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
a. Claims 1-17 in the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA :
- claims 1-4, 6, 7, and 13 are amended
- claims 8-12 and 14 are canceled
- claims 15-17 are new
b. This is a final action on the merits based on Applicant’s claims submitted on 01/27/2026.
Response to Arguments
Regarding claims 1-4 and 13-14 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2), Applicant's arguments, see “Since Liu and Fukuta do not describe all the elements of the independent claims, either explicitly or inherently, an anticipation rejection cannot be maintained. In addition, for at least the above reasons, the cited references, taken alone or in any combination, fail to disclose, suggest, or otherwise render obvious the features recited in the independent claims.” on page 8, filed on 01/27/2026, with respect to , have been fully considered but are moot, over the limitations of “the RRC Resume Request message includes an information element indicating a cause for resuming the RRC connection, and the user equipment in RRC inactive state is configured to, in response to the RRC connection resume procedure being triggered for multicast reception of the MBS multicast service, set a value for the information element to a specific value selected from values of a plurality of causes for resuming the RRC connection”. Said limitations are newly added to the amended Claims 1, and 15-17 and have been addressed in instant office action, as shown in section 35 USC 103 rejection below, with newly identified disclosures in previously applied reference Kadiri, in combination with previously applied reference Liu, thus rendering said Applicant’s arguments moot.
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 of this title, 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.
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.
Claims 1-7, 13, and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. US Pub 2021/0392466, claiming provisional application 63037778 priority 2020-06-11 (hereinafter “Liu”), and in view of Kadiri et al., US Pub 2021/0410045, claiming provisional application 63044339 priority 2020-06-25 (hereinafter “Kadiri”).
Regarding claim 1 (Currently Amended)
Liu discloses a communication control method used in a mobile communication system (“Wireless communications system 200 (e.g., an NR communications system) may support unicast communications and multicast communications” [0090]; Fig. 2) providing a multicast broadcast service (MBS) (“multicast communications may be served by an MBS or an MBMS” [0090]) from a network node (e.g. “base station 105” in Fig. 2; [0090]) to a user equipment (e.g. “specific UE 115” in Fig. 2; [0090]),
Liu does not specifically teach the MBS includes an MBS multicast service and an MBS broadcast service different from the MBS multicast service, the communication control method comprising:
by the user equipment in RRC (Radio Resource Control) inactive state, initiating an RRC connection resume procedure by transmitting an RRC Resume Request message to the network node in a random access procedure to resume an RRC connection, wherein the RRC Resume Request message includes an information element indicating a cause for resuming the RRC connection, and the user equipment in RRC inactive state is configured to, in response to the RRC connection resume procedure being triggered for multicast reception of the MBS multicast service, set a value for the information element to a specific value selected from values of a plurality of causes for resuming the RRC connection.
In an analogous art, Kadiri discloses the MBS includes an MBS multicast service (“the base station may also configure unified access control parameters for UEs to provide access to an individual UE or a set of UEs to receive one or more multicast broadcast services” [0055]) and an MBS broadcast service different from the MBS multicast service (“a first multicast broadcast service, but not a second (e.g., different) multicast broadcast service” [0025]), the communication control method comprising:
by the user equipment in RRC (Radio Resource Control) inactive state, initiating an RRC connection resume procedure (“Subsequently, a UE in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state may attempt to transition to the RRC connected state, and as such, may transmit an access message to the base station requesting to establish or resume the RRC connected state for receiving multicast broadcast services.” [0059]) by transmitting an RRC Resume Request message to the network node in a random access procedure to resume an RRC connection (“The UE may then initiate a random access (RACH) procedure to establish or resume the RRC connected state. During the random access procedure, the base station may receive a RACH message 3 or message A (for example, including an RRC setup request message or an RRC resume request message) including an RRC establishment cause or resume cause for multicast broadcast services from the UE requesting access to the one or more multicast broadcast services based on the one or more configured unified access control parameters.” [0055]), wherein
the RRC Resume Request message includes an information element indicating a cause for resuming the RRC connection (“a radio resource control resume request message may include resume cause for a multicast broadcast service.” [0089]), and
