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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-4 of the remarks, filed June 4, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11 under 35 USC §103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Specifically, the added limitations to the independent claims, “while in an RRC_CONNECTED state” and “wherein the wireless terminal is configured to autonomously transition to an RRC_IDLE state upon the proposed connection release time” have has changes the scope of the claims. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Yan et al. U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2018/0302947 as set forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (Yan), U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2018/0302947 in view of Bangolae et al. (Bangolae), U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2017/0013515.
Regarding claim 1, Yan discloses a wireless terminal, comprising: transmitting circuitry (see transmit circuitry in figure 17), while inherently in an RRC CONNECTED state since the connection is released as described below, configured to: transmit a suggested time to release connection (preset RRC release time) to a network node (base station) (sending, by user equipment UE, a first message to a base station, where the first message carries a preset RRC release time determining parameter or a first RRC release time) (0009); and receiving circuitry (see receive circuitry in figure 17) configured to: receive a proposed connection release time from the network node (timing duration of a second timer), wherein the proposed connection release time is derived by the network node based on the suggested time (receiving, by the UE, a response message fed back by the base station for the first message, where the response message carries a second RRC release time determined by the base station based on the preset RRC release time determining parameter) (0010); wherein the wireless terminal is configured to autonomously transition to inherently an RRC IDLE state upon the proposed connection release time since the connection is released (setting, by the UE, timing duration of the first timer based on the second RRC release time, and starting the first timer; and releasing, by the UE, an RRC connection when the first timer expires.) (0010 and 0011; see also 0167 and figure 2).
Yan, however, fails to specifically discloses wherein the release timing messages are sent directly between the wireless terminal and a core network node. It should be noted that Yan does disclose that the base station sends timing information originated at the wireless terminal to an MME (core network node) (generating, by the base station, a first adjustment instruction and a second adjustment instruction based on a result of adjusting the timing duration of the second timer, returning the first adjustment instruction to the UE, and notifying a mobility management entity MME of the second adjustment instruction.) (0023; see figure 1).
In a similar field of endeavor, Bangolae discloses a user equipment and methods to indicate power saving mode configuration to RAN nodes.
Bangolae further discloses wherein a wireless terminal and a core network node/MME send time release information between each other (When switching to the RRC idle state, the RRC connection between the UE and the RAN network may be released. The UE may then enter the PSM. In one embodiment, the PSM negotiation and configuration may be exchanged using non-access stratum (NAS) messages between the UE and the MME.) (0034) and (The UE PSM activation timer may be a 1-2 octet T3324 activation timer that the MME and UE have negotiated. A PSM activation request and related information may be provided from the UE to the MME in in response to different conditions being met.) (0035).
Therefore, before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Yan with the teachings of Bangolae. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Yan and Bangolae discloses the wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the suggested time to release connection comprises inherently ULInformation Transfer and uplink non-access stratum (UL NAS) transport signaling messages when the terminal is sending info to the network (The UE may then enter the PSM. In one embodiment, the PSM negotiation and configuration may be exchanged using non-access stratum (NAS) messages between the UE and the MME.) (Bangolae, 0034).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Yan and Bangolae discloses the wireless terminal of claim 1, wherein the proposed connection release time comprises inherently DLInformation Transfer and downlink non-access stratum (DL NAS) transport signaling messages when the terminal is receiving info from the network (The UE may then enter the PSM. In one embodiment, the PSM negotiation and configuration may be exchanged using non-access stratum (NAS) messages between the UE and the MME.) (Bangolae, 0034).
Regarding claim 6, Yan discloses a network node (base station), comprising:
receiving circuitry (see receive circuitry in figure 17) configured to: receive a suggested time to release connection from a wireless terminal in an RRC CONNECTED state (sending, by user equipment UE, a first message to a base station, where the first message carries a preset RRC release time determining parameter or a first RRC release time) (0009) ; and transmitting circuitry (see transmit circuitry in figure 17) configured to transmit a proposed connection release time to the wireless terminal, wherein the proposed connection release time is derived by the network node based on the suggested time (receiving, by the UE, a response message fed back by the base station for the first message, where the response message carries a second RRC release time determined by the base station based on the preset RRC release time determining parameter) (0010), and wherein the proposed connection release time is used by the wireless terminal to autonomously transition to an RRC IDLE state (setting, by the UE, timing duration of the first timer based on the second RRC release time, and starting the first timer; and releasing, by the UE, an RRC connection when the first timer expires.) (0010 and 0011; see also 0167 and figure 2).
