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 Amendment
Claims 1, 3, 12-14, 16, 18, 69, and 71-77 have been amended.
Claims 1, 3, 10-14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 69-77 are presently pending.
1. Amendment made to claims 71 and 74 filed on 02/04/2026 has been considered and accepted by the Examiner. Therefore, the Claim Objection has been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3, 10-13, 22, 69-74, 76-77 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAE et al (US 20240389181, hereinafter, “BAE”) in view of Luo et al. (US 20210368417, hereinafter, “Luo”), and further in view of WANG et al. (US 20220353784, hereinafter, “WANG”).
Claim 1. BAE teaches: A method performed by a Distributed Unit (DU) of a wireless communication node in a wireless network, the method comprising: - See Fig. 2-3, ¶ [0069], (“the DU 232 transmits…”)
transmitting a first transferring message to a Central Unit (CU) of the wireless communication node, - See Fig. 2B, ¶ [0069], (“in step S222, the DU 232 transmits the RRC message of the remote UE 210 to the CU 234 using the F1 or W1 message (e.g., INITIAL UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message or UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message).”)
wherein the first transferring message comprises an identifier (ID) of a remote user equipment (UE) and triggers the CU to associate the remote UE with a relay UE, wherein the ID of the remote UE comprises a local UE ID allocated by the CU, - See Fig. 2B, ¶ [0069], (“The F1 or W1 message (e.g., INITIAL UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message) transmitted in step S222 may include remote UE identifier (e.g., remote UE identification) information in which the DU 232 uses for distinguishing the corresponding remote UE 210.”) and
wherein the relay UE serves as a relay between the remote UE and the wireless communication node. - See Fig. 1-2, ¶ [0058], (“in step S201, a remote UE 210 performs a discovery procedure…for direct communication with a relay UE 220…the remote UE 210 may include a configuration for communicating with a base station of a mobile communication network through the relay UE”)
BAE does not explicitly teach:
wherein the first transferring message comprises an identifier (ID) of a remote user equipment (UE) and triggers the CU to associate the remote UE with a relay UE,
However, Luo teaches:
wherein the first transferring message comprises an identifier (ID) of a remote user equipment (UE) and triggers the CU to associate the remote UE with a relay UE, - See Fig. 9-10, ¶ [0012], (“The CU receives an uplink RRC information transfer message sent by the DU, where the uplink RRC information transfer message includes uplink RRC information of the remote UE, an identifier of the relay UE on a CU-DU interface”, The CU receives the transfer message where the remote UE’s RRC information is tagged with the relay UE’s identifier.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE with Luo to include triggers the CU to associate the remote UE with a relay UE, as taught by Luo. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to clarify the association that lets the CU manage the remote UE’s communication through the relay UE, as suggested by Luo, when the base station is deployed by using the CU-DU architecture, how to implement a user equipment-to-network relay (UE-to-Network relay) communication process becomes a problem. - ¶ [0004]
Combination of BAE and Luo does not explicitly teach:
wherein the ID of the remote UE comprises a local UE ID allocated by the CU,
However, WANG teaches:
wherein the ID of the remote UE comprises a local UE ID allocated by the CU, - in ¶ [0110], (“The identification information may be allocated by…the central unit of the base station”); ¶ [0114 – 0115], (“Third node: a distributed unit of the base station…Fourth node: a central unit of the base station”); ¶ [0121], (“Based on the above introduction of nodes, the meanings of…“identification information of a remote user” are as follows…¶ [0123] Identification information of a remote user (or referred to as local identification information of a remote user”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE and Luo with WANG to include the ID of the remote UE comprises a local UE ID allocated by the CU, as taught by WANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to result in efficient resource management, as suggested by WANG, In order to solve this problem, the base station needs to configure related resources for the relay terminal, so that the relay terminal can perform data transfer of other users on the configured resources. - ¶ [0293]
Claim 3. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE teaches:
wherein the ID of the remote UE identifies the remote UE in a scope of the relay UE in the wireless network. - See Fig. 2, ¶ [0069], (“The F1 or W1 message… may include remote UE identifier (e.g., remote UE identification) information in which the DU 232 uses for distinguishing the corresponding remote UE 210.”); ¶ [0078], (“the DU 232…includes identification information for distinguishing the remote UE…and/or transmits the information to the relay UE 220 using relay RB in step S224.”)
