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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/26/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-17 & 19-21 are pending and presented for examination.
Response to Amendment
Claim 18 has been cancelled.
Claims 1, 8, 15 & 17 have been amended.
Objection to claim 15 has been withdrawn.
Claim 21 has been added and is presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see “Remarks”, filed 2/26/2026, with respect to objection to claim 15 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection of claim 15 has been withdrawn based on amendments to this claim.
Applicant's arguments filed 2/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant submits that claims 1-17, 19 & 20 are patentable based on amendments to claims 1, 8 & 15. Examiner respectfully disagrees noting that, per 35 U.S.C. 103, a patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained 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 (see §MPEP 2141).
Regarding claim 1, applicant argues that Jena et al. (US 2023/0396991) in view of Park et al. (US 2022/0385409)(herein after “Park”) fail to disclose the amended limitations of claim 1 because Park fails to disclose “determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result" is performed "based on expiry of the timer” and Jena fails to disclose performing an action based on expiry of the timer, where the timer is initiated “based on determining that a channel state information report of the periodic channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criteria.”. Examiner respectfully disagrees noting that Loehr et al. (US 2023/0199642), and not Jena, is used to teach where the timer is initiated “based on determining that a channel state information report of the periodic channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criteria.”, and thus applicant’s arguments that Jena fails to teach this limitation are moot. Further, Park is only used to teach that the determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result, is based on expiry of the timer. Examiner notes that the limitations of claim 1 merely required that the “determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result” be based on expiry of a timer, and do not require that the “determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result” be upon expiry of the timer. Therefore, applicant’s arguments that Park teaches of “when the transmitting UE does not receive consecutive CSI reports from the receiving UE before the PC5 RLF timer expires, the transmitting UE may declare PC5 RLF”, which is not upon expiry of a timer, are moot because Park teaches that the declaring of a PC5 RLF is based on expiry of a PC5 RLF timer as required in claim 1.
Applicant argues that Park teaches of declaring a PC5 RLF which is not a UE release transaction. Examiner notes that Park is only used to teach that the determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result, is based on expiry of the timer, while Jena teaches that based on the result indicating that the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction with regard to the user equipment. Thus, applicant’s arguments that Park fails to teach of initiating a UE release transaction are moot.
Based on the above discussion, examiner maintains that Jena in view of Park disclose and teach of the amended limitations of claim 1 and thus examiner maintains rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC 103.
Regarding claims 8 & 15, applicant submits that these claims are patentable based on similar amendments and arguments as made for claim 1. Examiner respectfully disagrees and for the same reasons as discussed above maintains rejections of claims 8 & 15 under 35 USC 103.
Regarding claims 2-7, 9-14, 16, 17, 19 & 20, applicant submits that these are patentable due to amendments and arguments made for claims 1, 8 & 15 and due to their dependency on claims 1, 8 or 15. Examiner respectfully disagrees and for the same reasons as discussed above maintains rejections of claims 2-7, 9-14, 16, 17, 19 & 20 under 35 USC 103.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 2/18/2026 & 5/28/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 21 objected to because of the following informalities: examiner recommends adding commas, colons and semi-colons as shown below to provide clarity.
Claim 21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:
configuring the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports based on a first value divided by a periodicity value of the periodic channel state information reports;
wherein the first value comprises a sum of:
a second value,
a first time value of a first timer that is configured for measurement of whether the user equipment is synchronized with the system, and
a second time value of a second timer that is initiated based on a transmission of a radio resource control connection re-establishment request; and
wherein the second value comprises a product of:
a defined number of consecutive occurrences of out-of-sync indications for a primary cell with respect to the user equipment, and
a third time value of a third timer that is configured for measurement of whether the user equipment is synchronized with the system.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3, 5-9 & 11-15, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jena et al. (US 2023/0396991)(herein after “Jena”) in view of Ramachandra et al. (US 2023/0388204)(herein after “Ramachandra”), and further in view of Loehr et al. (US 20230199642)(herein after “Loehr”) and Park et al. (US 20220385409)(herein after “Park”).
