DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 7/7/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9-10 have been amended. Claims 2, 4 and 6 have been cancelled. Claims 11 and 12 have been added. Claims 1, 3, 5 and 7-12 are still pending in this application, with claims 1, 9 and 10 being independent.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3, 5, and 7-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tomici et al. (US 2017/0099617, hereinafter Tomici) in view of Zorgui et al. (US 2024/0089875, hereinafter Zorgui), and further in view of Chen et al. (US 2017/0347338, hereinafter Chen).
Regarding claim 1, Tomici discloses a processing apparatus comprising: at least one memory configured to store processing instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the processing instructions to [Tomici Figures 1A-1C disclose examples of system comprising radio access network, core network, and UEs, comprising various components such as a processor, a transceiver, memory, etc. (Tomici Figures 1A-1C, paragraphs 0031-0059)]:
Determine a reward to provide to a terminal apparatus that performs target processing, which is processing contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system using a base station, according to assignment from the base station, and provide the determined reward [Tomici discloses an example network architecture (Tomici Figure 2) for offloading traffic using a relay WTRU (UE). An eNB detects overloading or congestion, or any other triggering condition for offloading and decides to offload traffic (Tomici paragraph 0066). Tomici Figure 5 discloses an example where a relay WTRU is selected for offloading traffic; the eNB and the selected relay WTRU set up a connection, and the eNB sends the download request to the relay WTRU. The traffic data is transported to the WTRU 210 using relay and HeNB (i.e. the terminal performs target processing according to assignment from base station) (Tomici Figure 5, paragraph 0068). The relay WTRU contributes its resources such as bandwidth, battery, etc., and may be given incentives to act as a relay WTRU. For example, the relay WTRU’s own traffic may be given a higher priority (i.e. determine a reward, and provide the determined reward) (Tomici paragraph 0069)];
Assign the target processing to the terminal apparatus; provide the determined reward to the terminal apparatus that performs the assigned target processing [Tomici Figure 5 discloses an example where a relay WTRU is selected for offloading traffic; the eNB and the selected relay WTRU set up a connection, and the eNB sends the download request to the relay WTRU. The traffic data is transported to the WTRU 210 using relay and HeNB (i.e. target processing is assigned to the terminal) (Tomici Figure 5, paragraph 0068). The relay WTRU contributes its resources such as bandwidth, battery, etc., and may be given incentives to act as a relay WTRU. For example, the relay WTRU’s own traffic may be given a higher priority (Tomici paragraph 0069)].
Although Tomici discloses regarding determining a reward to provide to a terminal apparatus that performs target processing (see above); Tomici does not expressly disclose the features of the processing being contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system; assigning processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal from UE (User Equipment) present on a cell edge as the target processing; calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired when the terminal apparatus performs the target processing; and providing the reward according to the calculated contribution degree.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Zorgui discloses that a network entity may activate one or more UEs to act as a relay to communicate with out of coverage devices, which may allow additional flexibility such that the UEs may be activated as relay devices on demand when needed (e.g. based on a level of traffic or whether the level of traffic exceeds or does not exceed a threshold). In some cases the network entity may activate one or more UEs as relays based on the network energy saving mode (Zorgui paragraph 0106). This way, the network entity may communicate with the UEs while still employing network energy saving modes to reduce power consumption by relaying communications through the relay device (Zorgui paragraph 0113). The relay device may also be a UE (Zorgui paragraph 0090). Thus, a UE may perform target processing for a network entity which is contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tomici to have the feature of the processing being contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system; as taught by Zorgui. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide improved techniques for supporting relay operation with energy state modes, and (Zorgui paragraphs 0004 and to reduce power consumption in the network (Zorgui paragraph 0113).
Tomici and Zorgui do not expressly disclose the features of assigning processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal from UE (User Equipment) present on a cell edge as the target processing; calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired when the terminal apparatus performs the target processing; and providing the reward according to the calculated contribution degree.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Chen discloses that a base station may consider information such as current UL/DL traffic of UE, relay load state of the UE, location at an edge of a cell, etc. when selecting a relay node. The UE may expect price compensation for relay data forwarding (Chen paragraph 0843). Price compensation per data unit also suggests calculating the amount of contribution by the UE (i.e. contribution degree) and providing a reward accordingly.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tomici and Zorgui to have the feature of assigning processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal from UE (User Equipment) present on a cell edge as the target processing; calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired when the terminal apparatus performs the target processing; and providing the reward according to the calculated contribution degree; as taught by Chen. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide solutions for selection of relay nodes in the network (Chen paragraphs 0003 and 0005).
