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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-7 and 11-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Teyeb et al, US Pub. No. 2023/0269644 A1, hereinafter referred to Teyeb.
Regarding claims 1 and 11,Teyeb discloses wireless communication methods and systems, and more specifically to inter-Centralized Unit (CU) migration in an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) network, the wireless systems and methods comprise: a processor implemented in a first integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor (fig. 17 illustrates an IAB node comprising a processor 510); and a transceiver, coupled to the processor (transceiver 540 coupled to processor 510), configured to: transmit, to a second IAB donor, an Xn Application Protocol (XnAP) message comprising an Internet Protocol (IP) address request information (fig. 9, step 110, and p. [0132]-0133]: the request Xn Signaling from Source Donor-CU 20 to Target Donor-CU 30, wherein the additional information may comprise an IP address); and receive, from the second IAB donor, an IP address information (fig. 9, step 115, and p. [0142]-[0143]: The source donor-CU20 (i.e. CU1) will get the information about the new IP addresses and will use them from there on instead of the old IP addresses).
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Teyeb discloses wherein the IP address information comprises at least one of an IP address information of an IAB node, an IP address information of the first IAB donor, or an IP address information of the second IAB donor (p. 0142]: The target donor-DU will allocate the IP addresses, and send them to the target donor-CU30. The source donor-CU20 (i.e. CU1) will get the information about the new IP addresses and will use them from there on instead of the old IP addresses).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Teyeb discloses wherein the XnAP message comprises an XnAP handover request message (p. [0132]: XnAP handover preparation message (i.e. handover request message)) .
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Teyeb discloses wherein the IP address request information is included in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Context Information Element (IE) in the XnAP handover request message (fig. 6, [0025]-[0027]: the XnAP handover request comprises RRC context setup request and context setup response).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Teyeb discloses wherein the IP address request information is included in a HandoverPreparationInformation message in the XnAP handover request message (p. [0052]: the handover request comprises an XnAP handover preparation message).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Teyeb discloses wherein the IP address request information comprises at least one of a number of requested IPv4 addresses, a number of requested IPv6 addresses, a usage of an IPv6 prefix, a usage of the requested IPv4 addresses, a usage of the requested IPv6 addresses, a prior IPv4 address, a prior IPv6 address, or a prior IPv6 prefix (the IP address disclosed by Teyeb is inherently at least one of IPv4 or IPv6 address).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Teyeb discloses wherein the IP address information comprises at least one of an IP address for IP security (IPsec) for F1-U traffic, an IP address for IPsec for F1-C traffic, an IP address for IPsec for non-F1 traffic, a prior IP address for IPsec for the F1-U traffic, a prior IP address for IPsec for the F1-C traffic, a prior IP address for IPsec for the non-F1 traffic, an IP address for a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP) endpoint, or a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) address for an IAB node (see p. [0009]: The full user plane F1-U (GTP-U/UDP/IP) is terminated at the IAB node (like a normal DU) and the full control plane F1-C (F1-AP/SCTP/IP) is also terminated at the IAB node (like a normal DU). In the above cases, Network Domain Security (NDS) has been employed to protect both UP and CP traffic (IPsec in the case of UP, and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) in the case of CP). IPsec could also be used for the CP protection instead of DTLS).
Regarding claim 8, Teyeb discloses the method comprising: transmitting, by a first integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor to an IAB node, an F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) message (fig. 7-8, p. [0124]: IAB-node 3 DU has an F1AP connection with IAB-Donor CU1) comprising an Internet Protocol (IP) address information, wherein the IP address information comprises at least one of an IP address information of the IAB node, an IP address information of the first IAB donor, and an IP address information of a second IAB donor (fig. 9, step 110, and p. [0132]-0133]: the request Xn Signaling from Source Donor-CU 20 to Target Donor-CU 30, wherein the additional information may comprise an IP address; p.[ 0142]: The target donor-DU will allocate the IP addresses, and send them to the target donor-CU30).
Regarding claim 9, Teyeb discloses wherein the IAB node is configured to migrate from the first IAB donor to the second IAB donor (see fig. 6 and 9, source IAB donor and target IAB donor).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Teyeb as applied to claims above, and further in view of Wang et al (hereinafter “Wang”), US Pub 2022/0286938 A1.
Regarding claim 10, Teyeb does not disclose wherein the F1AP message is a GNB-CU CONFIGURATION UPDATE message or a GNB-DU CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE message. Wang discloses this feature at p. [0393] and figure 16A (message 5-1 and message 5-2 may be UE Context Setup/Modification Request and UE Context Setup/Modification Response messages, respectively; in another embodiment, the above message 5-1 and message 5-2 may be gNB-CU Configuration Update and gNB-CU Configuration Update Acknowledge messages, respectively; in another embodiment, there may be only the above step 5-1, and the message 5-1 may be an F1 Setup Response or a gNB-DU Configuration Update Acknowledge message). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the feature disclosed by Wang into Teyeb’s system for performing handover through an IAB relay node.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAI D HOANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3184. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30 am-18:30pm.
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THAI HOANG D.
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2463
/THAI DINH HOANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463