Regarding claim 1, Jena discloses a system comprising: communicating broadband cellular communications with a user equipment ([0001] & [0029] discloses a UE communicating with a gNB from a 5G NR system (i.e. 5G broadband communication).);
initiating receiving periodic channel state information reports from the user equipment, wherein the channel state information reports correspond to the broadband cellular communications ([0029] discloses a gNB configuring a UE to periodically report Channel State Information (CSI). To someone skilled in the art, CSI reporting from a UE to a gNB corresponds to 5G broadband cellular communications.);
determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result ([0029] discloses a gNB-DU determining that a specified consecutive “n” number of periodic CSI reports have not been received, to produce a result of classifying a UE context as inactive.); and
based on the result indicating that the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction with regard to the user equipment, and sending a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station of the system ([0029] discloses that based on the result that the UE context has been classified as inactive due to the gNB-DU determining that a specified consecutive “n” number of periodic CSI reports have not been received, a DU-initiated UE context release procedure is employed with regard to the UE, and the DU-initiated UE context release procedure is employed between the gNB-DU and a gNB-CU (i.e. a UE context release request is sent from the gNB-DU to the centralized gNB-CU).).
Jena fails to disclose a system comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, facilitate performance of operations.
However, Ramachandra teaches a system comprising: at least one processor ([0038] & [0234] disclose a system for reporting radio link failures consisting of UEs and gNBs comprising a digital signal processor); and
At least one memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, facilitate performance of operations ([0234]-[0235] discloses the digital signal processor processing circuitry can execute instructions stored in memory.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a system comprising: communicating broadband cellular communications with a user equipment; initiating receiving periodic channel state information reports from the user equipment, wherein the channel state information reports correspond to the broadband cellular communications; and in response to determining that a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction with regard to the user equipment, and sending a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station of the system, as disclosed by Jena, wherein the system comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, facilitate performance of operations, as taught by Ramachandra. The motivation to do so would be to have a system including a processor capable of executing instructions in a memory module for implementing procedures for detecting radio link failures in a 5G system.
Jena fails to disclose based on determining that a channel state information report of the periodic channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criterion, initiating a timer.
However, Loehr further teaches based on determining that a channel state information report of the periodic channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criterion, initiating a timer (Fig 5 & [0066]-[0067] disclose a UE, based on receiving information indicating a discontinuous transmission, starting a discontinuous transmission timer. [0058] discloses that the absence of a CSI report may be considered the same as a DTX condition.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a system initiating receiving periodic channel state information reports from a user equipment, as disclosed by Jena, that facilitates performance operations comprising: based on determining that a channel state information report of the periodic channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criterion, initiating a timer, as further taught by Loehr. The motivation to do so would be to have a sidelink communication system where a source UE can determine when no sidelink data is available at a destination UE by the absence of receiving a CSI report from the destination UE indicating a DTX condition, then starting a timer that, after expiry of the timer, if no CSI report is received the source UE determines that no sidelink data is available at the destination UE.
Jena fails to disclose but Park further teaches wherein the determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result, is based on expiry of the timer ([0158] discloses a UE declaring an RLF (i.e. produces a result) when not receiving consecutive CSI reports based on not receiving the consecutive CSI reports before expiry of a PC5 RLF timer.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a system initiating receiving periodic channel state information reports from a user equipment, determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result; and based on the result indicating that the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction with regard to the user equipment, and sending a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station of the system, as disclosed by Jena, wherein the determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result, is based on expiry of the timer, as further taught by Park. The motivation to do so would be to have a sidelink communication system where a source UE can determine when no sidelink data is available at a destination UE by the absence of receiving consecutive CSI reports from the destination UE before expiry of the timer, and if a defined number of CSI report are not received before expiry of the time, then the source UE determines that no sidelink data is available at the destination UE.
Regarding claim 2, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the system of claim 1.
Jena discloses wherein the system comprises a distributed unit of the base station, and wherein the sending of the user equipment context release request to the centralized unit is performed by the distributed unit ([0001] & [0029] discloses a 5G system comprising a gNB-DU (distributed unit of a 5G base station), where a DU-initiated UE context release procedure is employed between the gNB-DU and a gNB-CU (i.e. a UE context release request is sent from the gNB-DU to the centralized gNB-CU).