Regarding claim 3, Tomici, Zorgui and Chen disclose the processing apparatus according to claim 1. Tomici, Zorgui and Chen further disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the processing instructions to: assign processing that assists the base station by being performed by the terminal apparatus as the target processing [Tomici Figure 5 discloses an example where a relay WTRU is selected for offloading traffic; the eNB and the selected relay WTRU set up a connection, and the eNB sends the download request to the relay WTRU. The traffic data is transported to the WTRU 210 using relay and HeNB (i.e. target processing is assigned to the terminal) (Tomici Figure 5, paragraph 0068)]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, Tomici, Zorgui and Chen disclose the processing apparatus according to claim 1. Tomici, Zorgui and Chen further disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the processing instructions to: provide the reward according to a type of the assigned target processing [Chen discloses that a base station may consider information such as current UL/DL traffic of UE, relay load state of the UE, location at an edge of a cell, etc. when selecting a relay node. The UE may expect price compensation per data unit or time unit for relay data forwarding (i.e. the compensation may correspond to a type of target processing) (Chen paragraph 0843)]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 7, Tomici, Zorgui and Chen disclose the processing apparatus according to claim 1. Tomici, Zorgui and Chen further disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the processing instructions to: acquire execution content data, the execution content data being data that can be acquired from the terminal apparatus when the target processing is performed; and calculate the contribution degree based on the acquired data [Chen discloses that a base station may consider information such as current UL/DL traffic of UE, relay load state of the UE, location at an edge of a cell, etc. when selecting a relay node. The UE may expect price compensation per data unit or time unit for relay data forwarding (Chen paragraph 0843). Price compensation per data unit also suggests acquiring execution content data and calculating the contribution degree in order to provide a reward]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 1.
.
Regarding claim 8, Tomici, Zorgui and Chen disclose the processing apparatus according to claim 7. Tomici, Zorgui and Chen further disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the processing instructions to: acquire load information, which indicates a load on the terminal apparatus that is imposed when the target processing is performed, from the terminal apparatus as the execution content data [Chen discloses that a base station may consider information such as current UL/DL traffic of UE, relay load state of the UE, location at an edge of a cell, etc. when selecting a relay node. The relay load state of the UE may also be reported. The UE may expect price compensation per data unit or time unit for relay data forwarding (Chen paragraph 0843)]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 7.
Regarding claim 9, Tomici discloses a processing method configured to be performed by an information processing apparatus, the processing method comprising [Tomici Figures 1A-1C disclose examples of system comprising radio access network, core network, and UEs (Tomici Figures 1A-1C, paragraphs 0031-0059)]:
Determining a reward to provide to a terminal apparatus that performs target processing, which is processing contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system using a base station, according to assignment from the base station, and providing the determined reward [Tomici discloses an example network architecture (Tomici Figure 2) for offloading traffic using a relay WTRU (UE). An eNB detects overloading or congestion, or any other triggering condition for offloading and decides to offload traffic (Tomici paragraph 0066). Tomici Figure 5 discloses an example where a relay WTRU is selected for offloading traffic; the eNB and the selected relay WTRU set up a connection, and the eNB sends the download request to the relay WTRU. The traffic data is transported to the WTRU 210 using relay and HeNB (i.e. the terminal performs target processing according to assignment from base station) (Tomici Figure 5, paragraph 0068). The relay WTRU contributes its resources such as bandwidth, battery, etc., and may be given incentives to act as a relay WTRU. For example, the relay WTRU’s own traffic may be given a higher priority (i.e. determine a reward, and provide the determined reward) (Tomici paragraph 0069)];
Assign the target processing to the terminal apparatus; provide the determined reward to the terminal apparatus that performs the assigned target processing [Tomici Figure 5 discloses an example where a relay WTRU is selected for offloading traffic; the eNB and the selected relay WTRU set up a connection, and the eNB sends the download request to the relay WTRU. The traffic data is transported to the WTRU 210 using relay and HeNB (i.e. target processing is assigned to the terminal) (Tomici Figure 5, paragraph 0068). The relay WTRU contributes its resources such as bandwidth, battery, etc., and may be given incentives to act as a relay WTRU. For example, the relay WTRU’s own traffic may be given a higher priority (Tomici paragraph 0069)].
Although Tomici discloses regarding determining a reward to provide to a terminal apparatus that performs target processing (see above); Tomici does not expressly disclose the features of the processing being contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system; assigning processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal from UE (User Equipment) present on a cell edge as the target processing; calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired when the terminal apparatus performs the target processing; and providing the reward according to the calculated contribution degree.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Zorgui discloses that a network entity may activate one or more UEs to act as a relay to communicate with out of coverage devices, which may allow additional flexibility such that the UEs may be activated as relay devices on demand when needed (e.g. based on a level of traffic or whether the level of traffic exceeds or does not exceed a threshold). In some cases the network entity may activate one or more UEs as relays based on the network energy saving mode (Zorgui paragraph 0106). This way, the network entity may communicate with the UEs while still employing network energy saving modes to reduce power consumption by relaying communications through the relay device (Zorgui paragraph 0113). The relay device may also be a UE (Zorgui paragraph 0090). Thus, a UE may perform target processing for a network entity which is contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tomici to have the feature of the processing being contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system; as taught by Zorgui. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide improved techniques for supporting relay operation with energy state modes, and (Zorgui paragraphs 0004 and to reduce power consumption in the network (Zorgui paragraph 0113).
