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 .
Notice
The cross text is not considered by examiner because at least one statement.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/16/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-34 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
`As claims 1 and 17, the applicant states that “ receive at least one side control information (SCI) from the at least one BS, wherein the at least one SCI comprises at least one of: a static configuration, a semi-static configuration and a dynamic configuration, wherein the at least one SCI is received in a dedicated control channel for the network-controller repeater (NCR) scrambled using a dedicated radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for the network- controller repeater (NCR), and wherein the at least one SCI comprises at least one of a beamforming configuration, a time division duplex (TDD) configuration, a power control configuration, a timing advance (TA)configuration, and an ON-OFF configuration of the network-controller repeater (NCR);wherein the beamforming configuration in the at least one SCI comprises at least one beam-index; and at least one time-resources; transmit a feedback to the at least one BS, wherein the feedback comprises a feedback for the at least one SCI and at least one identity of the UE,”. However, the specification does not disclose each of SCIs includes a feedback and feedback comprising a feedback for the at least one SCI and at least one identity of the UE.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-8, 11, 13, 15, 17-21, 23-24, 27, 29 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini [US 2022/0053433] in view of Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948].
As claims 1 and 17, Abedini [US 2022/0053433] discloses a network-controlled repeater (NCR) [Fig 12, Ref 1204 discloses forwarding and amplifier the signals to at least one of Ref 1202 “base station” and 1206 “UE”, Fig 14] for relaying a plurality of signals to at least one of: at least one base station (BS) and at least one user equipment (UE), the network-controlled repeater (NCR) comprising: a mobile terminal (MT) configured to [Fig 12, Ref 1208 is MT] perform a signaling exchange with the at least one base station (BS) [Fig 14, Fig 39-40 discloses MT of repeater device exchanges the signaling with the base station], wherein in performing the signaling exchanges, the MT of the NCR is configured to transmit at least one signal comprising an indication that the connection is being established by an NCR [Fig 39, Ref 3916 discloses the NCR send a setup complete message to base station to indicate a connection is established by NCR with base station, Par 219, 372, 0434, 0436, 0473-0474], wherein the at least one signal is a radio resource control (RRC) setup complete signal [Fig 39, Ref 3916 discloses the NCR send a setup complete message to base station to indicate a connection is established by NCR with base station, Par 219, 372, 0434, 0436, 0473-0474] and receive at least one side control information (SCI) from the at least one (BS) [Par. 0219, 0350 disclose Ref 1404 receives side control information from base station such as dynamic configuration, semi-static configuration], wherein the at least one SCI is at least one of ¸[Par. 0219, 0350 disclose Ref 1404 receives side control information from base station such as dynamic configuration, semi-static configuration, Ref 1410-1414]; wherein the at least one SCI is received in a dedicated control channel for the NCR scrambled using a dedicated radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for the at least one SCI of the NCR [Par. 0219 discloses the base station scrambles the DCI with RU-RNTI] and wherein the at least one SCI comprises at least one of [Par. 0219 discloses TDD configuration, Par. 0347, power control, Par. 0351, 0795 and ON-OFF configuration. Notice], [Fig 14, Ref 1404a and 1404b includes the at least one SCI comprises at least one of a time division duplex (TDD) configuration, a power control configuration, a timing advance (TA) configuration, and an ON-OFF configuration of the NCR, the limitation of the configuration in the at least one SCI comprises at least one of at least one beam-index and at least one time-resource is not consideration by examiner], a radio unit (RU) configured to: receive at least one signal of a first set of signals based on the at least one SCI [Fig 1404a and 1404b for receiving signal from Ref 1402 and 1406 based on Ref 1414, Fig 39-40]; and transmit the at least one signal of the first set of signals based on the at least one SCI [Fig 1404a and 1404b for transmitting signal from Ref 1402 and 1406 based on Ref 1414, Fig 39-40]. However, Abedini [US 2022/0053433] fails to fully disclose transmit a feedback to the at least one BS wherein the feedback comprises a feedback for the at least one SCI and at least one identity of the UE. In the same field of endeavor, Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] discloses transmit a feedback to the at least one BS wherein the feedback comprises a feedback for the at least one SCI and at least one identity of the UE [Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] discloses at Par. 0214-0215, 0224-0226, 0235, 0256 discloses NCR receives DL SCI which includes SRS associated UE from base station and perform a measurement of SRS RSRP and report measured SRS to base station via UL SCI or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] discloses at Fig 9, 912 or Fig 10, 1011 wherein UE reports measured RSRP to Base station which includes UE ID].