Claim 10. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE teaches:
wherein the first transferring message further comprises a DU level relay UE ID identifying the relay UE in the DU. - See Fig. 3, ¶ [0076], (“The F1 or W1 message (e.g., INITIAL UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message)…is a UE-associated signaling message…a UE identifier (e.g., gNB-CU UE F1AP ID and gNB-DU UE F1AP ID) in the F1 or W1 message…and a UE identifier configured to distinguish the relay UE are used as they are.”)
Claim 11. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 10, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE teaches:
wherein the DU level relay UE ID comprises a gNB-DU UE F1AP ID of the relay UE. - See Fig. 3, ¶ [0076], (“a UE identifier (e.g., gNB-CU UE F1AP ID and gNB-DU UE F1AP ID) in the F1 or W1 message…and a UE identifier configured to distinguish the relay UE”)
Claim 12. BAE teaches: A method performed by a central unit (CU) of a wireless communication node in a wireless network, the method comprising: - See Fig. 2-3, ¶ [0085], (“the CU 234 transmits…”)
transmitting a first F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) signaling to a distributed unit (DU) of the wireless communication node to configure a user equipment (UE) context for a relay UE; See Fig. 2, ¶ [0085], (“in step S237, the CU 234 transmits an F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message) to the DU 232 in order to update configuration information for communication with the relay UE 220.”)
receiving a first transferring message from the DU, wherein the first transferring message comprises an identifier (ID) of a remote UE and triggers the CU to associate the remote UE with the relay UE, wherein the ID of the remote UE comprises a local UE ID allocated by the CU, - See Fig. 2B, ¶ [0069], (“the DU 232 transmits the RRC message of the remote UE 210 to the CU 234 using the F1 or W1 message (e.g., INITIAL UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message or UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message).The F1 or W1 message (e.g., INITIAL UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, UL RELAY RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message) transmitted in step S222 may include remote UE identifier (e.g., remote UE identification) information in which the DU 232 uses for distinguishing the corresponding remote UE 210.”) and
wherein the relay UE serves as a relay between the remote UE and the wireless communication node; - See Fig. 1-2, ¶ [0058], (“in step S201, a remote UE 210 performs a discovery procedure…for direct communication with a relay UE 220…the remote UE 210 may include a configuration for communicating with a base station of a mobile communication network through the relay UE”) and
transmitting a second F1AP signaling to the DU to configure a UE context for the remote UE, - in ¶ [0090], (“the CU 234 transmits an F1 or W1 message (e.g., REMOTE UE CONTEXT SETUP/MODIFICATION REQUEST message)…to the DU 232.”) wherein the remote UE is configured with an indirect path using the relay UE to the wireless communication node. - See Fig. 1-2, ¶ [0094], (“the relay UE 220 that has received the RRC connection reconfiguration complete message…from the remote UE 210 transmits the RRC connection reconfiguration complete message to the base station using the configured relay RB.”, The remote UE communicates indirectly through the relay UE.)
BAE does not explicitly teach:
wherein the first transferring message comprises an identifier (ID) of a remote UE and triggers the CU to associate the remote UE with the relay UE,
However, Luo teaches:
wherein the first transferring message comprises an identifier (ID) of a remote UE and triggers the CU to associate the remote UE with the relay UE, - See Fig. 9-10, ¶ [0012], (“The CU receives an uplink RRC information transfer message sent by the DU, where the uplink RRC information transfer message includes uplink RRC information of the remote UE, an identifier of the relay UE on a CU-DU interface”, The CU receives the transfer message where the remote UE’s RRC information is tagged with the relay UE’s identifier.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE with Luo to include triggers the CU to associate the remote UE with a relay UE, as taught by Luo. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to clarify the association that lets the CU manage the remote UE’s communication through the relay UE, as suggested by Luo, when the base station is deployed by using the CU-DU architecture, how to implement a user equipment-to-network relay (UE-to-Network relay) communication process becomes a problem. - ¶ [0004]
Combination of BAE and Luo does not explicitly teach:
wherein the ID of the remote UE comprises a local UE ID allocated by the CU,
However, WANG teaches:
