improved service continuity (see Koskinen, par. [0069]).
However, the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Koskinen, does not teach:
the UE transmits the on-demand SI request to the second base station.
Mohammed ‘341, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the UE transmits the on-demand SI request to the second base station (see Mohammed ‘341, Fig. 2, par. [0136]: a handover method 200 for a multicast/broadcast service (MBS) performed by a user equipment (UE) in a communication network system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the handover method 200 includes: a block 202, determining, by the UE, an MBS service and/or a Quality-of-Service (QoS) related information as a part of a handover measurement report, and a block 204, exchanging the MBS service and/or the QoS related information as the part of the handover measurement report between at least two of the UE, a source base station, and a target base station, wherein a handover to be performed and/or configured for UE MBS mobility is made based on the part of the handover measurement report).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the SI request of the combination of Alpert in view of Urabayashi, and further in view of Lavi, and further in view of Koskinen, with the request being transmitted to the second base station of Mohammed ‘341 with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of minimizing UE signaling complexity (see Mohammed ‘341, par. [0231]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wu (US 2011/0013550) teaches a method of handling multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) data reception on multiple component carriers for a mobile device in a wireless communication system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CALEB J BALLOWE whose telephone number is (571)270-0410. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FRI 7:30-5.
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/C.J.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
