Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 15, 2026
Application No. 18/442,023

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PERFORMING HANDOVER IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Feb 14, 2024
Priority
Feb 16, 2023 — RE 10-2023-0020902
Examiner
HAMMONDS, MARCUS C
Art Unit
2647
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allowance Rate
358 granted / 503 resolved
+9.2% vs TC avg
Strong +29% interview lift
Without
With
+29.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
526
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
72.6%
+32.6% vs TC avg
§102
22.2%
-17.8% vs TC avg
§112
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 503 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . DETAILED ACTION This Office Action is in response to the applicants' communication filed on February 14, 2024. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-20 are currently presented in the instant application. Drawings The drawings submitted on February 14, 2024 have been reviewed and accepted by the examiner. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pub No.: US US-20240147328-A1 (herein “Kim”). Claims 1 and 10 Consider claim 10, Kim teaches A distributed unit (DU) of a base station (see Kim Fig. 1B, Fig. 15A, [0106], [0338], [0339] note base station distributed units gNB-DU) in a wireless communication system, the DU of the base station comprising: a transceiver (see Kim Fig. 15A, note TX processing system 1510 and RX processing system 1512); and a controller (see Kim Fig. 15A, note processing system 1508) coupled with the transceiver and configured to: identify that a layer triggered mobility (LTM) is triggered based on a measurement report received from a user equipment (UE) (see Kim [0438], [0442] note the wireless device may transmit, for the network to determine to perform the LTM, a report comprising one or more measurements (e.g., L1 measurement and/or L3 measurement) of radio channel(s) over which the wireless device receives one or more reference signals from the network. The network may determine to perform (e.g., trigger and/or initiate) the LTM based on the report comprising the one or more measurements), and transmit, to a central unit (CU) of the base station, a first message for notifying that the LTM is triggered (see Kim [0438], [0442] note the network may determine to perform (e.g., trigger and/or initiate) the LTM based on the report comprising the one or more measurements. The network may determine, based on the one or more measurements, which cell, among one or more cells configured for the LTM (e.g., as potential target cells for L1/L2 triggered mobility), is a target cell of the LTM. The network may indicate the target cell by transmitting, to the wireless device, the L1/L2 signaling that comprises one or more indications indicating the target cell and/or a trigger (e.g., perform and/or initiate) the LTM to the target cell. The network may determine, based on the one or more measurements, when to transmit, to the wireless device, the indication of the L1/L2 signaling to trigger (e.g., perform and/or initiate) the LTM to the target cell). Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 10. Claims 2 and 11 Consider claim 11, Kim teaches wherein the first message includes an indicator associated with a cell switch based on the LTM (see Kim [0438] note an L1/L2 triggered mobility (LTM) may refer to a handover or cell switch (e.g., from a current serving cell to a target cell) that a wireless device initiates, triggers, execute, performs (e.g., in response to receiving an L1 control signaling (e.g., DCI) and/or an L2 control signaling (e.g., MAC CE). Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 11. Claims 6 and 15 Consider claim 15, Kim teaches A central unit (CU) of a base station (see Kim Fig. 1B, Fig. 15A, [0106], [0338], [0339] note base station distributed units gNB-CU) in a wireless communication system, the CU of the base station comprising: a transceiver (see Kim Fig. 15A, note TX processing system 1510 and RX processing system 1512); and a controller (see Kim Fig. 15A, note processing system 1508) coupled with the transceiver and configured to: receive, from a distributed unit (DU) of the base station, a first message for notifying that a layer triggered mobility (LTM) is triggered, wherein the LTM is identified by the DU of the base station based on a measurement report received from a user equipment (UE) (see Kim [0438], [0442] note the wireless device may transmit, for the network to determine to perform the LTM, a report comprising one or more measurements (e.g., L1 measurement and/or L3 measurement) of radio channel(s) over which the wireless device receives one or more reference signals from the network. The network may determine to perform (e.g., trigger and/or initiate) the LTM based on the report comprising the one or more measurements. The network may determine to perform (e.g., trigger and/or initiate) the LTM based on the report comprising the one or more measurements. The network may determine, based on the one or more measurements, which cell, among one or more cells configured for the LTM (e.g., as potential target cells for L1/L2 triggered mobility), is a target cell of the LTM. The network may indicate the target cell by transmitting, to the wireless device, the L1/L2 signaling that comprises one or more indications indicating the target cell and/or a trigger (e.g., perform and/or initiate) the LTM to the target cell. The network may determine, based on the one or more measurements, when to transmit, to the wireless device, the indication of the L1/L2 signaling to trigger (e.g., perform and/or initiate) the LTM to the target cell). Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 15. Claims 7 and 16 Consider claim 16, Kim teaches wherein the first message includes an indicator associated with a cell switch based on the LTM (see Kim [0438] note an L1/L2 triggered mobility (LTM) may refer to a handover or cell switch (e.g., from a current serving cell to a target cell) that a wireless device initiates, triggers, execute, performs (e.g., in response to receiving an L1 control signaling (e.g., DCI) and/or an L2 control signaling (e.g., MAC CE). Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 16. 