Tomici and Zorgui do not expressly disclose the features of assigning processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal from UE (User Equipment) present on a cell edge as the target processing; calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired when the terminal apparatus performs the target processing; and providing the reward according to the calculated contribution degree.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Chen discloses that a base station may consider information such as current UL/DL traffic of UE, relay load state of the UE, location at an edge of a cell, etc. when selecting a relay node. The UE may expect price compensation for relay data forwarding (Chen paragraph 0843). Price compensation per data unit also suggests calculating the amount of contribution by the UE (i.e. contribution degree) and providing a reward accordingly.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tomici and Zorgui to have the feature of assigning processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal from UE (User Equipment) present on a cell edge as the target processing; calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired when the terminal apparatus performs the target processing; and providing the reward according to the calculated contribution degree; as taught by Chen. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide solutions for selection of relay nodes in the network (Chen paragraphs 0003 and 0005).
Regarding claim 10, Tomici discloses a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium recording thereon a program for causing an information processing apparatus to realize processing comprising [Tomici Figures 1A-1C disclose examples of system comprising radio access network, core network, and UEs comprising various components such as a processor, a transceiver, memory, etc. (Tomici Figures 1A-1C, paragraphs 0031-0059). The methods may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor (Tomici paragraph 0193)]:
Determining a reward to provide to a terminal apparatus that performs target processing, which is processing contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system using a base station, according to assignment from the base station, and providing the determined reward [Tomici discloses an example network architecture (Tomici Figure 2) for offloading traffic using a relay WTRU (UE). An eNB detects overloading or congestion, or any other triggering condition for offloading and decides to offload traffic (Tomici paragraph 0066). Tomici Figure 5 discloses an example where a relay WTRU is selected for offloading traffic; the eNB and the selected relay WTRU set up a connection, and the eNB sends the download request to the relay WTRU. The traffic data is transported to the WTRU 210 using relay and HeNB (i.e. the terminal performs target processing according to assignment from base station) (Tomici Figure 5, paragraph 0068). The relay WTRU contributes its resources such as bandwidth, battery, etc., and may be given incentives to act as a relay WTRU. For example, the relay WTRU’s own traffic may be given a higher priority (i.e. determine a reward, and provide the determined reward) (Tomici paragraph 0069)];
Assign the target processing to the terminal apparatus; provide the determined reward to the terminal apparatus that performs the assigned target processing [Tomici Figure 5 discloses an example where a relay WTRU is selected for offloading traffic; the eNB and the selected relay WTRU set up a connection, and the eNB sends the download request to the relay WTRU. The traffic data is transported to the WTRU 210 using relay and HeNB (i.e. target processing is assigned to the terminal) (Tomici Figure 5, paragraph 0068). The relay WTRU contributes its resources such as bandwidth, battery, etc., and may be given incentives to act as a relay WTRU. For example, the relay WTRU’s own traffic may be given a higher priority (Tomici paragraph 0069)].
Although Tomici discloses regarding determining a reward to provide to a terminal apparatus that performs target processing (see above); Tomici does not expressly disclose the features of the processing being contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system; assigning processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal from UE (User Equipment) present on a cell edge as the target processing; calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired when the terminal apparatus performs the target processing; and providing the reward according to the calculated contribution degree.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Zorgui discloses that a network entity may activate one or more UEs to act as a relay to communicate with out of coverage devices, which may allow additional flexibility such that the UEs may be activated as relay devices on demand when needed (e.g. based on a level of traffic or whether the level of traffic exceeds or does not exceed a threshold). In some cases the network entity may activate one or more UEs as relays based on the network energy saving mode (Zorgui paragraph 0106). This way, the network entity may communicate with the UEs while still employing network energy saving modes to reduce power consumption by relaying communications through the relay device (Zorgui paragraph 0113). The relay device may also be a UE (Zorgui paragraph 0090). Thus, a UE may perform target processing for a network entity which is contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tomici to have the feature of the processing being contributive to a reduction in power consumption in a communication system; as taught by Zorgui. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide improved techniques for supporting relay operation with energy state modes, and (Zorgui paragraphs 0004 and to reduce power consumption in the network (Zorgui paragraph 0113).