Yan, however, fails to specifically discloses wherein the release timing messages are sent directly between the wireless terminal and a core network node. It should be noted that Yan does disclose that the base station sends timing information originated at the wireless terminal to an MME (core network node) (generating, by the base station, a first adjustment instruction and a second adjustment instruction based on a result of adjusting the timing duration of the second timer, returning the first adjustment instruction to the UE, and notifying a mobility management entity MME of the second adjustment instruction.) (0023; see figure 1).
Bangolae discloses wherein a wireless terminal and a core network node/MME send time release information between each other (When switching to the RRC idle state, the RRC connection between the UE and the RAN network may be released. The UE may then enter the PSM. In one embodiment, the PSM negotiation and configuration may be exchanged using non-access stratum (NAS) messages between the UE and the MME.) (0034) and (The UE PSM activation timer may be a 1-2 octet T3324 activation timer that the MME and UE have negotiated. A PSM activation request and related information may be provided from the UE to the MME in in response to different conditions being met.) (0035).
Therefore, before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Yan with the teachings of Bangolae. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Yan and Bangolae discloses the core network node of claim 6, wherein the suggested time to release connection comprises inherently ULInformation Transfer and uplink non-access stratum (UL NAS) transport signaling messages when the terminal is sending info to the network (The UE may then enter the PSM. In one embodiment, the PSM negotiation and configuration may be exchanged using non-access stratum (NAS) messages between the UE and the MME.) (Bangolae, 0034).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Yan and Bangolae discloses the core network node of claim 6, wherein the proposed connection release time comprises inherently DLInformation Transfer and downlink non-access stratum (DL NAS) transport signaling messages when the terminal is receiving info from the network (The UE may then enter the PSM. In one embodiment, the PSM negotiation and configuration may be exchanged using non-access stratum (NAS) messages between the UE and the MME.) (Bangolae, 0034).
Regarding claim 11, Yan discloses a method by a wireless terminal, comprising: entering an RRC CONNECTED state (When the UE needs to perform service transmission, the UE first needs to set up a connection to a network side device, that is, RRC connection setup, and the UE enters a connected state from an idle state) (0003); transmitting a suggested time to release connection (preset RRC release time) to a network node (base station) (sending, by user equipment UE, a first message to a base station, where the first message carries a preset RRC release time determining parameter or a first RRC release time) (0009); receiving a proposed connection release time from the network node (timing duration of a second timer), wherein the proposed connection release time is derived by the network node based on the suggested time (receiving, by the UE, a response message fed back by the base station for the first message, where the response message carries a second RRC release time determined by the base station based on the preset RRC release time determining parameter) (0010); and autonomously transitioning to inherently an RRC IDLE state upon the proposed connection release time since the connection is released (setting, by the UE, timing duration of the first timer based on the second RRC release time, and starting the first timer; and releasing, by the UE, an RRC connection when the first timer expires.) (0010 and 0011; see also 0167 and figure 2).
Yan, however, fails to specifically discloses wherein the release timing messages are sent directly between the wireless terminal and a core network node. It should be noted that Yan does disclose that the base station sends timing information originated at the wireless terminal to an MME (core network node) (generating, by the base station, a first adjustment instruction and a second adjustment instruction based on a result of adjusting the timing duration of the second timer, returning the first adjustment instruction to the UE, and notifying a mobility management entity MME of the second adjustment instruction.) (0023; see figure 1).
In a similar field of endeavor, Bangolae discloses a user equipment and methods to indicate power saving mode configuration to RAN nodes.
Bangolae further discloses wherein a wireless terminal and a core network node/MME send time release information between each other (When switching to the RRC idle state, the RRC connection between the UE and the RAN network may be released. The UE may then enter the PSM. In one embodiment, the PSM negotiation and configuration may be exchanged using non-access stratum (NAS) messages between the UE and the MME.) (0034) and (The UE PSM activation timer may be a 1-2 octet T3324 activation timer that the MME and UE have negotiated. A PSM activation request and related information may be provided from the UE to the MME in in response to different conditions being met.) (0035).
Therefore, before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Yan with the teachings of Bangolae. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cai et al. U.S. Patent No. 11,357,075 discloses timer adjustment for a mobile device.
Polisetty et al. U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2007/0123266 discloses a method for signaling and time reduction during connection release.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEMICA M. BEAMER whose telephone number is (571)272-7797. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
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/TEMICA M BEAMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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