the user equipment in RRC inactive state is configured to, in response to the RRC connection resume procedure being triggered for multicast reception of the MBS multicast service, set a value for the information element to a specific value selected from values of a plurality of causes for resuming the RRC connection (“the user equipment 302 may send an access message such as an RRCSetupRequest message or an RRCResumeRequest message, for example, including a new cause value (for example, an access category value) associated with multicast broadcast services. The new cause value associated with the one or more multicast broadcast services may be mapped to an establish cause or a resume cause also associated with the one or more multicast broadcast services. This allows the base station 304 differentiate between user equipment trying to establish multicast broadcast and user equipment trying to establish unicast. This also allows the base station 304 to identify whether a user equipment is establishing an RRC connection for a first time to receive one or more multicast broadcast services or whether a user equipment is resuming a suspended RRC connection for receiving one or more multicast broadcast services.” [0101]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Liu’s UE assistance information (UAI) for multicast and broadcast services (MBSs), to include Kadiri’s method for providing access control for multicast or broadcast (MC/BC) services, in order to efficiently manage MBMS related transmission resources (Kadiri [0006]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Kadiri’s method for providing access control for multicast or broadcast (MC/BC) services into Liu’s UE assistance information (UAI) for multicast and broadcast services (MBSs) since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 2 (Currently Amended)
Liu, as modified by Kadiri, previously discloses the communication control method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting predetermined information to the network node in the random access procedure, wherein
Liu further discloses the transmitting of the predetermined information comprises transmitting a message comprising the predetermined information to the network node, and the message is Message 3 or Message 5 in the random access procedure (“The UE 115 may transmit the unicast or multicast UAI at different occasions and in different messages (e.g., RACH msg3, RACH msg 5, PDU session establishment/modification, release request, or MBS interest indication) based on the architecture of the network providing the multicast service” [0088]).
Regarding claim 3 (Currently Amended)
Liu, as modified by Kadiri, previously discloses the communication control method according to claim 2, further comprising:
Liu further discloses by the user equipment, receiving, from the network node, information indicating a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) resource (i.e. “RACH occasions”) to be used when accessing the network node and thus receiving the MBS multicast service (“The base station 105 may receive the UAI and determine one or more parameters for multicast communications with the UE 115 based on the UAI. The UE 115 may receive the multicast transmissions from the base station 105 in accordance with the UAI.” [0088]), wherein
the predetermined information is a random access preamble transmitted by using the PRACH resource (“The UE 115 may transmit the unicast or multicast UAI at different occasions and in different messages (e.g., RACH msg3, RACH msg 5, PDU session establishment/modification, release request, or MBS interest indication) based on the architecture of the network providing the multicast service, the mode of the UE 115 (e.g., connected or idle), or if the UE 115 determines to switch modes.” [0088]).
Regarding claim 4 (Currently Amended)
Liu, as modified by Kadiri, previously discloses the communication control method according to claim 2, wherein
Liu further discloses the transmitting of the predetermined information comprises transmitting the message comprising the predetermined information to the network node when the user equipment accesses the network node and does not transmit data (“In some communication systems, a UE may not be configured to transmit feedback related to multicast communication systems. For example, a UE may have participated in some MBMS communications that may have been primarily used for lower priority multicast communications, such as television and radio applications. As such, the information provided to the base stations transmitting the multicast communications of the MBMS by the connected UEs was limited (e.g., the UE did not transmit feedback for the multicast transmissions or transmit UE capability information related to the multicast communications). In some wireless communications systems, multiple types of traffic may be transmitted by a multicast service such as an MBS or MBMS in addition to or as an alternative to the television and radio applications.” [0057]).
Regarding claim 5
Liu, as modified by Kadiri, previously discloses the communication control method according to claim 2, wherein
Kadiri further discloses the message is an RRC Setup Request message (“The radio resource control setup request message” [0089]),
the RRC Setup Request message comprises an information element indicating a connection cause (“The radio resource control setup request message may include an establishment cause for a multicast broadcast service” [0089]), and
the transmitting of the predetermined information comprises transmitting the RRC Setup Request message comprising the predetermined information as the information element (“During RACH procedure, message 3 or message A may carry a radio resource control setup request message… The radio resource control setup request message may include an establishment cause for a multicast broadcast service” [0140]).
