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 .
Application, submitted on 02/14/2024, has been received, entered, and made of record. Currently, claims 1-30 remain pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 25-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claims are directed to a computer program per se (i.e., not encoded/embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium).
That is, claims 25-26 are directed to a program per se. Such claimed computer programs do not define any structural and functional interrelationships between the computer program and other claimed elements of a computer which permit the computer program’s functionality to be realized. In contrast, a claimed computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program is a computer element which defines structural and functional interrelationships between the computer program and the rest of the computer which permit the computer program’s functionality to be realized, and is thus statutory. See Lowry, 32 F.3d at 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d at 1035. Since a computer program is merely a set of instructions capable of being executed by a computer, the computer program itself is not a process and therefore, without the computer-readable medium needed to realize the computer program’s functionality, it is nonstatutory functional descriptive material. The claims may be amended to narrow the claim to cover only statutory embodiments by adding the limitation "non-transitory" to the claims.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claims 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim et al. US 2025/0374134 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Kim).
Referring to claim 1, Kim discloses an apparatus for a first access node (fi.46, serving DU), the apparatus comprising means for performing:
establishing a connection towards a user equipment (fig.46, wireless device) via a serving cell (fi.46, serving DU) supported by the first access node (fig.46) (Note: the serving DU establishes a connection with the wireless device via a RRC reconfiguration message);
instructing the user equipment to obtain a first timing advance value for a target cell supported by a second access node (fig.46, candidate DU), wherein the first timing advance value indicates a timing for transmitting uplink transmissions to the target cell (fig.46, [0675] and [0500]) (Note: the wireless device obtains a timing advance (TA) value for a candidate target cell; wherein the wireless device may use the uplink timing advance value to adjust transmission timing of an uplink transmission to the target cell);
receiving, from the user equipment, an indication that the first timing advance value is or will soon be invalid (fig.46, and [0675]-[0676]) (Note: the wireless device may determine the TA value not being valid based on the parameter, and based on the determining, the wireless device may transmit to the base station (e.g., serving base station distributed unit) a signal/message indicating the TA value is invalid); and
determining whether to instruct the user equipment to obtain a second timing advance value for the target cell in dependence on the received indication, the second timing advance value being obtained later in time than the first timing advance value (fig.46, [0676] and [0690]) (Note: based on receiving the signal/message, the base station (e.g., the serving base station distributed unit) may transmit to the wireless device an indication of a second TA value; wherein the base station distributed unit may transmit, to the wireless device and based on determining the TA value not being valid, a signal indicating to transmit a reference signal for acquiring a second TA value).
Referring to claim 2, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 1, the apparatus comprising means for receiving, from the user equipment, a first indication of a current strength and/or quality of a signal of the target cell received by the user equipment, and wherein the determining whether to instruct the user equipment comprises: determining to instruct the user equipment to obtain the second timing advance value when the first indication indicates that the current strength and/or quality of the signal of the target cell received by the user equipment has increased above a predetermined threshold ([0766], fig.41, and [0648]-[0651]) (Note: the serving DU determines to send the second TA value to the wireless device when it is determined that the TA value is not valid; wherein determining that the TA value is invalid is based on the signal strength being increased by more than the signal strength threshold of the target cell).
Referring to claim 3, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 1, the apparatus comprising means for receiving, from the user equipment, a first indication of a current strength and/or quality of a signal of the target cell received by the user equipment, wherein the determining whether to instruct the user equipment comprises: determining to instruct the user equipment to release the first timing advance value when the first indication indicates that the current strength and/or quality of the signal of the target cell received by the user equipment is below or equal to a predetermined threshold ([0666], [0676], and [0766]) (Note: the wireless device releases the first timing advance value when the first indication indicates that the current strength and/or quality of the signal of the target cell received by the user equipment is decreased by more than the threshold of signal strength).
Referring to claim 4, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 2, the apparatus comprising means for receiving the first indication in a layer 1 measurement report ([0489], [0519], and [0662]) (Note: serving base station distributed unit may determine whether a TA value is valid based on measurement results from a wireless device, wherein the wireless device transmits L1 measurement report via a L1/L2 signal to the base station distributed unit).
Referring to claim 5, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the instructing the user equipment to obtain the first timing advance value is performed in response to: receiving, from the user equipment, a layer 1 measurement report indicating that a strength and/or quality of a signal provided by the target cell is above a preconfigured threshold (fig.32, [0547]-[0552]) (Note: the wireless device acquires the timing advance from the serving DU base on receiving from the wireless device a layer 1 measurement report indicating that a strength and/or quality of a signal provided by the target cell is greater than a threshold).
