DETAILED ACTION
1. The following Office Action is based on the amendment filed on 15 May 2026, having claims 1, 7, 10, 16-17, 20, 24-25, 28, 31, 37-41, and 43 (claims 2-3 and 26 were cancelled).
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. 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 Arguments
3. Applicant’s arguments, filed 15 May 2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 7, 10, 16-17, 20, 24-25, 28, 31, 37-41, and 43 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Applicant argued that Sun does not disclose that “the selected configuration is a PC5 configuration” (remarks, page 13). Upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of Park et al. (US 2021/0105787 A1).
Claim Objections
4. Claims 1, 20, 25, 41, and 43 are objected to because of the following informalities:
The acronym NR recited in line of claim 1 must be written as “New Radio (NR)” the first time it is recited in the claim.
The term “and/or” recited in line 5 of claim 1 must be replaced by the word “or” or the phrase “at least one of” to render the claim affirmative.
The acronym HARQ recited in line 13 of claim 20 must be defined at least once in the claim.
The acronym NR recited in line of claim 2 of claim 25 must be written as “New Radio (NR)” the first time it is recited in the claim.
The term “and/or” recited in line 8 of claim 25 must be replaced by the word “or” or the phrase “at least one of” to render the claim affirmative.
The term “and/or” recited in lines 1 and 6 of claim 41 must be replaced by the word “or” or the phrase “at least one of” to render the claim affirmative.
Claim 43 recites the limitation “a channel busy ratio, CBR” in line 7. The limitation must be written as “a channel busy ratio (CBR)” because the acronym in parentheses represents the preceding words.
The term “and/or” recited in line 7 of claim 43 must be replaced by the word “or” or the phrase “at least one of” to render the claim affirmative.
Claim 43 recites the limitation “channel occupancy rate (CR)” in line 7. The limitation must be written as “channel occupancy rate (CR)” because the acronym in parentheses represents the preceding words.
The acronym HARQ recited in line 13 of claim 43 must be defined at least once in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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, 7, 10, 16-17, 20, 24-25, 28, 37-41, and 43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable by Sun et al. (US 2024/0049104 A1) in view of Park et al. (US 2021/0105787 A1).
For claim 1, Sun discloses a transceiver (Fig 1, remote UE 106) is configured to operate, in dependence on a QoS and/or QoS requirement of the transceiver ([0079-0080] remote UE 106 operates based on E2E QoS requirements set by relay UE 104 or base station 102), using a selected configuration ([0081] last 3 lines, the relay UE selects a QoS enforcement configuration received from the base station).
receive the selected configuration from a relaying transceiver or a base station of the wireless communication network ([0080] the relay UE sends a QoS message to the remote UE, wherein the QoS message may be identical to the QoS configuration that the relay UE received from the base station).
the transceiver is configured to receive the selected configuration via a configuration message ([0080] the relay UE 104 sends a QoS message to the remote UE 106).
For claim 1, Sun does not expressly disclose the transceiver operates in NR sidelink mode 1 or mode 2, and that the selected configuration is a PC5 configuration.
Park, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches the transceiver operates in NR sidelink mode 1 or mode 2 ([0278-0279] the wireless device operates in mode 1or mode based on the sidelink bearer allocated by the base station and selected by the wireless device), the transceiver is configured to receive the selected configuration via a configuration message ([0279] the wireless device receives a sidelink configuration message comprises sidelink bearers for mode 1 or mode 2 operation), and the selected configuration is a PC5 configuration ([0278-0279] sidelink configuration bearers for the mode 1 or mode 2 operation). Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to implement the sidelink configuration method of Park in the communication network of Sun at the time of the invention to operate the wireless device in mode 1 or mode 2 based on the selected configuration.
For claim 7, Sun discloses the selected configuration is selected out of a set of configurations ([0051] the relay UE selects one or more QoS configurations for first hop and second hop from a splitting table comprising one or more sets of configurations),
and/or wherein the selected configuration is selected out of a set of configurations, wherein at least a proper subset of configurations of the set of configurations are associated with different QoS requirements of the transceiver ([0051] the relay UE selects one or more QoS configurations for first hop and second hop from a splitting table comprising one or more sets of configurations, wherein the different QoS requirements comprise different values for CBR for the first hop or second hop for communications with the remote UE (i.e., the transceiver)),
and/or wherein at least a proper subset of configurations of the set of configurations are associated with different communication conditions ([0051] the relay UE selects one or more QoS configurations for first hop and second hop from a splitting table comprising one or more sets of configurations, wherein the different QoS requirements comprise different values for CBR for the first hop or second hop for communications with the remote UE (i.e., the transceiver)); [0054-0055] the different CBR values to correspond to different link conditions as measured by the relay UE),
For claim 10, Sun discloses the transceiver is configured to report the QoS requirement to a relaying transceiver or a base station of the wireless communication network ([0082] the transceiver of the remote UE 106 transmits the QoS requirement to the relay UE 104),
and/or wherein the transceiver is configured to report the QoS requirement to a relaying transceiver or a base station of the wireless communication network, wherein the transceiver is configured to report the QoS requirement: event based ([0080] and [0082] the remote UE 106 transmits the QoS requirement to the relay UE after (event-based) receiving the QoS capability message from the relay UE), periodically, threshold based, responsive to a reporting request, or responsive to QoS requirements,
and/or wherein the transceiver is configured to select a configuration out of the set of configuration indicated/signaled by a relaying transceiver ([0080-0081] the relay UE transmits a selected QoS configuration to the remote UE based on a configuration message received from the base station) or base station or another transceiver of the wireless communication system, to acquire the selected configuration.