Since, Abedini suggests NCR send a feedback after receiving beam configuration or connection request [See Abstract, Fig 39]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for transmitting a feedback to the at least one BS wherein the feedback comprises a feedback for the at least one SCI and at least one identity of the UE as disclosed by Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] into the teaching of Ali [US 2023/0130003]. The motivation would have been to prevent data loss.
As claims 2 and 18, Abedini discloses the NCR is configured to receive the at least one signal of the first set of signals from at least one of: the at least one base station (BS) and the at least one user equipment (UE) [Fig 1404a and 1404b for receiving signal from Ref 1402 and 1406 based on Ref 1414].
As claims 3 and 19, Abedini discloses the NCR is configured to transmit the at least one signal of the first set of signals to at least one of: the at least one user equipment (UE) and the at least one base station (BS) [Fig 1404a and 1404b for transmitting signal from Ref 1402 and 1406 based on Ref 1414].
As claims 4 and 20, Abedini discloses the at least one signal of the first set of signals comprises at least one of: a plurality of synchronization signal blocks (SSB) signals, physical random-access channel (PRACH) signals, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), sounding reference signals (SRS), positioning reference signals (PRS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), phase-tracking reference signals (PTRS) [Par. 0114, 0116, 0122, 0125, 0128 discloses DMRS, SRS, SSB, PRACH, CSI-RS], and data channels, and wherein the data channels comprise at least one of: a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) [Par. 0113, 0115, 0116, 0139 discloses PDCCH, PUCCH, PUSCH, PDSCH].
As claims 5 and 21, Abedini implicitly discloses in performing the signaling exchange, the mobile terminal (MT) of the network-controller repeater (NCR) is configured to: perform the signaling exchange for the at least one of initial access and synchronizing [Fig 14, Ref 1408]; receive a downlink synchronization signal from the at least one base station (BS); transmit an uplink synchronization signal to the at least one base station (BS) [Fig 14, Ref 1404 and 0007-0008 discloses synchronizing signal, Par. 0434]; transmit a radio resource control (RRC) setup request to the at least one base station (BS) for initiating a RRC connection to the at least one base station (BS) [Par. 0434 discloses RRC connection request]; receive an acknowledgement with a radio resource control (RRC) setup signal from the at least one base station (BS) wherein the radio resource control (RRC) setup signal indicates a radio resource control (RRC) connected state of the mobile terminal (MT) with the at least one base station (BS) [Fig 14, Ref 1408 and Par. 0434 discloses RRC connection response].
As claims 7 and 23, Abedini discloses [these claims are not considered by examiner because at least one of the at least one SCI comprises at least one of a beamforming configuration, a time division duplex (TDD) configuration, a power control configuration, a timing advance (TA) configuration, and an ON-OFF configuration of the NCR]
As claims 8 and 24, Abedini discloses in receiving the at least one signal of the first set of signals, the radio unit (RU) of the network-controller repeater (NCR) is configured to amplify the at least one signal of the first set of signals [Fig 13, Ref 1302 for amplifier signal before forwarding the signal].
As claims 11 and 27, Abedini discloses when the radio unit (RU) of the NCR comprises the radio frequency (RF) and L1 layer protocol stack [Fig 12-12 and Par. 0347 is RF and layer-1 stack relay], and in transmitting the at least one signal of the first set of signals, the radio unit (RU) of the NCR is configured to generate the at least one signal of the first set of signals [Fig 14, Ref 1404a for generating a signal for transmitting based on SCI information 1414], wherein in generating the at least one signal of the first set of signals is based on at least one of: the at least one SCI [Fig 14, Ref 1404a for generating a signal for transmitting based on SCI information 1414]; the at least one signal of the first set of signals received at the NCR [Fig 14, Ref 1404a for generating a signal for transmitting based on SCI information 1414]; and at least one signal received at the mobile terminal (MT) of the NCR [Fig 12, Ref 1212], wherein the at least one signal received at the mobile terminal (MT) of the NCR, comprises system information (SI), wherein the SI comprises at least one synchronization signal block (SSB) index [Par. 0400 discloses control signal associated with SSB index].