Regarding claim 3, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the system of claim 1.
Jena discloses wherein the operations further comprise: determining the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports based on a time value of the timer, wherein is configured for measurement of whether the user equipment is synchronized with the system ([0029] discloses a specified number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale user context. [0026] discloses stale user context based on a timer that could have a default time value of 30 min. [0006] discloses reasons for stale UE context include desynchronization between different components in the UE and a gNB-CU. Thus disclosed is a procedure for determining a number of consecutive CSI reports based on a time value of the timer of claim 1 that indicates whether a UE context is stale or synchronized/desynchronized with the system.).
Regarding claim 5, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the system of claim 1.
Jena discloses wherein the operations further comprise: determining the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports based on a time measurement during which a downlink radio quality on a radio link monitoring reference signal resource is evaluated to determine whether a first value of the downlink radio quality is less than a second value of a synchronization signal block quality threshold metric ([0029] discloses a specified number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale user context. [0040] discloses that stale UE context may be determined by an A1 measurement report (MR) first value being less than a second value a1-Threshold = -120 dBm. To one skilled in the art, A1 measurement reports in 5G are downlink radio quality measurements based on radio monitoring reference signals such as a Synchronization Signal (SS) or CSI-RS. [0006] discloses reasons for stale UE context include desynchronization between different components in the UE and a gNB-CU. Thus disclosed is a procedure for determining a number of consecutive CSI reports not received indicating stale UE context where the number of consecutive CSI reports would be based on a first A1 measurement value being less than a second ai-Threshold = -120 dBm (i.e. synchronization signal block quality threshold metric.).
Regarding claim 6, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the system of claim 1.
Jena discloses wherein the operations further comprise: determining the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports based on a defined number of consecutive occurrences of out-of-sync indications for a primary cell with respect to the user equipment system ([0029] discloses a specified number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale user context by a gNB. Since only one gNB is mentioned in [0029] the gNB must be a primary cell. [0026]-[0027] discloses that stale user context may be based on a timer that could have a default time value of 30 min and based on A1 MRs reported every 512 ms being below an a1-Threshold = -120 dBm. Thus, stale user context would be based on (30 min)/(512 ms) = 3516 consecutive A1 MRs being below -120 dBm (i.e. a number of consecutive occurrences of out-of-sync indications). [0006] discloses reasons for stale UE context include desynchronization between different components in the UE and a gNB-CU. Thus disclosed is a procedure for determining a number of consecutive CSI reports not received indicating stale UE context where the number of consecutive CSI reports would be based on 3516 consecutive occurrences of A1 MR reports being below -120 dBm (i.e. out-of-sync indications) at a gNB primary cell with respect to a UE.).
Regarding claim 7, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the system of claim 6.
Jena discloses wherein the operations further comprise: determining the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports based on a product of, the defined number of consecutive occurrences of out-of-sync indications for a primary cell with respect to the user equipment, and a time value of the timer, wherein the timer is configured for measurement of whether the user equipment is synchronized with the system ([0029] discloses a specified number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale user context. [0026]-[0027] discloses that stale user context may be based on a timer that could have a default time value of 30 min and based on A1 MRs reported every 512 ms being below an a1-Threshold = -120 dBm. Thus, stale user context would be based on (30 min)/(512 ms) = 3516 consecutive A1 MRs being below -120 dBm. [0006] discloses reasons for stale UE context include desynchronization between different components in the UE and a gNB-CU (i.e. a primary cell). Note that 512 ms represents a time value of a timer configured for A1 measurements to determine whether a UE is synchronized with the system. Therefore, the number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale UE context would be based on the product of 3516 consecutive occurrences of A1 MRs being below -120 dBm (i.e. out-of-sync indications) and a 512 ms time value of a timer for A1 measurement reports indicating whether the UE is synchronized (i.e. above -120 dBm) with the system. Thus disclosed is a procedure for determining a number of consecutive CSI reports not received indicating stale UE context where the number of consecutive CSI reports would be based on a product of 3516 consecutive occurrences of A1 MR reports, being received by a gNB-CU primary cell from a UE, below -120 dBm (i.e. out-of-sync indications) and a 512 ms time value of the timer from claim 1 for A1 measurement reports indicating whether the UE is synchronized (i.e. above -120 dBm) with the system.).
