Detailed Action
1. This Action is in response to Applicant's Patent Application filed on February 16, 2024. Claims 1-20 are currently pending in the present application. This Action is made Non-Final.
America Invents Act (AIA ) Information
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement(s) submitted within this application (has/have) been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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 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.
5. 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.
6. Claim(s) 1-4, 6-14 and 16-20 (is/are) rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by SHRIVASTAVA; Vinay Kumar et al. (US 20220132468 A1), hereafter “SHRIVASTAVA.”
Consider claim 1. SHRIVASTAVA discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) supporting a multicast and broadcast services (MBS) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising (see par. 0010: “provide methods and systems for sending interest indication, by a User Equipment (UE), to a wireless network, to indicate whether the UE is receiving multicast and/or broadcast services or interested to receive multicast and/or broadcast services. In another embodiment, interest indication pertains specifically to multicast and/or broadcast services that UE is receiving and/or interested to receive via MBS bearer”): receiving, from a primary cell (PCell) of a serving base station, a system information block (SIB) including information on a transmission of an MBS interest indication (MII) message for an MBS broadcast reception on a non-serving cell (see par. 0081: “the gNB 102 can send the counting request to the UE 101 through either of System Information Block (SIB), MCCH, Downlink Control Information (DCI), MAC CE or paging, and so on. In an embodiment, in order to avoid duplication of interest indication for RRC_CONNECTED state UEs (101) and counting for a representative RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state UEs (101), two messages for counting response and interested indication can be unified. For example, the counting response can be conveyed using an interest indication message with only MBS (TMGI list) and same message type in the identification field”); in case a MII message setting condition associated with the non-serving cell is satisfied, setting a content of the MII message (see par. 0056: “the UE 101 can send the interest indication at different events comprising successful RRC connection establishment, the UE 101 entering a MBS service area (viz., a broadcast service area and/or a multicast service area), the UE 101 leaving a MBS service area, start of a MBS session, stop of a MBS session, a change of interest in MBS to be received or receiving for UE 101, a complete loss of interest in MBS for UE 101, change in priority for MBS reception or unicast reception, change in broadcasted system information, change to serving cell that is broadcasting system information for MBS service, service area identity (SAI) and frequency mapping information, initiation of reception of MBS, termination of reception of MBS, change of frequency of reception of MBS, change of BWP of MBS reception, change of bandwidth of MBS reception, change of frequency range for MBS reception”); and based on the information, transmitting, to the serving base station, the MII message (see par. 0041: “The procedure involves the UE 101 sending an interest indication to the gNB 102. Thereafter, the UE 101 can receive MBS configuration from the gNB 102. The MBS configuration allows the UE 101 to receive MBS from the gNB 102.”).
Consider claim 2 in view of claim 1 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses wherein the MII message setting condition associated with the non-serving cell is satisfied when: an MBS broadcast frequency of an interest for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell is different from a MBS broadcast frequency of the interest for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell included in a last transmission of a MII (see par. 0056: “the UE 101 can send the interest indication at different events comprising successful RRC connection establishment, the UE 101 entering a MBS service area (viz., a broadcast service area and/or a multicast service area), the UE 101 leaving a MBS service area, start of a MBS session, stop of a MBS session, a change of interest in MBS to be received or receiving for UE 101, a complete loss of interest in MBS for UE 101, change in priority for MBS reception or unicast reception, change in broadcasted system information, change to serving cell that is broadcasting system information for MBS service, service area identity (SAI) and frequency mapping information, initiation of reception of MBS”), or at least one a subcarrier spacing or common frequency resource (CPR) information for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell has change since the last transmission of the MII (Examiner’s Note: claim is written in alternative format).
Consider claim 3 in view of claim 1 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses setting the content of the MII message comprising: identifying whether an MBS frequency for an interest for an MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell is empty; and in case that the MBS frequency for the interest for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell is not empty, including MBS frequency information of the non-serving cell in the MII message (see par. 0091: “In this scenario, the UE 101, in a composed UAI message, comprising an interest indication message, can include the one or more multicast services and zero broadcast services (for example, an empty message container with zero broadcast services indicates loss of interest). In an embodiment, the UE 101, which was previously receiving one or more multicast (or broadcast) services, can lose interest in receiving all multicast (or broadcast) services”).