Tomici and Zorgui do not expressly disclose the features of assigning processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal from UE (User Equipment) present on a cell edge as the target processing; calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired when the terminal apparatus performs the target processing; and providing the reward according to the calculated contribution degree.
However, in the same or similar field of invention, Chen discloses that a base station may consider information such as current UL/DL traffic of UE, relay load state of the UE, location at an edge of a cell, etc. when selecting a relay node. The UE may expect price compensation for relay data forwarding (Chen paragraph 0843). Price compensation per data unit also suggests calculating the amount of contribution by the UE (i.e. contribution degree) and providing a reward accordingly.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tomici and Zorgui to have the feature of assigning processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal from UE (User Equipment) present on a cell edge as the target processing; calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired when the terminal apparatus performs the target processing; and providing the reward according to the calculated contribution degree; as taught by Chen. The suggestion/motivation would have been to provide solutions for selection of relay nodes in the network (Chen paragraphs 0003 and 0005).
Regarding claim 11, Tomici, Zorgui and Chen disclose the processing apparatus according to claim 1. Tomici, Zorgui and Chen further disclose wherein the contribution degree is calculated on a basis of any of: a number of packets relayed in a UL relay processing, data volume relayed in the UL relay processing, and a time taken for the UL relay processing [Chen discloses that a base station may consider information such as current UL/DL traffic of UE, relay load state of the UE, location at an edge of a cell, etc. when selecting a relay node. The UE may expect price compensation for relay data forwarding (Chen paragraph 0843). Price compensation per data unit also suggests calculating the amount of contribution by the UE, and UL/DL traffic and relay load state suggest data volume and a number of packets]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 12, Tomici, Zorgui and Chen disclose the processing apparatus according to claim 1. Tomici, Zorgui and Chen further disclose wherein the reward includes prioritized allocation of a communication bandwidth [The relay WTRU contributes its resources such as bandwidth, battery, etc., and may be given incentives to act as a relay WTRU. For example, the relay WTRU’s own traffic may be given a higher priority (Tomici paragraph 0069); indicating a prioritized allocation of a bandwidth]. In addition, the same motivation is used as the rejection of claim 1.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 7/7/2026 with respect to claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 7 of Applicant's remarks, the Applicant argues the following with respect to claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103.:
…Applicant respectfully submits that none of the references cited in the non-final office action dated April 8, 2026, whether considered alone or in combination, disclose, teach or suggest all elements of claim 1, including at least: “assign processing for relaying a UL…
Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant's arguments for the following reasons:
As mentioned in the rejection of claim 1, prior art Tomici discloses an example (see Tomici Figure 5) where a relay WTRU is selected for offloading traffic. The traffic data is transported to the WTRU 210 using relay and HeNB (which is similar to the claimed feature of target processing is assigned to the terminal) (Tomici Figure 5, paragraph 0068). The relay WTRU contributes its resources such as bandwidth, battery, etc., and may be given incentives to act as a relay WTRU. For example, the relay WTRU’s own traffic may be given a higher priority (Tomici paragraph 0069). This is similar to the claimed feature of providing the determined reward to the terminal apparatus that performs the target processing.
On pages 8-9 of Applicant's remarks, the Applicant argues the following with respect to claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103.:
…For instance, Chen merely identifies “price compensation per data unit…” but fails to describe any “contribution degree”, and fails to calculate a contribution degree …
Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant's arguments for the following reasons:
The claimed feature of “calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes…” is interpreted as an amount of contribution by the terminal in performing the target processing. Prior art Chen discloses that a base station may consider information such as current UL/DL traffic of UE, relay load state of the UE, location at an edge of a cell, etc. when selecting a relay node. The relay charging refers to price compensation per data unit or time unit expected by the UE for relay data forwarding. The relay load state of UE may be a data traffic forwarded by UE and a load indication relay-forwarded by UE, such as high, medium, low, etc. Thus, an amount of contribution by the terminal for performing target processing is determined, which is same as the claimed features of “calculating a contribution degree indicating how large a contribution the terminal apparatus makes by performing the target processing based on data acquired…”
On page 9 of Applicant's remarks, the Applicant argues the following with respect to claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103.:
…because none of the cited art teach or suggest “assign processing for relaying a UL (uplink) signal…
Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant's arguments for the following reasons:
Prior art Chen discloses that a base station may consider information such as current UL/DL traffic of UE, relay load state of the UE, location at an edge of a cell, etc. when selecting a relay node. The UE may expect price compensation for relay data forwarding (Chen paragraph 0843). This is similar to the claimed feature of assigning processing for relaying UL signal from UE present on a cell edge as the target processing.
In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine/modify the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, the motivation for combining the references can be found in the teachings of the prior art, which is to provide solutions for selection of relay nodes in the network (Chen paragraphs 0003 and 0005).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/SAUMIT SHAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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