Regarding claim 8, Jena discloses a method, comprising: facilitating broadband cellular communications with a user equipment ([0001] & [0029] discloses a UE communicating with a gNB from a 5G NR system (i.e. 5G broadband communication).);
instructing, by the system, the user equipment to provide periodic channel state information reports from the user equipment to the system, wherein the channel state information reports correspond to the broadband cellular communications ([0029] discloses a gNB configuring a UE to periodically report Channel State Information (CSI). To someone skilled in the art, CSI reporting from a UE to a gNB corresponds to 5G broadband cellular communications.);
determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result ([0029] discloses a gNB-DU determining that a specified consecutive “n” number of periodic CSI reports have not been received, to produce a result of classifying a UE context as inactive.); and
based on the result indicating that the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction with regard to the user equipment, and sending a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station of the system ([0029] discloses that based on the result that the UE context has been classified as inactive due to the gNB-DU determining that a specified consecutive “n” number of periodic CSI reports have not been received, a DU-initiated UE context release procedure is employed with regard to the UE, and the DU-initiated UE context release procedure is employed between the gNB-DU and a gNB-CU (i.e. a UE context release request is sent from the gNB-DU to the centralized gNB-CU).).
Jena fails to disclose a system comprising at least one processor.
However, Ramachandra teaches a system comprising at least one processor ([0038] & [0234] disclose a system for reporting radio link failures consisting of UEs and gNBs comprising a digital signal processor);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a method comprising: facilitating broadband cellular communications with a user equipment; instructing, by a system, the user equipment to provide periodic channel state information reports from the user equipment to the system, wherein the channel state information reports correspond to the broadband cellular communications; and in response to determining that a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating, by the system, a user equipment release transaction for the user equipment, and sending, by the system, a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station, as disclosed by Jena, wherein the method comprises system with at least one processor, as taught by Ramachandra. The motivation to do so would be to have a method, for a system including a processor, that implements procedures for detecting radio link failures in a 5G system.
Jena fails to disclose based on determining, by the system, that a channel state information report of the periodic channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criterion, initiating a timer.
However, Loehr further teaches based on determining, by the system, that a channel state information report of the periodic channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criterion, initiating a timer (Fig 5 & [0066]-[0067] disclose a UE, based on receiving information indicating a discontinuous transmission, starting a discontinuous transmission timer. [0058] discloses that the absence of a CSI report may be considered the same as a DTX condition. [0004] discloses that the UE is part of a system for performing the methods discussed above.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a method comprising a system initiating receiving periodic channel state information reports from a user equipment, as disclosed by Jena, that facilitates performance operations comprising: based on determining, by the system, that a channel state information report of the periodic channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criterion, initiating a timer, as further taught by Loehr. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for a sidelink communication system where a source UE can determine when no sidelink data is available at a destination UE by the absence of receiving a CSI report from the destination UE indicating a DTX condition, then starting a timer that, after expiry of the timer, if no CSI report is received the source UE determines that no sidelink data is available at the destination UE.
Jena fails to disclose but Park further teaches wherein the determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result, is based on expiry of the timer ([0158] discloses a UE declaring an RLF (i.e. produces a result) when not receiving consecutive CSI reports based on not receiving the consecutive CSI reports before expiry of a PC5 RLF timer.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a method comprising a system instructing user equipment to provide periodic channel state information reports from a user equipment to the system, determining, by the system, whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result; and based on the result indicating that the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction with regard to the user equipment, and sending a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station of the system, as disclosed by Jena, wherein the determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result, is based on expiry of the timer, as further taught by Park. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for a sidelink communication system where a source UE can determine when no sidelink data is available at a destination UE by the absence of receiving consecutive CSI reports from the destination UE before expiry of the timer, and if a defined number of CSI report are not received before expiry of the time, then the source UE determines that no sidelink data is available at the destination UE.