Consider claim 4 in view of claim 3 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses including CPR information and a subcarrier spacing for the MBS broadcast reception on
the non-serving cell in the MII message (see par. 0053: “The UE 101 can prepare a frequency list for availing the MBS of interest based on at least one of a program guide or USD, supported band combination, and system information. The system information can convey the frequencies or SAIs for the MBS. The preferred numerology indicates sub-carrier spacing. The preferred frequency range is either Frequency Range 1 (FR-1) (below 6 GHz) or Frequency Range 2 (FR-2) (above 6 GHz)”).
Consider claim 6 in view of claim 1 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses wherein the transmission of the MII message is initiated when: the UE changes to a PCell providing information on the transmission of the MI message for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell; the UE starts to receive an MBS broadcast service on the non-serving cell; the UE stops to receive the MBS broadcast service on the non-serving cell; or at least one CPR information or a subcarrier spacing for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell is changed (see par. 0056: “the UE 101 can send the interest indication at different events comprising successful RRC connection establishment, the UE 101 entering a MBS service area (viz., a broadcast service area and/or a multicast service area), the UE 101 leaving a MBS service area, start of a MBS session, stop of a MBS session, a change of interest in MBS to be received or receiving for UE 101, a complete loss of interest in MBS for UE 101, change in priority for MBS reception or unicast reception, change in broadcasted system information, change to serving cell that is broadcasting system information for MBS service, service area identity (SAI) and frequency mapping information, initiation of reception of MBS” (Examiner’s Note: claim is written in alternative format)).
Consider claim 7 in view of claim 1 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses transmitting, to the serving base station, the MII message before receiving an MBS service on the non-serving cell (see par. 0087: “the method includes receiving, by MBS configuration, from the gNB 102, as response to the interest indication. The MBS configuration corresponds to the at least one MBS that the UE 101 is receiving or is interested to receive”).
Consider claim 8. SHRIVASTAVA discloses a serving base station supporting a multicast and broadcast services (MBS) in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising (see fig. 2, par. 0077: “the counting procedure is initiated by the gNB 102 sending an MBS counting request to a UE (101) availing MBS. For the sake of illustration, a single UE (101) is considered. The gNB 102 may send a plurality of MBS counting requests. In order to respond to the counting request, the UE (101) needs to switch to the RRC_CONNECTED state”): a transceiver; and a controller configured to (see fig. 10, par. 0118: “the base station 1000 may include a controller 1010, a transceiver 1020 and a memory 1030”): transmit, via a primary cell (PCell) of the serving base station to a user equipment (UE), a system information block (SIB) including information for configuring a user equipment (UE) to transmit an MBS interest indication (MII) message for a MBS broadcast reception on a non-serving cell (see par. 0081: “the gNB 102 can send the counting request to the UE 101 through either of System Information Block (SIB), MCCH, Downlink Control Information (DCI), MAC CE or paging, and so on. In an embodiment, in order to avoid duplication of interest indication for RRC_CONNECTED state UEs (101) and counting for a representative RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state UEs (101), two messages for counting response and interested indication can be unified. For example, the counting response can be conveyed using an interest indication message with only MBS (TMGI list) and same message type in the identification field”); based on the information, receive, from the UE, the MII message (see par. 0041: “The procedure involves the UE 101 sending an interest indication to the gNB 102. Thereafter, the UE 101 can receive MBS configuration from the gNB 102. The MBS configuration allows the UE 101 to receive MBS from the gNB 102.”).
Consider claim 9 in view of claim 8 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses wherein the MII message includes at least one MBS frequency information of the non-serving cell in the MII message, CPR information for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell, and a subcarrier spacing for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell (see par. 0056: “the UE 101 can send the interest indication at different events comprising successful RRC connection establishment, the UE 101 entering a MBS service area (viz., a broadcast service area and/or a multicast service area), the UE 101 leaving a MBS service area, start of a MBS session, stop of a MBS session, a change of interest in MBS to be received or receiving for UE 101, a complete loss of interest in MBS for UE 101, change in priority for MBS reception or unicast reception, change in broadcasted system information, change to serving cell that is broadcasting system information for MBS service, service area identity (SAI) and frequency mapping information, initiation of reception of MBS”).
Consider claim 10 in view of claim 9 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses transmitting, to the serving base station, the MII message before receiving an MBS service on the non-serving cell (see par. 0087: “the method includes receiving, by MBS configuration, from the gNB 102, as response to the interest indication. The MBS configuration corresponds to the at least one MBS that the UE 101 is receiving or is interested to receive”).
