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 .
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yi et al. (US 2003/0156559 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yi discloses a communication method, comprising:
determining that a first terminal device is handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device (Fig. 5, [0040]-[0041] disclosing lossless or seamless SRNS relocation (SSR) is a handover to a target RNC; Fig. 7, [0075]-[0076] disclosing SSR is generated with hard handover to a target RNC); and
sending first information to the first terminal device, wherein the first information indicates a first packet header compression context, and the first packet header compression context is configured for compressing or decompressing a packet header of a data packet ([0072]-[0074] disclosing use of robust header compression (ROHC) in which the SN is a value which increases whenever the RTP packet is transmitted, and a field by which other values can be analogized in a context ; [0079] disclosing when the target RNC notifies the UE of the SSR generation, the SN field values of respective compressor context and the decompressor context is also transmitted as well as the compressor and decompressor contexts).
Regarding claim 2, Yi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
stopping using a header compression context used, before the first terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, by the target access network device to compress or decompress the packet header of the data packet; and establishing the first packet header compression context ([0086]-[0087] disclosing the SN fields of the compressor and decompressor contexts are transmitted to the UE using RRC message which the UE uses to update the context and packets are compressed and decompressed based on the updated context).
Regarding claim 3, Yi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
suspending using the first packet header compression context to compress the packet header of the data packet, wherein the first packet header compression context is a header compression context used, before the first terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, by the target access network device to compress or decompress the packet header of the data packet ([0081]-[0087] disclosing the target receives the context form the source and the packet data is compressed and decompressed based on this when the target takes over after SSR after which the target notifies the UE information of the compressor context and the decompressor context formed on the target RNC which maintains synchronization with the UE context is notified to the UE, and thereby, the context is updated based on the information received by the UE to maintain the synchronization when the target RNC becomes the SRNC after the SSR is completed).
Regarding claim 4, Yi discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein the method further comprises:
after the suspending, determining that the first terminal device establishes the first packet header compression context; and in response to the determining that the first terminal device establishes the first packet header compression context, resuming using the first packet header compression context to compress or decompress the packet header of the data packet ([0084] disclosing when the target takes over after SSR after which the target notifies the UE information of the compressor context and the decompressor context formed on the target RNC which maintains synchronization with the UE context is notified to the UE, and thereby, the context is updated based on the information received by the UE to maintain the synchronization when the target RNC becomes the SRNC after the SSR is completed; [0088] disclosing “the UE is able to synchronize the contexts by transmitting/receiving compressed header packet with the target RNC based on the received SN field values.” ).
Regarding claim 5, Yi discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving feedback information from the first terminal device, wherein the feedback information indicates that the first terminal device establishes the first packet header compression context; and the determining that the first terminal device establishes the first packet header compression context comprises: determining, based on the feedback information, that the first terminal device establishes the first packet header compression context ([0087] disclosing The respective SN field values of the compressor context and the decompressor context stored in the PDCP layer of the UE update the existing SN field values of compressor context and decompressor context, and the packet data is compressed and decompressed based on the updated compressor context and the decompressor context when the target RNC becomes the SRNC after the SSRis completed).
Regarding claim 6, Yi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the sending first information to the first terminal device comprises:
sending the first information to the first terminal device in a point-to-point (PTP) transmission manner ([0079] disclosing the target notifies the UE of SSR generation (i.e., form the target to the UE seen as point to point).
Regarding claim 7, Yi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
sending a data packet with a compressed packet header to the first terminal device in a point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission manner (transmissions by base stations are inherently broadcast (i.e., PTM)) or the point-to-point (PTP) transmission manner ([0079] disclosing the target notifies the UE of SSR generation (i.e., form the target to the UE seen as point to point).