wherein the ID of the remote UE comprises a local UE ID allocated by the CU, - in ¶ [0110], (“The identification information may be allocated by…the central unit of the base station”); ¶ [0114 – 0115], (“Third node: a distributed unit of the base station…Fourth node: a central unit of the base station”); ¶ [0121], (“Based on the above introduction of nodes, the meanings of…“identification information of a remote user” are as follows…¶ [0123] Identification information of a remote user (or referred to as local identification information of a remote user”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE and Luo with WANG to include the ID of the remote UE comprises a local UE ID allocated by the CU, as taught by WANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to result in efficient resource management, as suggested by WANG, In order to solve this problem, the base station needs to configure related resources for the relay terminal, so that the relay terminal can perform data transfer of other users on the configured resources. - ¶ [0293]
Claim 13. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 12, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE teaches:
wherein the first F1AP signaling comprises at least one of: the ID of the remote UE; - See Fig. 2, ¶ [0082], (“The F1 or W1 message…may include an identifier (e.g., remote UE identification) for distinguishing the remote UE.”) a request for configuring a PC5 radio link control (RLC) channel between the relay UE and the remote UE; - in ¶ [0090], (“in step S243, the CU 234 transmits an F1 or W1 message (e.g., REMOTE UE CONTEXT SETUP/MODIFICATION REQUEST message) including sidelink radio bearer (SL RB) setup/modification information…for direct communication between the remote UE 110 and the relay UE 220”, SL RB = the RLC/MAC/PHY bearer over PC5 (sidelink)) or a request for configuring a Uu RLC channel between the relay UE and the wireless communication node. - in ¶ [0085 – 0086], (“in step S237, the CU 234 transmits an F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message)…The F1 or W1 message…may include RB setup/modification information (e.g., relay radio bearer setup/modification info) for transmission of user plane data and CP signaling (RRC message) exchanged between the base station and the remote UE 210, relay RB mapping information”, Relay RB = Uu radio bearer between relay UE <-> DU/CU)
Claim 22. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 12, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE teaches:
wherein after transmitting the first F1AP signaling to the DU, the method further comprises: - See Fig. 2, ¶ [0085], (“in step S237, the CU 234 transmits an F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message) to the DU 232”)
receiving from the DU, a first response message to the first F1AP signaling comprising at least one of: - See Fig. 2, ¶ [0087], (“the DU 232…transmits an F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message)…to the CU 234 in step S238.”) a PC5 RLC channel configuration; or a Uu RLC channel configuration. - See Fig. 2, ¶ [0087], (“the DU 232…transmits an F1 or W1 message…to the CU 234 in step S238. The F1 or W1 message…transmitted in step S238 includes RB setup/modification information (e.g., RelayRBConfig IE)…and/or sidelink radio bearer (SL RB) setup/modification information (e.g., SidelinkConfig IE) for direct communication between the relay UE 220 and the remote UE 210.”)
Claim 69. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Luo further teaches:
further comprising: receiving a first message from the CU of the wireless communication node for configuring a Uu radio link control (RLC) channel - See Fig. 6, ¶ [0111], (“A CU generates a UE context modification request message, where the UE context modification request message is used to request a DU to modify a context of relay UE”); ¶ [0114], (“the CU may request to add a DRB and an SRB for the relay UE.”, Adding SRB/DRB corresponds to configuring Uu channels and the DU receives this message from the CU.) between the DU and the relay UE; - in ¶ [0156], (“a logical channel that is between the relay UE and the DU and that corresponds to the SRB”) or receiving a second message from the CU for configuring a relay UE side configuration of a PC5 RLC channel between the relay UE and the remote UE, - in ¶ [0111 – 0112], (“A CU generates a UE context modification request message…the logical channel between the remote UE and the relay UE is…a logical channel of a PC5 interface”); ¶ [0114], (“the CU may request to add a DRB and an SRB for the relay UE. Then, the CU may determine…an identifier of the logical channel between the relay UE and the remote UE”)