As claims 13 and 29, Abedini discloses in receiving the at least one SCI as a dynamic configuration [Par. 0219 and 0350], the network-controller repeater (NCR) is configured to: receive the at least one SCI in at least one of: a downlink control information (DCI) in dedicated physical downlink control channels (PDCCH), wherein the downlink control information (DCI) comprises a separate format dedicated for the network-controller repeater (NCR), wherein the separate format of the downlink control information (DCI) is scrambled using the radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) dedicated for the at least one side control information (SCI) [Par. 0219 discloses a DCI format with RU-RNTI used to convey information from base station to repeater, Fig 14] wherein the separate format of the downlink control information (DCI) format comprises fields for a plurality of side-control information applicable at a plurality of time resources [Par. 0219, 0350, 0362 for resource associated with side control information].
As claims 15 and 31, Abedini discloses wherein in transmitting the feedback to the at least one base station (BS), [Par. 0341 discloses ACK or NACK as UCI], the NCR is configured to: transmit the feedback as a part of at least one of: the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) [Par. 0254 discloses UCI in PUCCH].
As claim 33, Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] discloses the at least one identity is based on the at least one signal of the first set of signal received [Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] discloses at Par. 0214-0215, 0224-0226, 0235, 0256 discloses NCR receives DL SCI which includes SRS associated UE from base station and perform a measurement of SRS RSRP and report measured SRS to base station via UL SCI or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] discloses at Fig 9, 912 or Fig 10, 1011 wherein UE reports measured RSRP to Base station which includes UE ID].
Claim(s) 9 and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini [US 2022/0053433] and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, and further in view of Abedini [US 2023/0119750].
As claims 9 and 25, Abedini and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] fails to fully disclose what Abedini [US 2023/0119750] discloses the at least one base station (BS) is configured to determine whether the at least one user equipment (UE) is connected to the NCR [Par. 0083 discloses base station determine if UE connect to base station] by: scheduling the at least one user equipment (UE) to transmit the at least one signal of the first set of signals in a time resource [Par. 0083 discloses UE is scheduled a resources for uplink and downlink at repeater by base station]; signaling an OFF state indication to the NCR)in the time resource [Par. 0083 discloses signaling off when no data in resource of UE]; identifying an index of the at least one user equipment (UE) from which the at least one signal of the first set of signals is received in the time resource [Par. 0083 discloses UE send data to repeater based on resources for uplink and downlink between the base station and UE]; signaling an ON state indication to the NCR in the time resource [Par. 0083 discloses signaling ON based resources]; and determining whether the at least one user equipment (UE) is connected to the network-controller repeater (NCR), based on the at least one signal of the first set of signals received from the at least one user equipment (UE) through the network-controller repeater (NCR) [Par. 0083].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for request the relay and base station for establishing connection between UE and base station via relay by reporting the received RNTI to base station from relay as disclosed by Abedini into the teaching of Abedini and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948]. The motivation would have been to reducing power consumption.
Claim(s) 12 and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini [US 2022/0053433] and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, and further in view of Agiwal [US 2022/0132464].
As claims 12 and 28, Abedini [US 2022/0053433] and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] discloses when the radio unit (RU) of the network-controller repeater (NCR) comprises the radio frequency (RF) and the L1 layer protocol stack [Fig 12-12 and Par. 0347 is RF and layer-1 stack relay], and in receiving the at least one signal of the first set of signals, the radio unit (RU) of the NCR is configured to decode the at least one signal of the first set of signals, wherein in decoding the at least one signal of the first set of signals, the radio unit (RU) of the NCR is further configured to: decode at least one signal of the first set of signals received from the at least one user equipment (UE) [Fig 14, Ref 1404b for decoding the signal which is received from UE]. However, Abedini and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] fail to disclose determine an identity of the at least one user equipment (UE); and transmit the identity of the at least one user equipment (UE), in the at least one signal of the first set of signals, to the at least one base station (BS). In the same field of endeavor, Agiwal [US 2022/0132464] discloses determine an identity of the at least one user equipment (UE); and transmit the identity of the at least one user equipment (UE), in the at least one signal of the first set of signals, to the at least one base station (BS) [Par. 0471 and 0473 discloses UE send it RNTI to relay which decodes the message and extract the RNTI and send it to base station, Fig 11-13].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for request the relay and base station for establishing connection between UE and base station via relay by reporting the received RNTI to base station from relay as disclosed by Agiwal into the teaching of Abedini and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948]. The motivation would have been to prevent a loss call.