For claim 16, Sun discloses the QoS requirement is at least one of latency, data rate, reliability ([0082] PER (packet error rate)), different data flows or resource types, priority level ([0082] priority).
For claim 17, Sun discloses the transceiver is configured to transmit and/or receive signals to and/or from a relaying transceiver or base station of the wireless communication system using the selected configuration ([0080] the remote UE transmits and receives signals from the relay UE based on the QoS message received from the relay UE),
and/or wherein the set of configurations are stored in a memory of the transceiver or wherein the set of configurations are provided to the transceiver by a relaying transceiver or base station of the wireless communication network,
and/or wherein the transceiver is configured to update and/or reconfigure one or more configurations of the set of configurations responsive to a reception of a update and or reconfiguration information ([0080] and [0082] the remote UE 106 transmits the QoS requirement to the relay UE after (event-based) receiving the QoS capability message from the relay UE).
For claim 20, Sun discloses the transceiver is configured to report its operating status to a relaying transceiver or a base station of the wireless communication system ([0082] the transceiver 106 transmits its QoS requirement to the relay UE 104, wherein the QoS requirement comprises PDB (packet delay budget) of the transceiver 106 which is the acceptable latency for the transceiver),
and/or wherein the wherein the transceiver is configured to report its operating status to a relaying transceiver or a base station of the wireless communication system, wherein the operating status includes at least one out of a channel busy ratio, CBR, and/or channel occupancy rate, CR at the transceiver, a load of the transceiver, a buffer status of the transceiver, a queueing latency of the transceiver ([0082] the transceiver 106 transmits its QoS requirement to the relay UE 104, wherein the QoS requirement comprises PDB (packet delay budget) of the transceiver 106 which is the acceptable latency for the transceiver), a packet error rate of the transceiver ([0082] PER (packet error rate)), a number of HARQ retransmissions of the transceiver, a measurement report of the transceiver,
and/or wherein the transceiver is configured to report its operating status to a relaying transceiver or a base station of the wireless communication system, wherein the transceiver is configured to report its operating status: event based, periodically, threshold based, or responsive to an operating status reporting request ([0080] and [0082] the remote UE 106 transmits the QoS requirement to the relay UE after (event-based) receiving the QoS capability message from the relay UE).
For claim 24, Sun discloses the transceiver is configured to report a packet delay budget to a relaying transceiver of the wireless communication system ([0082] PDB = packet delay budget).
For claim 25, Sun discloses a relaying transceiver (Fig 1, relay UE 104) of a wireless communication system, wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to operate in a sidelink in-coverage ([0024] relay UE 104 is in cell coverage of base station 102), out of coverage or partial coverage scenario,
wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to relay signals between a transceiver and a base station or another transceiver of the wireless communication system (Fig 1 and [0078] the relay UE relay packets between the base station and remote UE 106),
wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to operate, in dependence on a QoS or/and QoS requirement of the transceiver, using a selected configuration ([0081] the relay UE relays packets to remote UE 106 based on a E2E QoS requirement which is based on a QoS enforcement configuration received from the base station).
receive the selected configuration from a base station of the wireless communication network ([0081] relay UE receives the selected QoS enforcement configuration from the base station),
and/or wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to receive the selected configuration via a configuration message ([0081] the base station transmits the QoS enforcement configuration via dedicated RRC message).
For claim 25, Sun does not expressly disclose the transceiver operates in NR sidelink mode 1 or mode 2, and that the selected configuration is a PC5 configuration.
Park, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches the transceiver operates in NR sidelink mode 1 or mode 2 ([0278-0279] the wireless device operates in mode 1or mode based on the sidelink bearer allocated by the base station and selected by the wireless device), the transceiver is configured to receive the selected configuration via a configuration message ([0279] the wireless device receives a sidelink configuration message comprises sidelink bearers for mode 1 or mode 2 operation), and the selected configuration is a PC5 configuration ([0278-0279] sidelink configuration bearers for the mode 1 or mode 2 operation). Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to implement the sidelink configuration method of Park in the communication network of Sun at the time of the invention to operate the wireless device in mode 1 or mode 2 based on the selected configuration.
For claim 28, Sun discloses the relaying transceiver is configured to relay the selected configuration to the transceiver ([0086-0087] based on the splitting table configurations received from the base station, the relay UE may adjust and assign (i.e., sends a configuration message) QoS requirements for the remote UE 106),
and/or wherein the selected configuration includes a PC5 configuration and/or a Uu configuration ([0087] the first hop and second hop QoS requirements involves PC5 (sidelink) connection between the relay UE and the remote UE 106, or between the remote UE 106 and a target UE 108).