Regarding claim 9, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the method of claim 8,
Jena discloses further comprising: determining, by the system, the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports based on a time value of the timer, wherein the timer is configured for measurement of whether the user equipment is synchronized with the system ([0029] discloses a specified number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale user context. [0026] discloses stale user context based on a timer that could have a default time value of 30 min. [0006] discloses reasons for stale UE context include desynchronization between different components in the UE and a gNB-CU. Thus disclosed is a procedure for determining a number of consecutive CSI reports based on a time value of the timer of claim 8 that indicates whether a UE context is stale or synchronized/desynchronized with the system.).
Regarding claim 11, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the method of claim 8.
Jena discloses further comprising: determining, by the system, the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports based on a time measurement during which a downlink radio quality on a radio link monitoring reference signal resource is evaluated to determine whether a first value of the downlink radio quality is less than a second value of a synchronization signal block quality threshold metric ([0029] discloses a specified number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale user context. [0040] discloses that stale UE context may be determined by an A1 measurement report (MR) first value being less than a second value a1-Threshold = -120 dBm. To one skilled in the art, A1 measurement reports in 5G are downlink radio quality measurements based on radio monitoring reference signals such as a Synchronization Signal (SS) or CSI-RS. [0006] discloses reasons for stale UE context include desynchronization between different components in the UE and a gNB-CU. Thus disclosed is a procedure for determining a number of consecutive CSI reports not received indicating stale UE context where the number of consecutive CSI reports would be based on a first A1 measurement value being less than a second ai-Threshold = -120 dBm (i.e. synchronization signal block quality threshold metric.).
Regarding claim 12, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the method of claim 8.
Jena discloses further comprising: determining, by the system, the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports based on a periodicity value of the periodic channel state information reports ([0029] discloses a specified number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale user context. [0026] discloses that stale UE context may be determined by a periodic timer with a periodicity of 30 min.).
Regarding claim 13, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the method of claim 12.
Jena discloses further comprising: determining, by the system, the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports based on dividing a first value by the periodicity value of the periodic channel state information reports ([0029] discloses a specified number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale user context. [0026]-[0027] discloses that stale user context may be based on a timer that could have a default time value of 30 min and A1 MR reports with periodicity 512 ms. Thus, the specified number of consecutive CSI reports for detecting stale context would be based on 3516 consecutive indications of A1 MRs being below -120 dBm A1 MRs, where the 3516 consecutive A1 MRs is based on dividing the first timer value (30 min) by the periodicity value of the periodic A1 MR reports (512 ms).).
Regarding claim 14, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the method of claim 8.
Jena discloses further comprising: as part of establishing the broadband cellular communications with the user equipment, sending, by the system to the user equipment, a radio resource control reconfiguration message that indicates to the user equipment to report the channel state information reports over uplink control information ([0029] discloses a gNB configuring CSI reporting for a UE by sending an RRC Setup Request or Reconfiguration message. [0015] discloses a PUCCH control channel can be used as UE UL resources for sending CSI.).
Regarding claim 15, Jena discloses a system comprising at least one of sending or receiving broadband cellular communications to or from a user equipment, respectively ([0001] & [0029] discloses a UE communicating with a gNB from a 5G NR system (i.e. 5G broadband communication).);
instructing the user equipment to send periodic channel state information reports from the user equipment to the system, wherein the channel state information reports correspond to the broadband cellular communications ([0029] discloses a gNB configuring a UE to periodically report Channel State Information (CSI). To someone skilled in the art, CSI reporting from a UE to a gNB corresponds to 5G broadband cellular communications.);
determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result ([0029] discloses a gNB-DU determining that a specified consecutive “n” number of periodic CSI reports have not been received, to produce a result of classifying a UE context as inactive.); and
based on the result indicating that the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction with regard to the user equipment, and sending a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station of the system ([0029] discloses that based on the result that the UE context has been classified as inactive due to the gNB-DU determining that a specified consecutive “n” number of periodic CSI reports have not been received, a DU-initiated UE context release procedure is employed with regard to the UE, and the DU-initiated UE context release procedure is employed between the gNB-DU and a gNB-CU (i.e. a UE context release request is sent from the gNB-DU to the centralized gNB-CU).).
