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 Objections
Claim 8 has been amended. The objection to claim 8 is withdrawn.
Claim Status
Claim 8 has been amended. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2026-02-09 (“Remarks”) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicants argue that Parichehrehteroujeni (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0232298 A1) does not teach the limitation of “receiving feedback information… wherein the feedback information includes the context information” (Remarks, pp. 6-7), stating that “specifically, Parichehrehteroujeni paragraph [0051] explicitly defines the ‘feedback information’ types: ‘The feedback information type(s) comprise… a Radio Link Failure (RLF) report, a Successful Handover Report (SHR)… a Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) failure…’” (Remarks, p. 7). However, it appears that this citation is incorrect. Paragraph [0051] of Parichehrehteroujeni states:
[0051] In some embodiments, the feedback information includes at least one of any one or more of the following types of feedback information: information about the reconfiguration procedure, information about a wireless device that performs the reconfiguration procedure, information about the target network node or a target cell during or after the reconfiguration procedure, one or more measurements performed by the target network node during and/or after the reconfiguration procedure, and one or more measurements performed by the wireless device during and/or after the reconfiguration procedure.
As can be seen, paragraph [0051] of Parichehrehteroujeni does not limit the feedback information to the specific types asserted by applicant. Further, nowhere in the disclosure of Parichehrehteroujeni does it appear that the feedback information limited in such a manner. Rather, Parichehrehteroujeni (e.g., ¶¶0049-0053 and ¶0057, as cited in the previous office action) provides information about the feedback information and what the feedback information may comprise, including:
[0049]: “The feedback information may for instance be collected during and/or after a reconfiguration procedure to the target network node, or otherwise include information that is usable to predict future performance of a reconfiguration procedure (e.g., a handover procedure) to the target network node”;
[0051]: “the feedback information includes at least one of any one or more of the following types of feedback information: information about the reconfiguration procedure, information about a wireless device that performs the reconfiguration procedure, information about the target network node or a target cell during or after the reconfiguration procedure, one or more measurements performed by the target network node during and/or after the reconfiguration procedure, and one or more measurements performed by the wireless device during and/or after the reconfiguration procedure”; and
[0057] wherein “the reconfiguration procedure is a mobility procedure, a Primary Secondary Cell (PSCell) addition or change procedure, or a conditional reconfiguration procedure.”
Thus, Parichehrehteroujeni discloses: (1) that the second network device sends feedback information about a mobility procedure or conditional reconfiguration procedure to the first network device (¶¶0049-0057); (2) that the feedback information comprises mobility configuration information related to the terminal device and/or handover resource information (¶0051); and (3) that the feedback information may comprise information “collected during … a reconfiguration procedure to the target network node” (¶0049) and/or “information about the reconfiguration procedure, information about a wireless device that performs the reconfiguration procedure, information about the target network node or a target cell during or after the reconfiguration procedure, one or more measurements performed by the target network node during and/or after the reconfiguration procedure, and one or more measurements performed by the wireless device during and/or after the reconfiguration procedure” (¶0051), which one of ordinary skill in the art would understand to be, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, context information of the terminal device. (Examiner further notes Applicant’s specification, ¶0078, which states that “the context information of the terminal device on the network device 1 includes mobility configuration information related to the terminal device. The mobility configuration information related to the terminal device may include at least one of handover threshold information, handover offset information, hysteresis information, and handover resource information”). Furthermore, Parichehrehteroujeni’s motivation is to "enable a feedback mechanism after handover of a user equipment (UE) from a source node to a target node in a wireless communication network" (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶0103), which would solve the problem that Applicant is trying to solve, namely that "after a handover to a target cell, the source/serving node would [typically] act obliviously about the handed over UE, i.e. would not be interested in that UE any longer … if the UE experiences low throughput or poor radio coverage (or even a radio link failure), the source node of the handover would heretofore not be able to recognize and take any counteraction preventing such handovers causing poor performance for the UEs" (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0047-0047), i.e., optimizing mobility performance even in the context of successful handover(s).
Thus, the combination of Wang and Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the limitation(s) of the independent claims. The previous rejection(s) are maintained.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-6 and 8-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2024/0298227 to Wang et al. (“Wang”) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0232298 to Parichehrehteroujeni et al. (“Parichehrehteroujeni”).
As to claim 10 (and similarly applied to claim 1), Wang discloses a first network device (Figs. 1C, 7, and 22, Network Device 110), comprising: at least one processor (Fig. 22, Processor 2210; ¶¶0256-0257); and one or more memories including computer instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first network device to perform operations (Fig. 22, Memory 2220 and Prog 2230; ¶¶0256-0259) comprising: sending context information of a terminal device on the first network device to a second network device (Figs. 1C and 3, 305 and 320; ¶0104); receiving a successful handover report (SHR) from a third network device, wherein the SHR is generated by the terminal device based on handover from a first cell of the first network device to a second cell of the second network device, and the third network device is a network device connected to the terminal device when the terminal device sends the SHR (Figs. 1C and 7; ¶0081-0082 and ¶0127; terminal device hands over between network devices 110 and 130 and may send a successful handover report to a third cell which then forwards the report to the source network device); … and optimizing mobility performance based on the context information and the SHR (¶0061, ¶0073).
Wang does not disclose: sending request information to the second network device, wherein the request information requests the context information and receiving feedback information from the second network device, wherein the feedback information includes the context information.