For claim 33, Sun discloses the QoS requirement is reported from the transceiver to the relaying transceiver ([0082] the remote UE 106 transmits the QoS requirement to the relay UE after (event-based) receiving the QoS capability message from the relay UE).
and/or wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to select a configuration out of the set of configurations in dependence on the QoS requirement of the transceiver, to acquire the selected configuration ([0086-0087] based on the splitting table configurations received from the base station, the relay UE may adjust/select and assign (i.e., sends a selected configuration message) QoS requirements for the remote UE 106).
For claim 37, Sun discloses the relaying transceiver is configured to signal the selected configuration to the transceiver ([0087] the relay UE may adjust and assign (i.e., sends a selected configuration message) QoS requirements for the remote UE 106).
For claim 38, Sun discloses the relaying transceiver is configured to relay signals between the transceiver and the base station using the selected configuration ([0081] the relay UE relays packets to remote UE 106 based on a E2E QoS requirement which is based on a QoS enforcement configuration received from the base station).
For claim 39, Sun discloses the relaying transceiver is configured to provide the set of configurations to the transceiver ([0086-0087] based on the splitting table configurations received from the base station, the relay UE may adjust and assign (i.e., sends a configuration message) QoS requirements for the remote UE 106).
For claim 40, Sun discloses the relaying transceiver is configured to determine at least a part of the set of configurations itself ([0087] the relay UE (by itself) may adjust and assign (i.e., sends a configuration message) QoS requirements for the remote UE 106) and/or wherein the set of configurations are provided to the relaying transceiver by the base station ([0086] the set of configurations are from a splitting table (page 5, table 1) received from the base station).
For claim 41, Sun discloses the relaying transceiver is configured to update and/or reconfigure one or more configurations of the set of configurations in the transceiver ([0087] the relay UE (by itself) may adjust and assign (i.e., sends a configuration message) QoS requirements for the remote UE 106 based on [0086] the set of configurations listed in a splitting table (page 5, table 1) received from the base station).
and/or wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to update and/or reconfigure one or more configurations of the set of configurations in the transceiver, wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to update and/or reconfigure one or more configurations of the set of configurations in the transceiver periodically, event based, or responsive to a request for reconfiguration received from the transceiver ([0087] the relay UE (by itself) may adjust and assign (i.e., sends a configuration message) QoS requirements for the remote UE 106 based on [0086] the set of configurations listed in a splitting table (page 5, table 1) received from the base station).
For claim 43, Sun discloses the relaying transceiver is configured to receive an operating status report from the transceiver ([0080] and [0082] the remote UE 106 transmits the QoS requirement to the relay UE after (event-based) receiving the QoS capability message from the relay UE),
and/or wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to receive an operating status report from the transceiver, wherein the operating status includes at least one out of a channel busy ratio, CBR, and/or channel occupancy rate, CR at the transceiver, a load of the transceiver, a buffer status of the transceiver, a queueing latency of the transceiver ([0082] the transceiver 106 transmits its QoS requirement to the relay UE 104, wherein the QoS requirement comprises PDB (packet delay budget) of the transceiver 106 which is the acceptable latency for the transceiver), a packet error rate of the transceiver ([0082] PER (packet error rate)), a number of HARQ retransmissions of the transceiver, a measurement report of the transceiver,
and/or wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to report its operating status to the base station of the wireless communication system ([0079] the relay UE 104 reports its QoS capability to the base station),
and/or wherein the relaying transceiver is configured to report its operating status to the base station of the wireless communication system, wherein the operating status includes at least one out of a channel busy ratio, CBR, and/or channel occupancy rate, CR at the relaying transceiver, a load of the relaying transceiver, a buffer status of the relaying transceiver, a queueing latency of the relaying transceiver, ([0082] the transceiver 106 transmits its QoS requirement to the relay UE 104, wherein the QoS requirement comprises PDB (packet delay budget) of the transceiver 106 which is the acceptable latency for the transceiver), a packet error rate of the transceiver ([0082] PER (packet error rate)), a number of HARQ retransmissions of the relaying transceiver, a measurement report of the relaying transceiver.
6. Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (US 2024/0049104 A1) Park et al. (US 2021/0105787 A1), and further in view of Wu et al. (US 2022/0312376 A1).
For claim 31, Sun does not expressly disclose the selected configuration defines a mapping between Uu and PC5 radio bearers.
Wu, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches the selected configuration defines a mapping between Uu and PC5 radio bearers ([0102] the relay UE stores configuration information for communication with the remote UE, wherein the configuration information comprises a Uu bearer mapping operating between the relay UE and the network node). Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to include Uu bearer mapping information in the selected configurations of the modified network of Sun and Park based on the teachings of Wu at the time of the invention.
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form.
8. 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.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Elisabeth B Magloire whose telephone number is (571)272-5601. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 AM-5 PM ET.
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, Sujoy K Kundu can be reached at 571-272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ELISABETH BENOIT MAGLOIRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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