wherein the Uu RLC channel or the PC5 RLC channel are used to deliver traffic destined to the remote UE, - in ¶ [0152 – 0153], (“if the adaptation information carries the identifier of the remote UE 2 and the LCID 4, the relay UE sends the downlink RRC information to the remote UE 2 through the logical channel LCID 4…an RLC layer of a PC5 interface between the relay UE and the remote UE 2.”) and wherein the relay UE serves as a relay between the remote UE and the wireless communication node. - See Fig. 1, 4, ¶ [0153], (“a Uu interface between the relay UE and the DU…a PC5 interface between the relay UE and the remote UE 2”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE with Luo to specify channels between DU and relay UE and between relay UE and remote UE, as taught by Luo. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve wireless communication, as suggested by Luo, In this case, when the base station is deployed by using the CU-DU architecture, how to implement a user equipment-to-network relay (UE-to-Network relay) communication process becomes a problem. - ¶ [0004]
Claim 70. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 69, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE teaches:
further comprising: receiving a third message from the CU for configuring bearer mapping for supporting downlink (DL) User Plane (UP) traffic of the remote UE; - See Fig. 6, ¶ [0125], (“the CU 634 transmits an F1 or W1 message (e.g., RELAY RB CONFIGURATION REQUEST message) in order to configure relay RB mapping for transmission of user plane data of the remote UE to the DU 632. The F1 or W1 message (e.g., RELAY RB CONFIGURATION REQUEST message) transmitted in step S642-1 includes relay RB mapping information (e.g., relay RB mapping config info) for transmission of user plane data of the remote UE.”); ¶ [0207], (“Mapping configuration information (e.g., Relay RB Mapping Information Added List IE) of RB for transmission of user plane data of the base station and the remote UE”) and
receiving a fourth message from the CU for configuring bearer mapping for supporting DL Control Plane (CP) traffic of the remote UE. - See Fig. 6, ¶ [0121], (“The F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message) transmitted in step S639 includes RB setup/modification information (e.g., RelayRBConfig IE) of the relay UE 620 for transmission of user plane data and CP signaling (RRC message) exchanged between the base station and the remote UE”); ¶ [0140], (“RB setup information…for transmission of user plane data and CP signaling (RRC message) exchanged between the base station and the remote UE. ¶ [0141] SRB ID: Signaling Radio Bearer identification information”)
Claim 71. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 70, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE further teaches:
wherein the fourth message is transmitted via a UE-specific F1AP signaling associated with the remote UE, - in ¶ [0139], (“The F1 or W1 message…includes message type information for distinguishing a message type and an identifier, for example, a gNB-CU UE F1AP ID and a gNB-DU UE F1AP ID for distinguishing the UE in UE-associated signaling. “) and
Luo further teaches:
wherein the fourth message comprises a mapping between a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) of the remote UE and the Uu RLC channel of the relay UE, - in ¶ [0118], (“the CU may determine that logical channels LCID 3 and LCID 4…are logical channels used to transmit RRC messages of an SRB 1 and an SRB 2…of the remote UE…the CU establishes mapping relationships between an identifier of the SRB 2 of the relay UE and the LCID 3 and the LCID 4”); ¶ [0202], (“The UE context setup request message includes…a mapping relationship between the identifier of the SRB 1 of the remote UE 2 and a logical channel LCID 3”)
the Uu RLC channel being identified by a combination of an ID of the Uu RLC channel and an ID of the relay UE. - in ¶ [0118], (“the CU establishes mapping relationships between an identifier of the SRB 2 of the relay UE and the LCID 3 and the LCID 4”); ¶ [0123], (“the CU may establish a mapping relationship among the bearer identifier of the relay UE, the bearer identifier of the remote UE, and the identifier of the logical channel between the relay UE and the remote UE.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE with Luo to include a mapping between an SRB of the remote UE and the Uu RLC channel of the relay UE, the Uu RLC channel being identified by a combination of an ID of the Uu RLC channel and an ID of the relay UE, as taught by Luo. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve wireless communication, as suggested by Luo, In this case, when the base station is deployed by using the CU-DU architecture, how to implement a user equipment-to-network relay (UE-to-Network relay) communication process becomes a problem. - ¶ [0004]
Claim 72. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 12, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Luo further teaches:
wherein: the first F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) signaling triggers configuring a Uu RLC channel - See Fig. 6, ¶ [0111], (“A CU generates a UE context modification request message, where the UE context modification request message is used to request a DU to modify a context of relay UE”); ¶ [0114], (“the CU may request to add a DRB and an SRB for the relay UE.”, Adding SRB/DRB corresponds to configuring Uu channels and the DU receives this message from the CU.); ¶ [0124], (“the UE context modification request message may be encapsulated in an F1 message”) between the DU and the relay UE; - in ¶ [0156], (“a logical channel that is between the relay UE and the DU and that corresponds to the SRB”) the second F1AP signaling triggers configuring PC5 RLC channel between the relay UE and the remote UE; - in ¶ [0111 – 0112], (“A CU generates a UE context modification request message…the logical channel between the remote UE and the relay UE is…a logical channel of a PC5 interface”); ¶ [0114], (“the CU may request to add a DRB and an SRB for the relay UE. Then, the CU may determine…an identifier of the logical channel between the relay UE and the remote UE”) and the Uu RLC channel and the PC5 RLC channel are used to deliver traffic destined to the remote UE, - in ¶ [0152 – 0153], (“if the adaptation information carries the identifier of the remote UE 2 and the LCID 4, the relay UE sends the downlink RRC information to the remote UE 2 through the logical channel LCID 4…an RLC layer of a PC5 interface between the relay UE and the remote UE 2.”) and wherein the relay UE serves as a relay between the remote UE and the wireless communication node. - See Fig. 1, 4, ¶ [0153], (“a Uu interface between the relay UE and the DU…a PC5 interface between the relay UE and the remote UE 2”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE with Luo to specify channels between DU and relay UE and between relay UE and remote UE, as taught by Luo. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve wireless communication, as suggested by Luo, In this case, when the base station is deployed by using the CU-DU architecture, how to implement a user equipment-to-network relay (UE-to-Network relay) communication process becomes a problem. - ¶ [0004]
Claims 73-74 are rejected under the same rationale as Claims 70-71 since they recite nearly identical limitations.
Claim 76 is the apparatus claim corresponding to the method claim of Claim 1 and is rejected under the same rationale as Claim 1 since they recite nearly identical limitations.
Claim 77 is the apparatus claim corresponding to the method claim of Claim 12 and is rejected under the same rationale as Claim 12 since they recite nearly identical limitations.
Claims 14, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAE et al (US 20240389181, hereinafter, “BAE”) in view of Luo et al. (US 20210368417, hereinafter, “Luo”), and further in view of WANG et al. (US 20220353784, hereinafter, “WANG”) and MILDH et al. (US20220095397, hereinafter, “MILDH”).
Claim 14. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 13, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE teaches:
wherein: the request for configuring the PC5 RLC channel between the relay UE and the remote UE comprises a list of PC5 RLC channels to be configured; - in ¶ [0139], (“the F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message) may include the following information…¶ [0152] Sidelink radio bearer (SL RB) setup information (e.g., SL DRB to Be Setup List IE) for direct communication between the relay UE and the remote UE”) each PC5 RLC channel in the list of PC5 RLC channels to be configured comprises at least one of: - in ¶ [0152] Sidelink radio bearer (SL RB) setup information (e.g., SL DRB to Be Setup List IE) for direct communication between the relay UE and the remote UE…¶ [0156] RLC mode: operation mode of RLC operating in SL DRB”, each SL DRB defines one logical sidelink (PC5) channel) an ID of the PC5 RLC channel; a Quality of Service (QoS) profile of the PC5 RLC channel; - in ¶ [0139], (“the F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message) may include the following information…¶ [0153] SL DRB ID: Sidelink Data Radio Bearer identification information ¶ [0154] SL DRB QoS: Sidelink Data Radio Bearer QoS information”) a control plane traffic type; ¶ [0140], (“RB setup information…for transmission of user plane data and CP signaling (RRC message) exchanged between the base station and the remote UE.”) or the ID of the remote UE; - in ¶ [0139], (“the F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message) may include the following information…¶ [0169] Remote UE ID: Remote UE identification information) and the list of PC5 RLC channels to be configured comprises at least one of: a list of PC5 RLC channels to be setup; - in ¶ [0139], (“the F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message) may include the following information…¶ [0152] Sidelink radio bearer (SL RB) setup information (e.g., SL DRB to Be Setup List IE) for direct communication between the relay UE and the remote UE”)