Regarding claim 8, Yi discloses a communication method, comprising:
performing handover from a source access network device to a target access network device (Fig. 5, [0040]-[0041] disclosing lossless or seamless SRNS relocation (SSR) is a handover to a target RNC; Fig. 7, [0075]-[0076] disclosing SSR is generated with hard handover to a target RNC); and
receiving first information from the target access network device, wherein the first information indicates a first packet header compression context, and the first packet header compression context is configured for compressing or decompressing a packet header of a data packet ([0072]-[0074] disclosing use of robust header compression (ROHC) in which the SN is a value which increases whenever the RTP packet is transmitted, and a field by which other values can be analogized in a context ; [0079] disclosing when the target RNC notifies the UE of the SSR generation, the SN field values of respective compressor context and the decompressor context is also transmitted as well as the compressor and decompressor contexts).
Regarding claim 9, Yi discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:
sending feedback information to the target access network device, wherein the feedback information indicates that a first terminal device establishes the first packet header compression context ([0087] disclosing The respective SN field values of the compressor context and the decompressor context stored in the PDCP layer of the UE update the existing SN field values of compressor context and decompressor context, and the packet data is compressed and decompressed based on the updated compressor context and the decompressor context when the target RNC becomes the SRNC after the SSR is completed; ; [0088] disclosing “the UE is able to synchronize the contexts by transmitting/receiving compressed header packet with the target RNC based on the received SN field values.”).
Regarding claim 10, Yi discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the receiving first information from the target access network device comprises: receiving the first information from the target access network device in a point-to-point (PTP) transmission manner ([0079] disclosing the target notifies the UE of SSR generation (i.e., form the target to the UE seen as point to point).
Regarding claim 11, Yi discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving a data packet with a compressed packet header from the target access network device in a point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission manner (transmissions by base stations are inherently broadcast (i.e., PTM)) or the point-to-point (PTP) transmission manner ([0079] disclosing the target notifies the UE of SSR generation (i.e., form the target to the UE seen as point to point).
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.
Claim(s) 12-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yi et al. (US 2003/0156559 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Yi discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the first header compression context is carried in a data packet with an uncompressed packet header, the data packet with the uncompressed packet header corresponds to a first sequence number ([0086]-[0087] disclosing the SN fields of the compressor and decompressor contexts are transmitted to the UE using RRC message), the data packet with the compressed packet header corresponds to a second sequence number ([0072]-[0074] disclosing use of robust header compression (ROHC) in which the SN is a value which increases whenever the RTP packet is transmitted).
Yi does not expressly disclose the following; however examiner takes official notice that is is well-known to one of ordinary skill in the art that during handover, a packet can be received with matching sequence numbers and this matching information is used to determine a duplicate packet has been received which is subsequently discarded. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement these features in the invention of Yi.
Regarding claim 13, Yi discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:
before the first terminal device establishes the first header compression context corresponding to the header compression context identifier, storing a header compression context identifier ([0086]); and
decompressing the data packet with the compressed packet header based on the first header compression context corresponding to the header compression context identifier ([0087]).
Yi does not expressly disclose storing a data packet with a compressed packet header; however, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the communication apparatus in the manner claimed to perform these techniques because it provides a flexibly configured system that can be easily reprogrammed as technical specifications evolve and implementing the techniques in such a manner would inherently include storing of information in memory in order to perform the operations.
Regarding claims 14-20, the claims are directed towards a communication apparatus, wherein the communication apparatus is a target access network device and comprises at least one memory, at least one processor, and at least one transceiver, and the processor and the transceiver are configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in at least one memory, to enable the apparatus to implement the method of claims 1-7. Yi does not expressly disclose such implementations; however, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the communication apparatus in the manner claimed to perform these techniques because it provides a flexibly configured system that can be easily reprogrammed as technical specifications evolve. Accordingly, claims 14-20 are rejected as obvious over Yi on the grounds presented above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Joseph A Bednash whose telephone number is (571)270-7500. The examiner can normally be reached 7 AM - 4:30 PM M-F.
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, Huy Vu can be reached at (571)272-3155. 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.
/JOSEPH A BEDNASH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461