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 § 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 1-8, 10-17, and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (U.S. Publication US 2025/0310825 A1) in view of Nagano (U.S. Publication US 2025/0234416 A1).
With respect to claims 1 and 10, Hu et al. discloses a User Equipment (UE), the UE comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled to the least one processor, the at least one memory storing one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to perform a method for reporting delay information (See the abstract, paragraphs 90-92, paragraphs 292-296, and Figures 1 and 28 of Hu et al. for reference to a communication system including a terminal device that may be a UE comprising a processor coupled to a memory an executing a software program stored in the memory to perform a method of sending a buffer status report, BSR, that indicates a remaining packet delay budget, PDB, which is delay information). Hu et al. also discloses receiving a first threshold for a first Logical Channel Group (LCG) from a Base Station (BS) (See paragraphs 90-92, paragraphs 190-194 and Figures 1, 10, and 26 of Hu et al. for reference to receiving configuration information at the terminal device from a network device, which may be a base station, wherein the configuration information configures a table indicating a PDB threshold for a LCG). Hu et al. further discloses transmitting a particular message to the BS in a case that a first condition associated with the first threshold is met (See paragraph 133, paragraphs 177-180, and paragraph 191 of Hu et al. for reference to, in a case that the remaining PDB is less than the PDB threshold, the terminal device sending a particular BSR to the network device according to a configuration rule indicating that the remaining PDB is less than the PDB threshold). Hu et al. also discloses wherein the particular message carries, at least, a first data delay information value for the first LCG and a first buffer size value indicating an amount of first Uplink (UL) data that is associated with the first condition and buffered in the first LCG (See paragraph 220 of Hu et al. for reference to the BSR indicating a remaining PDB range for the LCG, which is a first delay information value, and indicating a data volume for the reported LCG, which is a first buffer size value). Although Hu et al. does disclose using a particular BSR carrying the claimed values, Hu et al. does not specifically disclose its BSR being a MAC CE. However, formatting a BSR within a MAC CE is well-known in the art of communication. For example, Nagano, in the field of communications, discloses a BSR that is a MAC CE included in a MAC PDU (See paragraphs 93-96 of Nagano). Formatting a BSR in a MAC CE has the advantage of using an already well-known control data structure to carry BSR control information. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Nagano, to combine formatting a BSR in a MAC CE, as suggested by Nagano, within the system and method of Hu et al., with the motivation being to use an already well-known control data structure to carry BSR control information.
With respect to claims 2 and 11, Hu et al. discloses determining a group of data delay information values for one or more Logical Channels (LCHs) associated with the first LCG; and selecting a smallest data delay information value from the group of data delay information values as the first data delay information value for the first LCG (See paragraphs 230-233 of Hu et al. for reference to determining the remaining PDB for LCHs associated with the LCG and where there is data of different remaining PDBs, the terminal device determines the minimum remaining PDB as the PDB reported by the BSR).
With respect to claims 3 and 12, Hu et al. discloses wherein the first UL data is buffered in the one or more LCHs corresponding to the group of data delay information values from which the first data delay information value is selected, and the first condition comprises: the first data delay information value being equal to or less than the first threshold (See paragraphs 230-233 of Hu et al. for reference to the data including data having a remaining PDB that is less than the PDB threshold, which is the condition for reporting that the remaining PDB is less than the PDB threshold in the BSR).
With respect to claims 4 and 13, Hu et al. discloses receiving a second threshold for a second LCG from the BS; and transmitting the particular message to the BS further in a case that a second condition associated with the second threshold is met, wherein the particular message further carries a second data delay information value for the second LCG and a second buffer size value indicating an amount of second UL data that is associated with the second condition and buffered in the second LCG (See paragraphs 190-194, paragraph 204, paragraph 220, and Figure 11 of Hu et al. for reference to embodiments wherein multiple different PDB thresholds are configured by the network device for multiple different LCGs, as illustrated in Figure 11, such that a second PDB threshold is configured for a second LGC, that may also be included in the BSR indicating the remaining PDB range and data volume corresponding to the second LGC). As shown above in the rejection of claims 1 and 10, Nagano renders obvious a particular BSR being formatted as a MAC CE. Thus, these claims are rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claims 1 and 10.
With respect to claims 5 and 14, Hu et al. disclose prioritizing the transmission of the particular message over a transmission of a Buffer Status Report (BSR) when the first condition or the second condition is met, wherein the BSR comprises a third buffer size value indicating an amount of third UL data buffered in the first LCG or the second LCG (See paragraphs 116-118, paragraphs 136-138, and paragraph 220 of Hu et al. for reference to transmitting the particular BSR corresponding to the LCG based on priority level ranges of the LCGs, such that the particular BSR may be prioritized over other BSRs according to the priorities of the LCGs, and wherein the BSR reports each indicate a data volume of the data buffered for the LCG). As shown above in the rejection of claims 1 and 10, Nagano renders obvious a particular BSR being formatted as a MAC CE. Thus, these claims are rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claims 1 and 10.
With respect to claims 6 and 15, Hu et al. discloses receiving one or more mapping tables from the BS; selecting a mapping table from the one or more mapping tables; and applying the mapping table to determine the first data delay information value (See paragraphs 190-194 of Hu et al. for reference to the network device sending configuration information to the terminal device that may include different tables used to map PDB thresholds and ranges to remaining PDBs reported in the BSR).