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) 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pub No.: US US-20240147328-A1 (herein “Kim”), and further in view of Pub No.: US US-20260089533-A1 (herein “Yuan”) Claims 3 and 12 Consider claim 12, Kim fails to teach wherein the controller is further configured to: receive, from the CU of the base station, a second message for notifying that a layer 3 (L3) handover is triggered, wherein the second message is received within a predetermined time period based on a transmission of the first message; and identify that the LTM has a higher priority than the L3 handover. Yuan teaches receiving an L1/L2 handover command within a time window of receiving an L3 handover command, determining that the priority command is the L1/L2 handover instead of the L3 handover, then executing the L1/L2 handover command instead of the L3 handover command (see Yuan Fig. 7, [0102], [0121]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kim to include the recited teaching of Yuan. Such a modification would improve Kim by providing greater improvements in the areas of speed and/or efficiency (see Kim [0506]) Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 12. Claims 4 and 13 Consider claim 13, Kim as modified by Yuan teach wherein the second message includes an indicator for indicating to stop data transmission to the UE (see Yuan Fig. 7, [0102], [0121] note receiving an L3 handover command, then executing the L1/L2 handover command). Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 13. Claims 5 and 14 Consider claim 14, Kim fails to teach wherein, in case that a third message for notifying that an L3 handover is triggered is received before the LTM is triggered, the L3 handover has a higher priority than the LTM. Yuan teaches receiving an L1/L2 handover command outside of a time window of receiving an L3 handover command, determining that the priority command is the L3 handover instead of the L1/L2 handover, then executing the L3 handover command instead of the L1/L2 handover command (see Yuan Fig. 7, [0101]-[0103], [0121]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kim to include the recited teaching of Yuan. Such a modification would improve Kim by providing greater improvements in the areas of speed and/or efficiency (see Kim [0506]) Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 5. Claims 8 and 17 Consider claim 17, Kim fails to teach wherein the controller is further configured to: transmit, to the DU of the base station, a second message including second message for notifying that a layer 3 (L3) handover is triggered, wherein the second message is received within a predetermined time period based on a reception of the first message, wherein the LTM is identified by the DU of the base station as having a higher priority than the L3 handover, and wherein the second message includes an indicator for indicating to stop data transmission to the UE. Yuan teaches receiving an L1/L2 handover command within a time window of receiving an L3 handover command, determining that the priority command is the L1/L2 handover instead of the L3 handover, then executing the L1/L2 handover command instead of the L3 handover command (see Yuan Fig. 7, [0102], [0121]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kim to include the recited teaching of Yuan. Such a modification would improve Kim by providing greater improvements in the areas of speed and/or efficiency (see Kim [0506]) Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 17. Claims 9 and 18 Consider claim 18, Kim fails to teach wherein, in case that a third message for notifying that an L3 handover is triggered is received before the LTM is triggered, the L3 handover has a higher priority than the LTM. Yuan teaches receiving an L1/L2 handover command outside of a time window of receiving an L3 handover command, determining that the priority command is the L3 handover instead of the L1/L2 handover, then executing the L3 handover command instead of the L1/L2 handover command (see Yuan Fig. 7, [0101]-[0103], [0121]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kim to include the recited teaching of Yuan. Such a modification would improve Kim by providing greater improvements in the areas of speed and/or efficiency (see Kim [0506]) Claims 19 and 20 Consider claim 20, Kim teaches a user equipment (UE) (see Kim Fig. 15A, note Wireless Device 1502) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver (see Kim Fig. 15A, note TX processing system 1520 and RX processing system 1522); and a controller (see Kim Fig. 15A, note processing system 1518) coupled with the transceiver and configured to: transmit, to a distributed unit (DU) of a base station, a measurement report, and receive, from the DU of the base station, switching command message based on a layer triggered mobility (LTM), wherein the LTM is triggered based on the measurement report (see Kim [0438], [0442] note the wireless device may transmit, for the network to determine to perform the LTM, a report comprising one or more measurements (e.g., L1 measurement and/or L3 measurement) of radio channel(s) over which the wireless device receives one or more reference signals from the network. The network may determine to perform (e.g., trigger and/or initiate) the LTM based on the report comprising the one or more measurements. The network may determine to perform (e.g., trigger and/or initiate) the LTM based on the report comprising the one or more measurements. The network may determine, based on the one or more measurements, which cell, among one or more cells configured for the LTM (e.g., as potential target cells for L1/L2 triggered mobility), is a target cell of the LTM. The network may indicate the target cell by transmitting, to the wireless device, the L1/L2 signaling that comprises one or more indications indicating the target cell and/or a trigger (e.g., perform and/or initiate) the LTM to the target cell. The network may determine, based on the one or more measurements, when to transmit, to the wireless device, the indication of the L1/L2 signaling to trigger (e.g., perform and/or initiate) the LTM to the target cell). Kim fails to teach wherein, in case that the LTM is triggered before a trigger of a layer 3 (L3) handover, the LTM has a higher priority than the L3 handover. Yuan teaches receiving an L1/L2 handover command within a time window of receiving an L3 handover command, determining that the priority command is the L1/L2 handover instead of the L3 handover, then executing the L1/L2 handover command instead of the L3 handover command (see Yuan Fig. 7, [0102], [0121]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kim to include the recited teaching of Yuan. Such a modification would improve Kim by providing greater improvements in the areas of speed and/or efficiency (see Kim [0506]) Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 20. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM-6:00PM. 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, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. 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. /MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 14, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+29.4%)
3y 3m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 503 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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