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 Status
This office action is in response to the communication(s) filed on 02/02/2024.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are currently presenting for examination.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 11, and 16 is/are independent claim(s).
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected.
This action has been made NON-FINAL.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-9, 11-14, and 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US_20220353950_A1_Chen in view of US_20220183049_A1_Lee.
Regarding claim 1, Chen discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, from a base station, configuration information for an application layer measurement reporting (Chen figure 2, steps 206 and 207, and paragraph 60, “…and a measurement configuration (e.g., an application layer measurement configuration, MDT measurement configuration or/and a SON measurement configuration…”); generating, based on the configuration information, a medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) including a MAC service data unit (SDU) for an application layer measurement report message (Chen figure 2, steps 208-210, and paragraph 64, “…The UE 102 can transmit a measurement report or other suitable report in a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) to base station 106 via the DRB…UE 102 can generate a PDCP SDU including the report, encrypt the PDCP SDU, and construct a PDCP PDU including the encrypted PDCP SDU according to the DRB configuration…”); a logical channel (LCH) of signaling radio bearer 4 (SRB4) (Chen paragraph 61, “…and transmits 210 the RRC message to base station 104 via the configured SRB4 (associated with logical channel identity value 4)…”); and transmitting, to the base station, the MAC PDU (Chen figure 2, step 210, and paragraph 4, “…SRB4 resources support RRC messages that include application-layer measurement reporting information, also over the DCCH”).
Lee discloses in case that an uplink (UL) grant for the MAC PDU is associated with a shared spectrum, determining a channel access priority class (CAPC) of the MAC PDU based on a CAPC for a logical channel (LCH) (Lee figure 10, steps 1004-1008, and paragraph 81, “In embodiments, the particular LBT type (e.g., type 1 or type 2 uplink channel access) that the UE 201 applies is signalled via uplink grant for uplink PUSCH transmission on LAA SCells, except for AUL transmissions. For type 1 UL channel access on AUL, the RAN 210 signals the CAPC for each logical channel and the UE 201 selects the lowest CAPC (e.g., with a higher number in table CAPC-1) of the logical channel(s) with MAC SDU multiplexed into the MAC PDU. The MAC CEs except padding BSR use the highest CAPC (e.g., the lowest number in table CAPC-1). For type 2 uplink channel access on AUL, the UE 201 may select logical channels corresponding to any CAPC for UL transmission in the subframes signalled by the RAN 210 in common DL control signalling…”), and transmitting, to the base station, the MAC PDU after a channel access procedure based on the CAPC of the MAC PDU (Lee figure 10, step 1010).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Lee’s CAPC in Chen’s system to optimize Quality of Service, and efficient utilization of shared spectrum. This method for improving the system of Chen was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Lee. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Chen and Lee to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
Regarding claim 2, Chen and Lee disclose the method of claim 1, and Lee further discloses wherein the CAPC for the LCH of SRB4 is configured by a radio resource control (RRC) message (Lee paragraph 52, “…For dynamic grant, CAPC is assigned by gNB through UL grant, where CAPC for configured grant is assigned to each logical channel through RRC as mentioned previously”).
Regarding claim 3, Chen discloses the method of claim 1, and Lee further discloses wherein the CAPC for the LCH of SRB4 is predetermined (Lee paragraph 245, “…performing or causing to perform a Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) procedure according to a predefined prioritization for both the configured grant and the dynamic grant.”).
Regarding claim 4, Chen and Lee disclose the method of claim 1, and Lee further discloses wherein determining the CAPC of the MAC PDU further comprises: determining the CAPC of the MAC PDU based on the CAPC for the LCH of SRB4 and one or more CAPCs of one or more other MAC SDUs included in the MAC PDU (Lee figure 10, steps 1004-1008, and paragraph 81, “In embodiments, the particular LBT type (e.g., type 1 or type 2 uplink channel access) that the UE 201 applies is signalled via uplink grant for uplink PUSCH transmission on LAA SCells, except for AUL transmissions. For type 1 UL channel access on AUL, the RAN 210 signals the CAPC for each logical channel and the UE 201 selects the lowest CAPC (e.g., with a higher number in table CAPC-1) of the logical channel(s) with MAC SDU multiplexed into the MAC PDU. The MAC CEs except padding BSR use the highest CAPC (e.g., the lowest number in table CAPC-1). For type 2 uplink channel access on AUL, the UE 201 may select logical channels corresponding to any CAPC for UL transmission in the subframes signalled by the RAN 210 in common DL control signalling…”, and paragraphs 33-34).
Regarding claim 6, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 7, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 8, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 3.
Regarding claim 9, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 4.
Regarding claim 11, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 1, and a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver; and a controller operably coupled to the transceiver (Chen figure 1).
Regarding claim 12, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 13, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 3.
Regarding claim 14, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 4.
Regarding claim 16, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 1, and A base station in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising: a transceiver; and a controller operably coupled to the transceiver (Chen figure 1).
Regarding claim 17, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 18, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 3.
Regarding claim 19, Chen and Lee disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 4.
Claim(s) 5, 10, 15, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US_20220353950_A1_Chen in view of US_20220183049_A1_Lee and US_20240155409_A1_Babaei.
Regarding claim 5, Chen and Lee disclose the method of claim 1, but do not disclose further comprising: receiving, from the base station, a UE capability enquiry message requesting capabilities for the application layer measurement reporting; and transmitting, to the base station, a UE capability information message indicating that the UE is capable of supporting the application layer measurement reporting on the shared spectrum.
Babaei discloses further comprising: receiving, from the base station, a UE capability enquiry message requesting capabilities for the application layer measurement reporting (Babaei figure 16, UE capability enquiry, and paragraphs 109, 118-119, application layer measurement); and transmitting, to the base station, a UE capability information message indicating that the UE is capable of supporting the application layer measurement reporting on the shared spectrum (Babaei figure 16, UE capability information, and paragraphs 66-67).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Babaei’s reporting UE capability in Chen and Lee’s system to ensure the network only configures measurements that the UE is actually able to perform. This method for improving the system of Chen and Lee was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Babaei. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Chen, Lee and Babaei to obtain the invention as specified in claim 5.
Regarding claim 10, Chen, Lee and Babaei disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 5.
Regarding claim 15, Chen, Lee and Babaei disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 5.
Regarding claim 20, Chen, Lee and Babaei disclose the limitations as set forth in claim 5.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEIBIN HUANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3695. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30AM - 6:00PM.
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/W.H/Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471