Jena fails to disclose wherein the system comprises non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution, cause the system comprising at least one processor to facilitate performance of operations.
However, Ramachandra teaches wherein the system comprises a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising at least one processor to facilitate performance of operations ([0038] & [0234] disclose a system for reporting radio link failures consisting of UEs and Radio Network Nodes (RNNs) comprising non-transitory computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause a processor in UEs or Radio Network Nodes (RNNs) to perform operations.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a system comprising instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system to facilitate performance of operations, comprising: at least one of sending or receiving broadband cellular communications to or from a user equipment, respectively; instructing the user equipment to send periodic channel state information reports from the user equipment to the system, wherein the channel state information reports correspond to the broadband cellular communications; and in response to determining that a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction for the user equipment, as disclosed by Jena, wherein the system comprises a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, in response to execution, cause the system comprising at least one processor to facilitate performance of operations, as taught by Ramachandra. The motivation to do so would be to have a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions that can be executed by a processor for implementing procedures for detecting radio link failures in a 5G system.
Jena fails to disclose based on determining that a channel state information report of the channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criterion, initiating a timer.
However, Loehr further teaches based on determining that a channel state information report of the channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criterion, initiating a timer (Fig 5 & [0066]-[0067] disclose a UE, based on receiving information indicating a discontinuous transmission, starting a discontinuous transmission timer. [0058] discloses that the absence of a CSI report may be considered the same as a DTX condition.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a system comprising instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system to facilitate performance of operations, comprising: at least one of sending or receiving broadband cellular communications to or from a user equipment, respectively; instructing the user equipment to send periodic channel state information reports from the user equipment to the system, wherein the channel state information reports correspond to the broadband cellular communications; and in response to determining that a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction for the user equipment, as disclosed by Jena, that facilitates performance operations comprising: based on determining that a channel state information report of the channel state information reports satisfies a discontinuous transmission criterion, initiating a timer, as further taught by Loehr. The motivation to do so would be to have a sidelink communication system where a source UE can determine when no sidelink data is available at a destination UE by the absence of receiving a CSI report from the destination UE indicating a DTX condition, then starting a timer that, after expiry of the timer, if no CSI report is received the source UE determines that no sidelink data is available at the destination UE.
Jena fails to disclose but Park further teaches wherein the determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result, is based on expiry of the timer ([0158] discloses a UE declaring an RLF (i.e. produces a result) when not receiving consecutive CSI reports based on not receiving the consecutive CSI reports before expiry of a PC5 RLF timer.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that cause a system to facilitate performance of operations comprising instructing user equipment to provide periodic channel state information reports from a user equipment to the system, determining, whether a defined number a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result; and based on the result indicating that the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, initiating a user equipment release transaction with regard to the user equipment, and sending a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station of the system, as disclosed by Jena, wherein the determining whether a defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, to produce a result, is based on expiry of the timer, as further taught by Park. The motivation to do so would be to have a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that cause a sidelink communication system to facilitate performance of operations where a source UE can determine when no sidelink data is available at a destination UE by the absence of receiving consecutive CSI reports from the destination UE before expiry of the timer, and if a defined number of CSI report are not received before expiry of the time, then the source UE determines that no sidelink data is available at the destination UE.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jena et al. (US 2023/0396991)(herein after “Jena”) in view of Ramachandra et al. (US 2023/0388204)(herein after “Ramachandra”) and Loehr et al. (US 20230199642)(herein after “Loehr”) and Park et al. (US 20220385409)(herein after “Park”), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Han et al. (US 2022/0124579)(herein after “Han”).
Regarding claim 4, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises the centralized unit.
Jena fails to disclose wherein the user equipment is communicatively coupled to an access and mobility management function component as part of the broadband cellular communications, and wherein the operations further comprise: triggering, by the centralized unit, a user equipment context release that corresponds to the user equipment context release request with the access and mobility management function component.
However, Han further teaches wherein the user equipment is communicatively coupled to an access and mobility management function component as part of the broadband cellular communications, and wherein the operations further comprise: triggering, by the centralized unit, a user equipment context release that corresponds to the user equipment context release request with the access and mobility management function component (Fig 10 & [0222] & [0228] disclose a UE communicatively coupled to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) as part of a network including a distributed gNB-DU unit and a centralized gNB-CU unit (i.e. part of 5G broadband communications), and wherein the procedures comprise the gNB-CU centralized unit initiating (i.e. triggering) an RRC connection release with the UE (i.e. a UE context release) that corresponds to a UE context release request from the gNB-CU to the AMF.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the system of claim 1, as disclosed by Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park, wherein the user equipment is communicatively coupled to an access and mobility management function component as part of the broadband cellular communications, and wherein the operations further comprise: triggering, by the centralized unit, a user equipment context release that corresponds to the user equipment context release request with the access and mobility management function component, as further taught by Han. The motivation to do so would be to have a system that can release an RRC connection on a serving gNB as part of a handover to a target gNB and inform an AMF of the RRC release, to assist the AMF in mobility management of the UE.
Claim 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jena et al. (US 2023/0396991)(herein after “Jena”) in view of Ramachandra et al. (US 2023/0388204)(herein after “Ramachandra”) and Loehr et al. (US 20230199642)(herein after “Loehr”) and Park et al. (US 20220385409)(herein after “Park”), as applied to Claim 8, and further in view of da Silva et al. (US 2019/0141557)(herein after “daSilva”).
Regarding claim 10, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the method of claim 8, comprising: determining, by the system, the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports for a primary cell with respect to the user equipment.
Jena fails to disclose the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports being based on a consecutive occurrences of in-sync indications.
However, daSilva teaches the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports is based on a consecutive occurrences of in-sync indications ([0046] discloses a radio link monitoring (RLM) based on N311 consecutive in-sync indications.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the method of claim 8, comprising: determining, by the system, the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports for a primary cell with respect to the user equipment, as disclosed by Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park, where the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports is based on a consecutive occurrences of in-sync indications, as further taught by daSilva. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for a system that can avoid a radio link failure declaration by having a number of consecutive CSI reports not received from a UE be based on a number of consecutive in-sync indications by the UE.
Claims 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jena et al. (US 2023/0396991)(herein after “Jena”) in view of Ramachandra et al. (US 2023/0388204)(herein after “Ramachandra”) and Loehr et al. (US 20230199642)(herein after “Loehr”) and Park et al. (US 20220385409)(herein after “Park”), as applied to Claim 15, and further in view of 3GPP et al. (3GPP TS 38.473, Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network, NG-RAN, F1 application protocol (F1AP), Rel-17, V17.0.0, 2022-4)(herein after “3GPP”).
Regarding claim 16, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park disclose the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15.
Jena discloses wherein the operations further comprise: in response to the determining that the defined number of consecutive channel state information reports of the periodic channel state information reports have not been received, sending a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station ([0029] discloses a gNB-DU determining that a specified consecutive “n” number of periodic CSI reports have not been received, and in response a DU-initiated UE context release procedure is employed with regard to the UE, and the DU-initiated UE context release procedure (as specified in 3GPP TS 38.473) is employed between the gNB-DU and a gNB-CU (i.e. a UE context release request is sent from the gNB-DU to the centralized gNB-CU).).
Jena fails to disclose wherein the user equipment context release request indicates a reason for the user equipment context release request.
However, 3GPP further teaches wherein the user equipment context release request indicates a reason for the user equipment context release request (Page 53, Section 8.3.2.2 discloses a UE context release message shall indicate the appropriate cause value (i.e. a reason for the context release).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: sending a user equipment context release request to a centralized unit of a base station, as disclosed by Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park, wherein the user equipment context release request indicates a reason for the user equipment context release request, as further taught by 3GPP. The motivation to do so would be to have a non-transitory computer-readable medium store instructions that can be executed by a processor in a gNB that can send a 3GPP NR-RAN based UE context release message that indicates the cause for release so that the NR network can take action, if necessary, to prevent future undesirable UE context releases.
Regarding claim 17, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park and 3GPP disclose the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16.
Jenna fails to disclose wherein the reason indicates a radio network layer or a radio link failure.
However, 3GPP further teaches wherein the reason indicates a radio network layer or a radio link failure (Page 231, third row in the table discloses a Radio Network Layer Cause IE that may be due to an RLC or other type of radio link (RL) failure.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, as disclosed by Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park and 3GPP, wherein the reason indicates a radio network layer or radio link failure, as further taught by 3GPP. The motivation to do so would be to have a non-transitory computer-readable medium store instructions that can be executed by a processor in a gNB that can send a 3GPP NR-RAN based UE context release message that indicates a Network Layer cause for release, such as a radio link failure, so that the NR network can know the cause of the failure and take action, if necessary, to avoid future radio link failures.
Claims 19 & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jena et al. (US 2023/0396991)(herein after “Jena”) in view of Ramachandra et al. (US 2023/0388204)(herein after “Ramachandra”) and Loehr et al. (US 20230199642)(herein after “Loehr”) and Park et al. (US 20220385409)(herein after “Park”), as applied to Claim 15, and further in view of Tweet4Technology et al. (Tweet4Technology, https://tweet4technology.blogspot.com/2016/11/measurement-controlrrc-connection.html, LTE 5G-NR Wireless Technology Blog, November 28, 2016)(herein after “T4T”).
Regarding claim 19, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15.
Jenna discloses wherein the operations further comprise: configuring a channel state information reporting with the user equipment initiating the receiving of the periodic channel state information reports ([0029] discloses a gNB configuring CSI reporting with a UE through an RRC Reconfiguration message that causes the UE to periodically report the CSI.).
Jenna fails to disclose wherein the configuring comprises a UE confirmation before initiating CSI reporting.
However T4T further teaches wherein the configuring comprises a UE confirmation before initiating CSI reporting (First page discloses a UE sending RRC Connection complete (i.e. confirmation) before measurement reports are sent (i.e. CSI reporting).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: configuring a channel state information reporting with the user equipment initiating the receiving of the periodic channel state information reports, as disclosed by Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park, wherein the configuring comprises a UE confirmation before initiating CSI reporting, as further taught by T4T. The motivation to do so would be to have a non-transitory computer-readable medium store instructions that can be executed by a processor in a gNB that can send an RRC reconfiguration message to a UE to setup periodic CSI reporting and receive a complete message before the UE begins reporting CSI so that the gNB can be prepared to look for CSI reporting from the UE.
Regarding claim 20, Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15.
Jena discloses wherein the operations further comprise: configuring a channel state information periodicity with the user equipment initiating the receiving of the periodic channel state information reports ([0029] discloses a gNB configuring periodic CSI reporting with a UE through an RRC Reconfiguration message that causes the UE to periodically report the CSI with a periodicity.).
Jenna fails to disclose wherein the configuring of the channel state information periodicity occurs before initiating the receiving of the periodic CSI information.
However T4T further teaches wherein the configuring of the channel state information periodicity occurs before initiating the receiving of the periodic CSI information (First page discloses a UE sending RRC Connection complete (i.e. for periodic CSI reporting) before measurement reports are sent (i.e. CSI reporting).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: configuring a channel state information periodicity with the user equipment initiating the receiving of the periodic channel state information reports, as disclosed by Jena in view of Ramachandra and Loehr and Park, wherein the configuring of the channel state information periodicity occurs before initiating the receiving of the periodic CSI information, as further taught by T4T. The motivation to do so would be to have a non-transitory computer-readable medium store instructions that can be executed by a processor in a gNB that can send an RRC reconfiguration message to a UE to setup periodic CSI reporting with a configured periodicity before the UE begins reporting CSI so that the gNB can determine windows of time to look for CSI reporting from the UE.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 21 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 and if the objections to claim 21 as described in the section on Claim Objections above are addressed.
Conclusion
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Tsai et al. (US 2019/0393979) discloses a Method for Realizing Wireless Communication of User Equipment of Wireless Communication System, Involves Generating Channel State Information Reports, Where Channel State Information Reports Associated with Trigger State is Transmitted.
Harrison et al. (US 2019/0141677) discloses Semi-Persistent CSI Feedback Over PUSCH.
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/JAMES P SEYMOUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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