Consider claim 11. SHRIVASTAVA discloses a user equipment UE supporting a multicast and broadcast services (MBS) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising (see par. 0010: “provide methods and systems for sending interest indication, by a User Equipment (UE), to a wireless network, to indicate whether the UE is receiving multicast and/or broadcast services or interested to receive multicast and/or broadcast services. In another embodiment, interest indication pertains specifically to multicast and/or broadcast services that UE is receiving and/or interested to receive via MBS bearer”): a transceiver; and a controller configured to (see fig. 9, par. 0110: “the UE 900 may include a controller 910, a transceiver 920 and a memory 930”): receive, from a primary cell (PCell) of a serving base station, a system information block (SIB) including information on a transmission of an MBS interest indication (MII) message for a MBS broadcast reception on a non-serving cell (see par. 0081: “the gNB 102 can send the counting request to the UE 101 through either of System Information Block (SIB), MCCH, Downlink Control Information (DCI), MAC CE or paging, and so on. In an embodiment, in order to avoid duplication of interest indication for RRC_CONNECTED state UEs (101) and counting for a representative RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state UEs (101), two messages for counting response and interested indication can be unified. For example, the counting response can be conveyed using an interest indication message with only MBS (TMGI list) and same message type in the identification field”); in case a MII message setting condition associated with the non-serving cell is satisfied, set a content of the MII message (see par. 0056: “the UE 101 can send the interest indication at different events comprising successful RRC connection establishment, the UE 101 entering a MBS service area (viz., a broadcast service area and/or a multicast service area), the UE 101 leaving a MBS service area, start of a MBS session, stop of a MBS session, a change of interest in MBS to be received or receiving for UE 101, a complete loss of interest in MBS for UE 101, change in priority for MBS reception or unicast reception, change in broadcasted system information, change to serving cell that is broadcasting system information for MBS service, service area identity (SAI) and frequency mapping information, initiation of reception of MBS, termination of reception of MBS, change of frequency of reception of MBS, change of BWP of MBS reception, change of bandwidth of MBS reception, change of frequency range for MBS reception”); and based on the information, transmit, to the serving base station, the MII message (see par. 0041: “The procedure involves the UE 101 sending an interest indication to the gNB 102. Thereafter, the UE 101 can receive MBS configuration from the gNB 102. The MBS configuration allows the UE 101 to receive MBS from the gNB 102.”).
Consider claim 12 in view of claim 11 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses wherein the MII message setting condition associated with the non-serving cell is satisfied when: an MBS broadcast frequency of an interest for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell is different from a MBS broadcast frequency of the interest for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell included in a last transmission of a MII (see par. 0056: “the UE 101 can send the interest indication at different events comprising successful RRC connection establishment, the UE 101 entering a MBS service area (viz., a broadcast service area and/or a multicast service area), the UE 101 leaving a MBS service area, start of a MBS session, stop of a MBS session, a change of interest in MBS to be received or receiving for UE 101, a complete loss of interest in MBS for UE 101, change in priority for MBS reception or unicast reception, change in broadcasted system information, change to serving cell that is broadcasting system information for MBS service, service area identity (SAI) and frequency mapping information, initiation of reception of MBS”), or at least one a subcarrier spacing or common frequency resource (CPR) information for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell has change since the last transmission of the MII (Examiner’s Note: claim is written in alternative format).
Consider claim 13 in view of claim 11 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses wherein the controller is further configured to: identify whether an MBS frequency for an interest for a MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell is empty, and in case that the MBS frequency for the interest for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell is not empty, include MBS frequency information of the non-serving cell in the MII message (see par. 0091: “In this scenario, the UE 101, in a composed UAI message, comprising an interest indication message, can include the one or more multicast services and zero broadcast services (for example, an empty message container with zero broadcast services indicates loss of interest). In an embodiment, the UE 101, which was previously receiving one or more multicast (or broadcast) services, can lose interest in receiving all multicast (or broadcast) services”).
Consider claim 14 in view of claim 11 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses wherein the controller is further configured to: include CPR information and a subcarrier spacing for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell in the MII message (see par. 0053: “The UE 101 can prepare a frequency list for availing the MBS of interest based on at least one of a program guide or USD, supported band combination, and system information. The system information can convey the frequencies or SAIs for the MBS. The preferred numerology indicates sub-carrier spacing. The preferred frequency range is either Frequency Range 1 (FR-1) (below 6 GHz) or Frequency Range 2 (FR-2) (above 6 GHz)”).