With respect to claims 7 and 16, Hu et al. discloses wherein selecting the mapping table from the one or more mapping tables comprises: selecting the mapping table from the one or more mapping tables according to at least one of: a number of LCGs for which the UE is required to trigger data delay information reporting, and a number of UL resources to be used to transmit the particular message (See paragraph 182, paragraph 189, and paragraph 196 of Hu et al. for reference to selecting which table to use according to a configuration case, wherein the configuration case may be a first case or a second case, and wherein the second case include an addition LCG, such that the table is selected according to a number of LCGs for which the UE is required to report). As shown above in the rejection of claims 1 and 10, Nagano renders obvious a particular BSR being formatted as a MAC CE. Thus, these claims are rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claims 1 and 10.
With respect to claims 8 and 17, Hu et al. discloses wherein the first LCG is associated with eXtended Reality (XR) traffic (See paragraphs 99-102 and paragraph 188 for reference to the system and method of transmitting BSRs for LCGs being applied to embodiments wherein the transmitted data is XR data).
With respect to claim 19, Hu et al. discloses a Base Station (BS), the BS comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one memory storing one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the BS to perform a method of managing data delay information in a wireless communication system (See the abstract, paragraphs 90-92, paragraphs 292-296, and Figures 1 and 28 of Hu et al. for reference to a communication system including a network device that may be a base station comprising a processor coupled to a memory an executing a software program stored in the memory to perform a method of receiving a buffer status report, BSR, that indicates a remaining packet delay budget, PDB, which is delay information). Hu et al. also discloses transmit a first threshold for a first Logical Channel Group (LCG) to a User Equipment (UE) (See paragraphs 90-92, paragraphs 190-194 and Figures 1, 10, and 26 of Hu et al. for reference to transmitting configuration information to a terminal device, which may be a UE, from the network device, wherein the configuration information configures a table indicating a PDB threshold for a LCG). Hu et al. further discloses enabling the UE to transmit a particular message in a case that a first condition associated with the first threshold is met; and receiving the particular message from the UE (See paragraph 133, paragraphs 177-180, and paragraph 191 of Hu et al. for reference to, in a case that the remaining PDB is less than the PDB threshold, the terminal device sending a particular BSR to the network device according to a configuration rule indicating that the remaining PDB is less than the PDB threshold). Hu et al. also discloses wherein the particular message carries, at least, a first data delay information value for the first LCG and a first buffer size value indicating an amount of first Uplink (UL) data that is associated with the first condition and buffered in the first LCG (See paragraph 220 of Hu et al. for reference to the BSR indicating a remaining PDB range for the LCG, which is a first delay information value, and indicating a data volume for the reported LCG, which is a first buffer size value). Although Hu et al. does disclose using a particular BSR carrying the claimed values, Hu et al. does not specifically disclose its BSR being a MAC CE. However, formatting a BSR within a MAC CE is well-known in the art of communication. For example, Nagano, in the field of communications, discloses a BSR that is a MAC CE included in a MAC PDU (See paragraphs 93-96 of Nagano). Formatting a BSR in a MAC CE has the advantage of using an already well-known control data structure to carry BSR control information. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Nagano, to combine formatting a BSR in a MAC CE, as suggested by Nagano, within the system and method of Hu et al., with the motivation being to use an already well-known control data structure to carry BSR control information.
With respect to claim 20, Hu et al. discloses wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the BS to: transmit a second threshold for a second LCG to the BS, enabling the UE to transmit the particular message further in a case that a second condition associated with the second threshold is met, wherein the particular message further carries a second data delay information value for the second LCG and a second buffer size value indicating an amount of second UL data that is associated with the second condition and buffered in the second LCG (See paragraphs 190-194, paragraph 204, paragraph 220, and Figure 11 of Hu et al. for reference to embodiments wherein multiple different PDB thresholds are configured by the network device for multiple different LCGs, as illustrated in Figure 11, such that a second PDB threshold is configured for a second LGC, that may also be included in the BSR indicating the remaining PDB range and data volume corresponding to the second LGC). As shown above in the rejection of claims 1 and 10, Nagano renders obvious a particular BSR being formatted as a MAC CE. Thus, these claims are rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claims 1 and 10.
With respect to claim 21, Hu et al. discloses wherein the first LCG is associated with eXtended Reality (XR) traffic (See paragraphs 99-102 and paragraph 188 for reference to the system and method of transmitting BSRs for LCGs being applied to embodiments wherein the transmitted data is XR data).
Claims 9, 18, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. in view of Nagano and in further view of Wu et al. (U.S. Publication US 2025/0008508 A1).
With respect to claims 9, 18, and 22, although Hu et al. does disclose a BSR comprising information indicating a remaining PDB corresponding to a LCG (See paragraph 220 of Hu et al.), Hu et al. does not specifically disclose its BSR further carries a presence indicator indicating a presence of the first data delay information value in the particular MAC CE. However, Wu et al., in the field of communications, discloses a BSR MAC CE having a 1-bit field to indicate whether there is a data packet having a remaining PDB with a remaining PDB value smaller than a predetermined threshold (See paragraph 222 and Figure 5 of Wu et al.), such that the 1-bit field acts as a presence indicator indicating a presence of a first data delay information value in the particular BSR MAC CE. Using an indicator to indicate the presence of data having a remaining PDB with a remaining PDB value smaller than a predetermined threshold has the advantage of informing the network of the need for data to be transmitted relatively quickly. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Wu et al., to combine using an indicator to indicate the presence of data having a remaining PDB with a remaining PDB value smaller than a predetermined threshold, as suggested by Wu et al., within the system and method of Hu et al., with the motivation being to inform the network of the need for data to be transmitted relatively quickly.
Conclusion
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/JASON E MATTIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461