Regarding claim 6 (Currently Amended)
Liu, as modified by Kadiri, previously discloses the communication control method according to claim 2, further comprising:
Kadiri further discloses by the network node, determining, based on the predetermined information, whether to permit establishment or resumption of Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection between the user equipment and the network node (“A method for wireless communication by a base station is provided. The method includes broadcasting one or more cell barring parameters to a group of user equipment (UEs) that indicate whether UEs in the group of UEs are permitted to select a cell of the base station for receiving the multicast or broadcast services. The method also includes broadcasting one or more access control parameters to a set of one or more UEs, of the group of UEs, that is indicated to be permitted to select the cell for receiving the multicast or broadcast services based on the one or more cell barring parameters. The one or more access control parameters indicate whether the set of one or more UEs is permitted to establish or resume a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with the base station for receiving the multicast or broadcast services.” [0006]).
Regarding claim 7 (Currently Amended)
Liu, as modified by Kadiri, previously discloses the communication control method according to claim 2, further comprising:
Kadiri further discloses by the user equipment (i.e. “UE”), receiving, from a core network apparatus (i.e. “base station”), permission information related to permission to receive the MBS multicast service (“A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes receiving one or more cell barring parameters from a base station indicating whether the UE is permitted to select a cell of the base station for receiving multicast or broadcast services. The method also includes receiving one or more access control parameters from the base station indicating whether the UE is permitted to establish or resume a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with the base station for receiving the multicast or broadcast services based on the one or more cell barring parameters indicating that the UE is permitted to select the cell of the base station for receiving multicast or broadcast services.” [0008]),
wherein the transmitting of the predetermined information comprises transmitting the predetermined information after receiving the permission information (“The method further includes transmitting an access request message to establish or resume the RRC connected state with the base station for receiving the multicast or broadcast services based on the one or more access control parameters.” [0008]).
Regarding claim 13 (Currently Amended)
Liu discloses a chipset for a user equipment (“a processor of a UE 115 (e.g., controlling the receiver 710, the transmitter 720, or the transceiver 1020 as described with reference to FIG. 10)” [0133]; Fig. 10) configured to perform the communication control method according to claim 1.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 13 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1. Therefore apparatus claim 13 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 15 (New)
Liu discloses a user equipment (“device 705 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115” in Fig. 7; [0126]) comprising:
a receiver (“receiver 710” in Fig. 7; [0126]) configured to receive data via a multicast broadcast service (MBS) from a network node, the MBS includes an MBS multicast service and an MBS broadcast service different from the MBS multicast service; and
a processor (“The device 705 may also include a processor” [0126]) configured to;
while the user equipment is in RRC (Radio Resource Control) inactive state, initiate an RRC connection resume procedure by transmitting an RRC Resume Request message to the network node in a random access procedure to resume an RRC connection the RRC Resume Request message including an information element indicating a cause for resuming the RRC connection, and
in response to the RRC connection resume procedure being triggered for multicast reception of the MBS multicast service, set a value for the information element to a specific value selected from values of a plurality of causes for resuming the RRC connection.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 15 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1. Therefore apparatus claim 15 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 16 (New)
Liu discloses a system (“wireless communications system 100” in Fig. 1; [0063]) comprising the user equipment (“one or more UEs 115” in Fig. 1; [0063]) according to claim 15 and a network node (“one or more base stations 105” in Fig. 1; [0063]) configured to communicate with the user equipment (as aforementioned in Claim 1 discussion).
Regarding claim 17 (New)
A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising, stored thereupon, computer program instructions for execution by a user equipment configured to receive data via a multicast broadcast service (MBS) from a network node, the MBS includes an MBS multicast service and an MBS broadcast service different from the MBS multicast service, the computer program instructions being configured to cause the user equipment to execute processing of,
while the user equipment is in RRC (Radio Resource Control) inactive state, initiating an RRC connection resume procedure by transmitting an RRC Resume Request message to the network node in a random access procedure to resume an RRC connection, the RRC Resume Request message including an information element indicating a cause for resuming the RRC connection, and
in response to the RRC connection resume procedure being triggered for multicast reception of the MBS multicast service, setting a value for the information element to a specific value selected from values of a plurality of causes for resuming the RRC connection.
The scope and subject matter of non-transitory computer readable medium claim 17 is drawn to the computer program product of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1. Therefore computer program product claim 17 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG M NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-8184. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am - 6:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached at 571-272-3123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHUONG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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