Consider claim 16 in view of claim 11 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses wherein the transmission of the MII message is initiated when: the UE changes to a PCell providing information on the transmission of the MI message for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell; the UE starts to receive an MBS broadcast service on the non-serving cell; the UE stops to receive the MBS broadcast service on the non-serving cell; or at least one CPR information or a subcarrier spacing for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell is changed (see par. 0056: “the UE 101 can send the interest indication at different events comprising successful RRC connection establishment, the UE 101 entering a MBS service area (viz., a broadcast service area and/or a multicast service area), the UE 101 leaving a MBS service area, start of a MBS session, stop of a MBS session, a change of interest in MBS to be received or receiving for UE 101, a complete loss of interest in MBS for UE 101, change in priority for MBS reception or unicast reception, change in broadcasted system information, change to serving cell that is broadcasting system information for MBS service, service area identity (SAI) and frequency mapping information, initiation of reception of MBS” (Examiner’s Note: claim is written in alternative format)).
Consider claim 17 in view of claim 11 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses wherein the controller is further configured to: transmit, to the serving base station, the MII message before receiving an MBS service on the non-serving cell (see par. 0087: “the method includes receiving, by MBS configuration, from the gNB 102, as response to the interest indication. The MBS configuration corresponds to the at least one MBS that the UE 101 is receiving or is interested to receive”).
Consider claim 18. SHRIVASTAVA discloses a serving base station supporting a multicast and broadcast services (MBS) in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising (see fig. 2, par. 0077: “the counting procedure is initiated by the gNB 102 sending an MBS counting request to a UE (101) availing MBS. For the sake of illustration, a single UE (101) is considered. The gNB 102 may send a plurality of MBS counting requests. In order to respond to the counting request, the UE (101) needs to switch to the RRC_CONNECTED state”): a transceiver; and a controller configured to (see fig. 10, par. 0118: “the base station 1000 may include a controller 1010, a transceiver 1020 and a memory 1030”): transmit, via a primary cell (PCell) of the serving base station to a user equipment (UE), a system information block (SIB) including information for configuring a user equipment (UE) to transmit an MBS interest indication (MII) message for a MBS broadcast reception on a non-serving cell (see par. 0081: “the gNB 102 can send the counting request to the UE 101 through either of System Information Block (SIB), MCCH, Downlink Control Information (DCI), MAC CE or paging, and so on. In an embodiment, in order to avoid duplication of interest indication for RRC_CONNECTED state UEs (101) and counting for a representative RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state UEs (101), two messages for counting response and interested indication can be unified. For example, the counting response can be conveyed using an interest indication message with only MBS (TMGI list) and same message type in the identification field”); based on the information, receive, from the UE, the MII message (see par. 0041: “The procedure involves the UE 101 sending an interest indication to the gNB 102. Thereafter, the UE 101 can receive MBS configuration from the gNB 102. The MBS configuration allows the UE 101 to receive MBS from the gNB 102.”).
Consider claim 19 in view of claim 18 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses wherein the MII message includes at least one MBS frequency information of the non-serving cell in the MII message, CPR information for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell, and a subcarrier spacing for the MBS broadcast reception on the non-serving cell (see par. 0056: “the UE 101 can send the interest indication at different events comprising successful RRC connection establishment, the UE 101 entering a MBS service area (viz., a broadcast service area and/or a multicast service area), the UE 101 leaving a MBS service area, start of a MBS session, stop of a MBS session, a change of interest in MBS to be received or receiving for UE 101, a complete loss of interest in MBS for UE 101, change in priority for MBS reception or unicast reception, change in broadcasted system information, change to serving cell that is broadcasting system information for MBS service, service area identity (SAI) and frequency mapping information, initiation of reception of MBS”) (Examiner’s Note: claim is written in alternative format).
Consider claim 20 in view of claim 18 above. SHRIVASTAVA further discloses transmit, to the serving base station, the MII message before receiving an MBS service on the non-serving cell (see par. 0087: “the method includes receiving, by MBS configuration, from the gNB 102, as response to the interest indication. The MBS configuration corresponds to the at least one MBS that the UE 101 is receiving or is interested to receive”).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claim(s) 5 and 15 (is/are) objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
8. The following prior arts are made of record and not relied upon, but is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20230388871 A1: discloses mobility features for next generation cellular networks
US 20240008059 A1: discloses apparatus of multicast broadcast services transmission and reception on s-cell or non-serving cell
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Marcos Batista, whose telephone number is (571) 270-5209. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm.
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, Rafael Pérez-Gutiérrez can be reached at (571) 272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/MARCOS BATISTA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
June 15, 2026
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