Claim(s) 14 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini [US 2022/0053433] and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, and further in view of Harada [US 2025/0106665].
As claims 14 and 30, Abedini discloses the at least one side control information (SCI) is at least one of: a static configuration and a semi-static configuration [Par. 0219 and 0350], wherein in receiving the at least one side control information (SCI) as at least one of: the static configuration and the semi-static configuration [Par. 0219 and 0350]. However, Abedini and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] fail to fully disclose the network-controller repeater (NCR) is configured to: receive the at least one side control information (SCI) in a part of data in the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). In the same field of endeavor, Harada [US 2025/0106665] discloses the NCR is configured to: receive the at least one SCI in a part of data in the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) [Par. 0120].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for conveying SCI via PDSCH as disclosed by Harada into the teaching of Abedini and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948]. The motivation would have been to reduce overhead signaling.
Claim(s) 16 and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini [US 2022/0053433] and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, and further in view of Horn [US 2023/0097862].
As claims 16 and 32, Abedini and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] fail to disclose what Horn [US 2023/00978962] discloses the at least one base station (BS) is configured to determine a location of the at least one user equipment (UE) [Fig 9, Ref 956 and 954 for determining a location of UE] by: receiving the at least one signal of the first set of signals from the network-controller repeater (NCR) [Par. 920 for reporting measurement of PRS]; and determining the position of the at least one user equipment (UE) based on the at least one signal of the first set of signals [Fig 9, Ref 956 and 954 for determining a location of UE] and the at least one side control information (SCI) [Fig 9, Ref Position request] , wherein the at least one signal of the first set of signals comprises at least one of: the sounding reference signals (SRS) [Fig 9, SRS] and the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carrying measurement report on the positioning reference signals (PRS) from the at least one user equipment (UE) [Par. 9, UL-SRS configuration and activated],
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for determining a location of UE based on the measurement report from UE to base station as disclosed by Horn into the teaching of Abedini and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948]. The motivation would have been to save power consumption.
Claim(s) 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini [US 2022/0053433] and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Luo [US 2023/0084692].
As claim 34, Abedini [US 2022/0053433] and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948] fail to disclose what Luo discloses transmitting the feedback to the at least one BS comprises reporting the UE location at the NCR granularity [Par. 0058].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system for determining a location of UE based on the measurement report from UE to base station as disclosed by Lou into the teaching of Abedini and Molavianjazi [US 2024/0022931] or Karimidehkordi [US 2025/0088948]. The motivation would have been to prevent loss call.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 26 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Notice: the 112(a) must be overcome for claims 10 and 26 to be objected.
As claims 10 and 26, Abedini fails to disclose the at least one base station (BS) is further configured to determine whether the at least one user equipment (UE) is connected to the network-controller repeater (NCR) by: transmitting the at least one signal of first the set of signals in the time resource, wherein the radio unit (RU) of the network-controller repeater (NCR) is in OFF state in the time resource; receiving power measurements in the at least one signal of the first set of signals, from the at least one user equipment (UE); determining a degradation of the power measurements when the at least one user equipment (UE) moves to an edge of a coverage area of the at least one base station (BS); signaling an ON state indication to the network-controller repeater (NCR); transmitting the at least one signal of the first set of signals to the network- controller repeater (NCR), wherein the network-controller repeater (NCR) is configured to receive the at least one signal of the first set of signals from the at least one base station (BS) and to transmit the received at least one signal of the first set of signals to the at least one user equipment (UE); receiving the power measurements in at least one signal of the first set of signals from the at least one user equipment (UE) through the network-controller repeater (NCR); and determining whether the at least one user equipment (UE) is connected to the network-controller repeater (NCR) based on the received power measurements in the at least one signal of the first set of signals.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3159. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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/STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414