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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 09/28/2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the CHINA 202211192219.7 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because of the term “discloser”. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The disclosure is objected to because it contains an embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code. Applicant is required to delete the embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code; references to websites should be limited to the top-level domain name without any prefix such as http:// or other browser-executable code. See MPEP § 608.01.
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 1-13 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sebire et al. (“Sebire”) [PGPUB 2024/0056802] in view of Wu et al. (“Wu”) [PGPUB 2022/0303862].
Regarding claim 1, the Sebire reference discloses a first node for wireless communications, comprising: a first transmitter, transmitting a first Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Unit (PDU), the first MAC PDU comprising a first MAC header and a first MAC subPDU, the first MAC subPDU comprising a first MAC subheader and a first MAC Service Data Unit (SDU), the first MAC SDU comprising a first Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) PDU [Sebire; figures 2 and 3; paragraphs 0043, 0048, 0050, and 0055];
wherein a target parameter is used for security algorithm of the first PDCP PDU [ie. PDCP SDU (“target parameter) to deliver ciphered PDUs (“used for security algorithm”); Sebire; figure 3; para 0040, 0043, and 0055];
a header of the first PDCP PDU indicates an identity of a first key, the first key being used for the security algorithm of the first PDCP PDU [ie. key; Sebire; para 0071-0073].
The Sebire reference does not specifically disclose the first PDCP PDU being a PDCP PDU of a unicast sidelink radio bearer (RB), whether the target parameter is a logical channel identity (LCID) is related to whether the first node is a generator of the first PDCP PDU, when the first node is the generator of the first PDCP PDU, the target parameter is a LCID, and when the first node is not the generator of the first PDCP PDU, the target parameter is not a LCID.
However, in the same field of endeavor, the Wu reference discloses a first PDCP PDU being a PDCP PDU of a unicast sidelink radio bearer (RB) [Wu; para 0042, 0050, 0069, 0094, and 0184], whether the target parameter is a logical channel identity (LCID) is related to whether the first node is a generator of the first PDCP PDU [ie. using LCID, if first remote node is “first node” or using bearer id, if the relay node (“not generator”); Wu; fig 5 and 12; para 0061, 0070, 0074-0075 and 0088], when the first node is the generator of the first PDCP PDU, the target parameter is a LCID [ie. if the first/source remote node is the first node generating the PDCP PDU (“LCID”); Wu; para 0083, 0085, and 0088], and when the first node is not the generator of the first PDCP PDU, the target parameter is not a LCID [using bearer id, if the relay node (“not generator”) is the first node; Wu; fig 5 and 12; para 0070-0071, 0074-0075 and 0088]. The Sebire and Wu references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to manage LTE systems with PDCP. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of LCID, taught by Wu, into the system, taught by Sebire. The motivation for doing so would have been to identify hop paths easier for a UE relay [WU; para 0041].
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Sebire-Wu further discloses a first receiver, receiving a second MAC PDU before the action of transmitting a first MAC PDU, the second MAC PDU for generating the first MAC PDU [ie. first PDU sent from source UE; Sebire; para 0069 and 0082] [ie. to UE relay; Wu; para 0041 and 0050-0051]; wherein the second MAC PDU comprises a second MAC header and a second MAC subPDU, the second MAC subPDU comprising a second MAC subheader and a second MAC SDU, the second MAC SDU comprising the first PDCP PDU; the generator of the first PDCP PDU is a node other than the first node [Sebire; figures 2 and 3; paragraphs 0043, 0048, 0050, and 0055].
Regarding claim 3, the Sebire reference discloses multiple MAC PDU headers [Sebire; fig 5; para 0009] but does not specifically disclose the second MAC header comprises a first field and a second field, where the first field in the second MAC header indicates the generator of the first PDCP PDU, while the second field in the second MAC header indicates the first node; the first MAC header comprises a first field and a second field, where the first field comprised by the first MAC header indicates the first node, while the second field comprised by the first MAC header indicates a receiver of the first MAC PDU.
However, in the same field of endeavor, the Wu reference discloses the second MAC header comprises a first field and a second field, where the first field in the second MAC header indicates the generator of the first PDCP PDU, while the second field in the second MAC header indicates the first node; the first MAC header comprises a first field and a second field, where the first field comprised by the first MAC header indicates the first node, while the second field comprised by the first MAC header indicates a receiver of the first MAC PDU [Wu; para 0059 and 0063-0066]. The Sebire and Wu references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to manage LTE systems with PDCP. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of addresses in fields of a MAC header, taught by Wu, into the system, taught by Sebire. The motivation for doing so would have been to useful routing information to the destination remote UE [WU; para 0068].
Regarding claims 4-6, the Sebire reference does not specifically disclose first MAC SDU comprises a PDU of a first protocol layer, the first protocol layer being a protocol layer between an RLC layer and a PDCP layer, with a header of the PDU of the first protocol layer comprising the target parameter; wherein the generator of the first PDCP PDU is a node other than the first node.
However, in the same field of endeavor, the Wu reference discloses first MAC SDU comprises a PDU of a first protocol layer, the first protocol layer being a protocol layer between an RLC layer and a PDCP layer, with a header of the PDU of the first protocol layer comprising the target parameter; wherein the generator of the first PDCP PDU is a node other than the first node [ie. adaptation layer; Wu; fig 3; para 0046, 0059, and 0063-0066]. The Sebire and Wu references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to manage LTE systems with PDCP. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of a layer between RLC and PDCP, taught by Wu, into the system, taught by Sebire. The motivation for doing so would have been to useful routing information to the destination remote UE, through adaptation layer [WU; para 0068].
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Sebire-Wu further discloses the target parameter is a peer-to-peer identity or identifier; wherein the first node is not a generator of the first PDCP PDU [Sebire; para 0050] [ie. LCID; Wu; para 0041].
Regarding claims 8-10, the combination of Sebire-Wu further discloses the target parameter is a BEARER ID [Sebire; para 0050] [ie. LCID; Wu; para 0042, 0051, and 0075].
Regarding claims 11-13, the combination of Sebire-Wu further discloses the target parameter is an identity of a radio bearer between the generator of the first PDCP PDU and a receiver of the first MAC PDU [Sebire; para 0050] [ie. LCID; Wu; para 0042, 0051, and 0075].
Regarding claims 16-18, the combination of Sebire-Wu further discloses the first node is not the generator of the first PDCP PDU, the first node is a L2 U2U (i.e., UE to UE) relay node [Sebire; para 0043, 0071, and 0084] [Wu; fig 3; para 0026-0027].
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Sebire-Wu further discloses the first node is the generator of the first PDCP PDU, the first node is not a L2 U2U relay node; the first node is a remote UE [ie. UE; Sebire; para 0070-0071] [Wu; fig 3-4; para 0045-0046].
Regarding claim 20, the method of claim 20 performs the similar steps as the apparatus of claim 1. The combination of Sebire-Wu teaches the apparatus of claim 1, as referenced above. Therefore, claim 20 is rejected using the same art and rationale set forth above in the rejection of claim 1, by the teachings of Sebire-Wu.
Claims 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sebire-Wu, as applied to claims 8 and 11 above, and further in view of Kim [PGPUB 2023/0232490].
Regarding claims 14 and 15, the combination of Sebire-Wu further disclose bearer identification [Sebire; para 0050] [ie. LCID; Wu; para 0042, 0051, and 0075] but does not specifically disclose bits of the target parameter are as inputs of parameters of the security algorithm from BEARER[O] to BEARER[4]. The instant specification does not describe any specific structure or function with the setup of these BEARER bits.
However, in the same field of endeavor, the Kim reference discloses bits of the target parameter are as inputs of parameters of the security algorithm from BEARER[O] to BEARER[4] [ie. bearer set; Kim; fig 2H; para 0182 , 0189, and 0204-0205]. The Sebire-Wu and Kim references are analogous art, since they have similar problem solving area in being able to manage LTE systems with PDCP. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of Bearer ids, taught by Kim, into the system, taught by Sebire-Wu. The motivation for doing so would have been to the base station (destination node) to quickly recognize a MAC PDU [Kim; para 0204].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hong et al. [USPAT 12,495,302] describes L3 U2N relay with a session key.
Bergstrom et al. [PGPUB 2024/0323689] describes Backhaul Adaptation Protocol for PDU security within a relay (donor) system.
Zhao et al. [PGPUB 2023/0038833] describes sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) with logical channel ids (LCID).
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/JASON D CARDONE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458