a list of PC5 RLC channels to be modified; - in ¶ [0157], (Sidelink radio bearer (SL RB) modification information (e.g., SL DRB to Be Modified List IE)”) or a list of PC5 RLC channels to be released. - in ¶ [0162], (“Sidelink radio bearer (SL RB) release information (e.g., SL DRB to Be Released List IE)”)
Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG does not explicitly teach:
wherein: the request for configuring the PC5 RLC channel between the relay UE and the remote UE comprises a list of PC5 RLC channels to be configured;
However, MILDH teaches:
wherein: the request for configuring the PC5 RLC channel between the relay UE and the remote UE comprises a list of PC5 RLC channels to be configured; - in ¶ [0027], (“1:1 mapping between UE bearers and the BH RLC channels that needs to be configured. The RLC bearer config IE is used for configuring BH RLC channels”); ¶ [0029], (“the CU sending to the DU an F1AP message (e.g., UE Context Setup Request or UE Context Modify Request message) requesting the DU to setup the BH RLC channel. The F1AP message comprises: i) a list identifying one or more BH RLC channels to be setup…containing a BH RLC Channel Identifier (ID) information element (IE) containing a BH RLC Channel ID identifying the BH RLC channel”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE, Luo, and WANG with MILDH to specify a list of RLC channels to be configured, as taught by MILDH. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to include the list of RLC channels in the F1 request message, as suggested by MILDH, one possible approach could be to reuse the existing DRBs to be Setup/Modified IEs in the F1 context management functions. - ¶ [0022]
Claim 18. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 13, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE further teaches:
wherein the request for configuring the Uu RLC channel between the relay UE and the wireless communication node comprises a list of Uu RLC channels to be configured, - in ¶ [0139], (“the F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message) may include the following information…¶ [0140] RB setup information (e.g., Relay RB to Be Setup List IE) for transmission of user plane data and CP signaling (RRC message) exchanged between the base station and the remote UE.”, This identifies a list of relay RBs which are Uu channels for data/control between the relay UE and the base station.) and each Uu RLC channel in the list of Uu RLC channels to be configured comprises at least one of: - in ¶ [0140], (Relay RB to Be Setup List IE)) an ID of the Uu RLC channel; a QoS profile of the Uu RLC channel; - in ¶ [0139], (“the F1 or W1 message…may include…¶ [0142] DRB ID: Data Radio Bearer identification information ¶ [0143] QOS information: QoS related information associated with DRB”) or a control plane traffic type. - in ¶ [0140], (“RB setup information (e.g., Relay RB to Be Setup List IE) for transmission of user plane data and CP signaling (RRC message) exchanged between the base station and the remote UE”)
MILDH further teaches:
wherein the request for configuring the Uu RLC channel between the relay UE and the wireless communication node comprises a list of Uu RLC channels to be configured, - in ¶ [0027], (“The RLC bearer config IE is used for configuring BH RLC channels”); ¶ [0029], (“the CU sending to the DU an F1AP message (e.g., UE Context Setup Request or UE Context Modify Request message) requesting the DU to setup the BH RLC channel. The F1AP message comprises: i) a list identifying one or more BH RLC channels to be setup…containing a BH RLC Channel Identifier (ID) information element (IE)”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE, Luo, and WANG with MILDH to specify a list of RLC channels to be configured, as taught by MILDH. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to include the list of RLC channels in the F1 request message, as suggested by MILDH, one possible approach could be to reuse the existing DRBs to be Setup/Modified IEs in the F1 context management functions. - ¶ [0022]
Claims 16, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAE et al (US 20240389181, hereinafter, “BAE”) in view of Luo et al. (US 20210368417, hereinafter, “Luo”), and further in view of WANG et al. (US 20220353784, hereinafter, “WANG”), MILDH et al. (US20220095397, hereinafter, “MILDH”), and YU et al. (US 20230262513, hereinafter, “YU”).
Claim 16. Combination of BAE, Luo, and MILDH teaches The method of claim 14, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Combination of BAE, Luo, WANG, and MILDH does not explicitly teach:
wherein the QoS profile of the PC5 RLC channel comprises Packet Delay Budget (PDB) information, and wherein the PDB information is indicative of a packet delay budget between the relay UE and remote UE.