However, Parichehrehteroujeni discloses: sending request information to the second network device, wherein the request information requests the context information and receiving feedback information from the second network device, wherein the feedback information includes the context information (Fig. 3, steps 36 and 44; ¶¶0103-0106. See also ¶¶0049-0053) and the Response to Arguments section above).
Wang and Parichehrehteroujeni are considered to be similar to the claimed invention because they are in one or more of the same fields of: handoff or reselection arrangements; arrangements, scheduling, and transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports; and/or supervisory, monitoring, or testing arrangements, e.g. arrangements for optimizing operational condition(s). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Wang to incorporate the teachings of Parichehrehteroujeni to include: sending request information to the second network device, wherein the request information requests the context information and receiving feedback information from the second network device, wherein the feedback information includes the context information. Doing so would "enable a feedback mechanism after handover of a user equipment (UE) from a source node to a target node in a wireless communication network" (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶0103), which would solve the problem that "after a handover to a target cell, the source/serving node would act obliviously about the handed over UE, i.e. would not be interested in that UE any longer … if the UE experiences low throughput or poor radio coverage (or even a radio link failure), the source node of the handover would heretofore not be able to recognize and take any counteraction preventing such handovers causing poor performance for the UEs" (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0047-0047). Thus, one would be motivated to combine Parichehrehteroujeni and Wang to improve handovers and/or other types of reconfiguration procedures, which would improve service reliability and customer experience.
As to claim 11 (and similarly applied to claim 2), Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the first network device according to claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving handover success information from the second network device, wherein the handover success information indicates that the terminal device is successfully handed over to the second cell (Wang, Figs. 1C and 7; ¶0081-82 and ¶0127; the successful handover report may be sent to the target cell 135, which then may forward the report to the source cell 115).
As to claim 12 (and similarly applied to claim 3), Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the first network device according to claim 10, wherein the request information comprises information about the terminal device (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0049-53; the source node indicates which type(s) of feedback information the target node is to provide, the feedback information type(s) comprising information about the terminal device).
As to claim 4, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein the request information further comprises at least one of information about the first network device, information about the second cell, or time information of a handover procedure (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0049-53; the source node indicates which type(s) of feedback information the target node is to provide, the feedback information type(s) comprising information about the first network device, the second cell, or time information of a handover procedure).
As to claim 5, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the context information comprises mobility configuration information related to the terminal device (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0051-52, ¶0057).
As to claim 6, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein the mobility configuration information comprises at least one of handover threshold information, handover resource information, handover offset information, or hysteresis information; or the mobility configuration information comprises conditional handover configuration information (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0051-52, ¶0057).
As to claim 8, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the SHR comprises information about the first network device (Wang, ¶0127).
As to claim 9, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the third network device and the second network device are a same network device (Wang, Figs. 1C and 7; ¶0081-82 and ¶0127; the successful handover report may be sent to the target cell 135 (i.e., "even the same cell 135"), which then may forward the report to the source cell 115).
As to claim 13, Wang discloses a second network device (Figs. 1C, 7, and 22, Network Device 130), comprising: at least one processor (Fig. 22, Processor 2210, ¶¶0256-0257); and one or more memories including computer instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second network device to perform operations (Fig. 22, Memory 2220 and Prog 2230; ¶¶0256-0259) comprising: receiving, from a first network device, context information of a terminal device on the first network device; storing the context information (Figs. 1C and 3, 320 and 330; ¶¶0104-0105).
Wang does not disclose: receiving request information from the first network device, wherein the request information requests the context information; and sending feedback information to the first network device, wherein the feedback information includes the context information.
However, Parichehrehteroujeni discloses: receiving request information from the first network device, wherein the request information requests the context information; and sending feedback information to the first network device, wherein the feedback information includes the context information (Fig. 3, steps 36 and 44; ¶¶0103-0106. See also ¶¶0049-0053)).
Wang and Parichehrehteroujeni are considered to be similar to the claimed invention because they are in one or more of the same fields of: handoff or reselection arrangements; arrangements, scheduling, and transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports; and/or supervisory, monitoring, or testing arrangements, e.g. arrangements for optimizing operational condition(s). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Wang to incorporate the teachings of Parichehrehteroujeni to include: receiving request information from the first network device, wherein the request information requests the context information; and sending feedback information to the first network device, wherein the feedback information includes the context information. Doing so would "enable a feedback mechanism after handover of a user equipment (UE) from a source node to a target node in a wireless communication network" (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶0103), which would solve the problem that "after a handover to a target cell, the source/serving node would act obliviously about the handed over UE, i.e. would not be interested in that UE any longer … if the UE experiences low throughput or poor radio coverage (or even a radio link failure), the source node of the handover would heretofore not be able to recognize and take any counteraction preventing such handovers causing poor performance for the UEs" (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0047-0047). Thus, one would be motivated to combine Parichehrehteroujeni and Wang to improve handovers and/or other types of reconfiguration procedures, which would improve service reliability and customer experience.
As to claim 14, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the second network device according to claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving indication information sent by the terminal device, wherein the indication information indicates that the terminal device generates a successful handover report (SHR) based on handover from a first cell of the first network device to a second cell of the second network device (Wang, Figs. 1C and 7; ