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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 9, which is newly added, and recites, in part:
“the one or more first upper layers are indicated in the application layer measurement configuration in first RRC message; and the one or more second upper layers are indicated in the application layer measurement configuration in the third RRC message”.
After reviewing the specification as filed, there is no indication that one or more first upper layers are indicated in the first configuration, and one or more second upper layers are indicated in an application layer measurement configuration in the third RRC message. The office notes that the third message is a message for resumption from the network, and is not disclosed as having another application layer measurement configuration. The specification at par.[0138 – 0146] describes the application layer measurement being released for specific upper layers based on the contents of the resume message but does not explicitly disclose that the resume message comprises an indication of second upper layers as claimed. Thus, the claims are rejected.
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.
Claim(s) 1, and 5-6, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eklof (WO 2023/014257 A1) in view of Liu et al. (US 2024/0188175 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 6, Eklof discloses:
a terminal (fig.7 depicts a terminal) in a wireless communciation system (fig.7 depicts a wireless communications system), the terminal comprising:
a transceiver (fig.8 communication interface element 812) configured to transmit and receive a signal (fig.8 element 812 – with 818 and 820); and
a controller (fig.8 element 802 which depicts the processor) configured to control the transceiver to:
perform a method performed by the terminal (fig.2 depicts a terminal), the method comprising:
receiving, by the terminal (fig.2 the aforecited wireless terminal), a first radio resource control (RRC) message (fig.2 depicts the transmission of an RRC message to the terminal), wherein the first RRC message comprises a configuration (fig.2 depicts the RRC message with a Re-configuration), and wherein the configuration comprises a discontinuous reception preference configuration (par.[0105 - 0107] which comprises an excerpt from 3GPP 38.331 5.3.5.9 Other Configuration. The “Other Configuration” is appended to the RRC message and includes a plurality of configurations for the UE such as DRX preference, see e.g. “OPTIONAL, - Need M drx-PreferenceC onfig-r 16 SetupRelease {DRX-PreferenceConfig-rl6}”. In particular the inclusion of SetupRelease allows the elementTypeParam (i.e. DRX-PrefernceConfig-r16) to be used for setup and release of the data type) and an application layer measurement configuration (par.[0013] describes a UE being configured with application layer measurement, “A UE capable of application layer measurement reporting in RRC CONNECTED may initiate the procedure when configured with application layer measurement, i.e. when measConfigAppLayer has been configured”. Par.[0015] which recites, in part, “The RRCConnectionReconfiguration message is used to reconfigure the UE to setup or release the UE for Application Layer measurements. This is signaled in the measConfigAppLayer-15 IE within the “OtherConfig” IE.”);
releasing the discontinuous reception preference configuration (as stated above, the UE based on reception of “OtherConfiguration SetupRelease” is capable of setting up the DRX preference or releasing the DRX preference for assistance information reporting).
While the disclosure of Eklof teaches reception of application layer measurement information in an RRC message along with other other-information, it may not explicitly disclose:
receiving, by the terminal, a second RRC message causing state transition to RRCINACTIVE;
storing the application layer measurement configuration in an Inactive Access Stratum Context;
initiating a procedure for RRC connection resumption;
receiving a third RRC message relating to resumption,
performing application layer measurement reporting based on the stored application layer measurement configuration and the third RRC message.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Liu teaches:
receiving, by the terminal, a second RRC message causing state transition to RRCINACTIVE (par.[0063] which recites, in part, “For example, the UE 120 may transition from RRC connected mode 302 or RRC inactive mode 306 to RRC idle mode 304 based at least in part on receiving an RRC release communication (e.g., an RRCRelease message). As another example, the UE 120 may transition from RRC connected mode 302 to RRC inactive mode 306 based at least in part on receiving an RRC release communication with a configuration suspension (e.g., an RRCRelease with suspendConfig message).”);
storing the application layer measurement configuration in an Inactive Access Stratum Context (fig.5 depicts the UE receiving the QoE configuration, which is a Application Layer Measurement Configuration, par.[0067]. The UE enters the Inactive_State after the reception of the QoE Configuration, which comprises the AppLayerMeasurementConfig);
initiating a procedure for RRC connection resumption (fig.5 the UE forwards at element 520 a request to resume the connection, par.[0085]);
receiving a third RRC message relating to resumption (fig.5 element 535 wherein the UE receives from the network a message related to a resumption, par.[0090]),
performing application layer measurement reporting based on the stored application layer measurement configuration and the third RRC message (fig.5 element 540, wherein the QoE Configuration Operation comprises an AppLayer Measurement as discussed in par.[0067], also, par.[0098] which describes the App Layer Meaurements).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the disclosure of Eklof for providing a measurement configuration in combination with other configuration information, with the disclosure of Liu which teaches resumption of a UE with measurements that were previously configured. The motivation/suggestion would have been the signaling from the network to the UE allows the UE to operate on a one or more cells in a manner suitable with constraints of the cell while reducing signaling overhead by providing many indications in a message.
Regarding claim 5, the disclosure of Eklof discloses:
wherein the application layer measurement configuration comprises one or more upper tayer specific application layer measurement configurations (par.[0013] describes a UE being configured with application layer measurement, “A UE capable of application layer measurement reporting in RRC CONNECTED may initiate the procedure when configured with application layer measurement, i.e. when measConfigAppLayer has been configured”.).
Claim(s) 7-10, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eklof in view of Liu, as applied to independent claims 1 and 6, and further in view of Chen et al. (US 2022/0353950 A1).
Regarding claims 7 and 8, the combination of Eklof in view of Liu substantially disclose the claims 1 and 6, but may not disclose:
not performing application layer measurement reporting for one or more first upper layers in case that the third RRC message comprises third information;
performing application layer measurement reporting for the one or more first upper layers in case that the third RRC message comprises neither the third information nor the application layer measurement configuration; and
performing application layer measurement reporting for one or more second upper layers in case that the third RRC message does not comprise the third information and comprises the application layer measurement configuration.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Chen teaches:
wherein an application layer measurement reporting for one or more first upper layers is not performed in case that the second RRC message comprises third information (fig.15 element 1522 the UE receives the RRC_RESUME and releases the radio bearer and does not perform the measurement procedure, par.[0124] describes the UE releasing the measurement configuration when releasing the SRB4)
wherein an application layer measurement reporting for the one or more first upper layers is performed in case that the second RRC message comprises neither the third information nor the application layer measurement configuration (in view of fig.15 the UE could receive an RRCResume without the release of SRB4 or the application layer measurement configuration and then would not release the measurement configuration associated with the SRB4, and then could perform the measurements as was previously configured in element 1511, and par.[0060 – 0061]. Also, the message can include 4th information which provides for a SRB kept indication or the application layer measurement configuration, par.[0083] which includes the kept indication, or rather the UE is to use the same measurement configuration for SRB4. Wherein as discussed above in par.[0060 – 0061] the UE is configured with an measurement configuration for SRB4 initially, and may or may not perform handover, or receive from a source or target cell an indication to keep an SRB or release and SRB which causes the maintaining of the measurement configuration or the release of the measurement configuration), and
wherein an application layer measurement reporting for one or more second upper layers is performed in case that the second RRC message does not comprise the third information and comprise the application layer measurement configuration (fig.15 the UE receives the release of the SRB4 and receives the DRB configuration, and/or reconfigures the SRB4. That is the UE receives the second upper layer which could be the DRB or the reconfigured SRB, then the UE may perform measurements on the new configuration.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the disclosure of Eklof and Liu for providing a measurement configuration in combination with other configuration information, with the disclosure of Chen which teaches resumption of a UE with measurements that were previously configured.
Regarding claim 9, Chen discloses:
the one or more first upper layers are indicated in the application layer measurement configuration in the first RRC message (fig.20 and par.[0153] wherein the UE receives a first SRB4 configuration, and fig.2a wherein measurement configuration, par.[0060]); and
the one or more second upper layers are indicated in the application layer measurement configuration in the third RRC message (fig.15 and the RRC_RESUME can comprise an reconfiguration of the SRB4 or an indication of DRB configuration, which are both considered upper layers, which would be different from the first upper layers).
Regarding claim 10, Chen discloses:
wherein the third infonnation causes release of a specific signaling radio bearer in case that the third information is present in the third RRC message (par.[0124] which recites, in part, “The RRC Resume message causes UE 102 to release 1422 the SRB4 and apply 1424 the DRB configuration indicated in the RRC Resume message”).
Claim(s) 11-12, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eklof in view of Liu, as applied to independent claims 1 and 6, and further in view of Jeong et al. (US 2024/0196248 A1).
Regarding claims 11 and 12, the combination of Eklof and Liu, substantially discloses the claimed subject matter of the independent claims, but may not disclose:
wherein an application layer measurement is performed and the application layer measurement reporting is disabled in the RRC_INACTIVE state.
In an analogous art, the disclosure Kumar teaches:
wherein an application layer measurement is performed and the application layer measurement reporting is disabled in the RRC_INACTIVE state (par.[0122] which describes the QoE measurements being disabled unless in the RRC_CONNECTED mode, however, with NR, the UE may perform QoE measurements while in the RRC_INACTIVE or RRC_IDLE for specific services such as MBS or MBMS).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings Eklof and Liu, with the disclosure of Jeong, which allows for the application layer measurements for applications which are supported in the RRC_INACTIVE state such as MBS/MBMS which are used in the RRC_INACTIVE state.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Hu et al. (US 2023/0308925 A1) “Communication Method and Apparatus, Readable Storage Medium, and System”
Kumar et al. (US 2022/0217560 A1) “Handling of NR QoE Measurements and QoE Reporting in RRC Modes”
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 JAMAAL HENSON whose telephone number is (571)272-5339. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thu: 7:30 am - 6:30 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, Derrick Ferris can be reached at (571)272-3123. 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.
JAMAAL HENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2411
/JAMAAL HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
Prosecution Insights