However, YU teaches:
wherein the QoS profile of the PC5 RLC channel comprises Packet Delay Budget (PDB) information, - See Fig. 2, ¶ [0218], (“transfer the delay information to an RLC protocol layer…and send the delay information…through the PC5 interface.”); ¶ [0225], (“in response to the first delay information including the value of the PDB associated with the SL RB or the SL LCH, or includes the QoS profile of the QoS flow mapped to the SL RB or the SL LCH”, PC5 RLC channel = SL LCH that is configured with QoS and PDB for data transfer transported by RLC over PC5.) and wherein the PDB information is indicative of a packet delay budget between the relay UE and remote UE. - See Fig. 2, ¶ [0222], (“FIG. 2, the first packet delay budget is a packet delay budget that is to be met in response to data being transmitted between the relay terminal device and the remote terminal device.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE, Luo, WANG, and MILDH with YU to include the QoS profile of the PC5 RLC channel comprises PDB information indicative of a PDB between the relay UE and remote UE, as taught by YU. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve transmission performance, as suggested by YU, This ensures a quality of service requirement of data transmission, and improves data transmission efficiency. - ¶ [0004]
Claim 20. Combination of BAE, Luo, and MILDH teaches The method of claim 18, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
YU further teaches:
wherein the QoS profile of the Uu RLC channel comprises Packet Delay Budget (PDB) information, - See Fig. 2, ¶ [0149], (“a QoS profile (profile) of a QoS flow includes…a packet delay budget (packet delay budget, PDB)”); ¶ [0192], (“the network device…sequentially transfer the delay information to an RLC protocol layer…that correspond to the first terminal device...and send the delay information to the terminal device through the Uu interface.”) and
wherein the PDB information is indicative of a packet delay budget between the DU and the relay UE. - See Fig. 1-2, ¶ [0150], (“The packet delay budget PDB indicates a maximum delay that can be tolerated in response to data being transmitted from the network device to the terminal device”); ¶ [0154], (“the relay terminal device communicates with the network device through a Uu interface.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE, Luo, WANG, and MILDH with YU to include the QoS profile of the Uu RLC channel comprises PDB information indicative of a PDB between the DU and the relay UE, as taught by YU. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve transmission performance, as suggested by YU, This ensures a quality of service requirement of data transmission, and improves data transmission efficiency. - ¶ [0004]
Claim 75 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAE et al (US 20240389181, hereinafter, “BAE”) in view of Luo et al. (US 20210368417, hereinafter, “Luo”), and further in view of WANG et al. (US 20220353784, hereinafter, “WANG”) and Masini et al. (US 20160127963, hereinafter, “Masini”).
Claim 75. Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG teaches The method of claim 12, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
BAE teaches:
further comprising transmitting a sixth message to the DU, the sixth message comprising sidelink communication authorization information for at least one of: - See Fig. 2, ¶ [0085], (“in step S237, the CU 234 transmits an F1 or W1 message (e.g., UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message) to the DU 232”)
Combination of BAE, Luo, and WANG does not explicitly teach:
further comprising transmitting a sixth message to the DU, the sixth message comprising sidelink communication authorization information for at least one of: the relay UE, or the remote UE, wherein the sidelink communication authorization information comprises at least one of: a 5G Proximity Service (ProSe) Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay authorization for the relay UE; or a Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay authorization for the relay UE; a 5G ProSe Layer-2 Remote UE authorization; or a ProSe Direct Discovery authorization.
However, Masini teaches:
further comprising transmitting a sixth message to the DU, the sixth message comprising sidelink communication authorization information for at least one of: the relay UE, or the remote UE, - in ¶ [0060] the ProSe Authorized IE (Information Element)…can be added to the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message so that the ProSe authorizations for the UE can be modified”) wherein the sidelink communication authorization information comprises at least one of: a 5G Proximity Service (ProSe) Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay authorization for the relay UE; or a Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay authorization for the relay UE; a 5G ProSe Layer-2 Remote UE authorization; or a ProSe Direct Discovery authorization. - See Fig. 4, ¶ [0060], (“the ProSe Authorized IE (Information Element)…can be added to the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message so that the ProSe authorizations for the UE can be modified”…¶ [0061], (“When receiving a ProSe Authorized IE as defined above, the eNB may know not only if the UE is authorized for ProSe, but also which services it is authorized to support…ProSe direct discovery…an in-network UE may act as a ProSe UE-to-Network Relay providing connection between an out-of-network remote UE (over a PC5 interface) and a…base station eNB (over a Uu interface).”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified BAE, Luo, and WANG with Masini to include authorization information, as taught by Masini. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve wireless communication, as suggested by Masini, receiving the authorization may know not only if a UE is authorized for ProSe, but also which services the UE is authorized to support. Accordingly, the base station may be able to estimate an amount and type of resources that the UE may use according to the type of service. - ¶ [0012]
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Shima Wasel whose telephone number is (703)756-4725. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Khaled Kassim can be reached at (571) 270-3770. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHIMA WASEL/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475