Referring to claim 6, Kim discloses an apparatus for a user equipment (fig.46, wireless device), the apparatus comprising means for performing:
obtaining, a first timing advance value for a target cell supported by a second access node (fig.46, candidate DU), wherein the first timing advance value indicates a timing for transmitting uplink transmissions to the target cell (fig.46, [0675] and [0623]) (Note: the wireless device obtains a timing advance (TA) value for a candidate target cell; wherein the wireless device may use the uplink timing advance value to adjust transmission timing of an uplink transmission to the target cell);
receiving, an indication of when the first timing advance value will be invalid ([0680] and [0764]) (Note: the wireless device may start the timer in response to receiving an indication of the TA value; wherein determining that the TA value is valid is based on the timer being running; and/or determining that the TA value is invalid is based on the timer being expired);
using the indication of when the first timing advance value will be invalid to determine that the first timing advance value is or will soon be invalid ([0680] and [0764]) (Note: the wireless device may start the timer in response to receiving an indication of the TA value or determining the TA value being valid, and determine that the TA value is valid when the timer is running; and/or determine that the TA value is invalid when the timer is expired); and
signalling, in response to said using, to a serving cell supported by a first access node, an indication that the first timing advance value is or will soon be invalid (fig.46, and [0675]-[0676]) (Note: the wireless device may determine the TA value not being valid (when the timer is expired), and the wireless device may transmit to the base station (e.g., serving base station distributed unit) a signal/message indicating the TA value is invalid).
Referring to claim 7, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 6, comprising means for signaling, to the serving cell, a first indication of a current strength and/or quality of a signal of the target cell received by the user equipment, wherein the first indication is signaled in a layer 1 measurement report (fig.32, [0547]-[0552]) (Note: the serving DU receives, from the wireless device, a layer 1 measurement report indicating a strength and/or quality of a signal provided by the target cell).
Referring to claim 8, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the indication of when the first timing advance value will be invalid comprises a timer value, and the apparatus comprises means for performing: starting a timer using the timer value; and determining that the first timing advance value is or will soon be invalid in response to expiry of the timer ([0680] and [0764]) (Note: the wireless device may start the timer in response to receiving an indication of the TA value or determining the TA value being valid, and determine that the TA value is valid when the timer is running; and/or determine that the TA value is invalid when the timer is expired).
Referring to claim 9, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the indication of when the first timing advance value will be invalid is obtained prior to obtaining the first timing advance value ([0680]) (Note: the wireless device may start the timer in response to receiving an indication of the TA value. Thus, the timer is obtained prior to obtaining the first timing advance value).
Referring to claim 10, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the indication of when the first timing advance value will be invalid is provided in a configuration for lower layer triggered mobility (abstract, [0484], [0485], [0488]) (Note: the reference discloses an L1/L2 triggered mobility (LTM)).
Referring to claim 11, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 6, the apparatus comprising means for performing: receiving, from the serving cell, an instruction to obtain a second timing advance value, the second timing advance value being obtained later in time than the first timing advance value; and obtaining the second timing advance value in response to the instruction (fig.46, [0676] and [0690]) (Note: based on receiving the signal/message, the base station (e.g., the serving base station distributed unit) may transmit to the wireless device an indication of a second TA value; wherein the base station distributed unit may transmit, to the wireless device and based on determining the TA value not being valid, a signal indicating to transmit a reference signal for acquiring a second TA value).
Referring to claim 12, Kim discloses an apparatus as claimed in claim 6, the apparatus comprising means for performing: receiving, from the serving cell, an instruction to release the first timing advance value; and releasing the first timing advance value ([0348]-[0349], and [0645]).
Referring to claim 13, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 1 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 14, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 2 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 15, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 3 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 16, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 4 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 17, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 5 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 18, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 6 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 19, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 7 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 20, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 8 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 21, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 9 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 22, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 10 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 23, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 11 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 24, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 12 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 25, Kim discloses a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus for a first access node (fig.15, base station 1504), cause the apparatus to perform: the method according to claim 13 ([0227]-[0229]) (Note: base station 1504 (access node) comprising a memory (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) storing computer program instructions or code that may be executed).
Referring to claim 26, Kim discloses a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus for a user equipment (fig.15, wireless device 1502), cause the apparatus to perform: the method according to claim 18 ([0227]-[0229]) (Note: wireless device 1502 (user equipment) comprising a memory (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) storing computer program instructions or code that may be executed).
Referring to claim 27, Kim discloses an apparatus (fig.15, base station 1504) for a first access node, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor (fig.15, processing system 1508); and at least one memory (fig.15, Memory 1514) comprising code that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to perform: a method according to claim 13 ([0227]-[0229]).
Referring to claim 28, Kim discloses an apparatus for a user equipment (fig.15, wireless device 1502), the apparatus comprising: at least one processor (fig.15, processing system 1518); and at least one memory (fig.15, Memory 1524) comprising code that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to perform: a method according to claim 18 ([0227]-[0229]).
Referring to claim 29, Kim discloses a memory (fig.15, Memory 1514) storing computer readable instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to claim 13 ([0227]-[0229]).
Referring to claim 30, Kim discloses a memory (fig.15, Memory 1524) storing computer readable instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to claim 18 ([0227]-[0229]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOUSTAPHA DIABY whose telephone number is (571)270-1669. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9AM-6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ABDERRAHIM MEROUAN can be reached at (571) 270-5254. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOUSTAPHA DIABY/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683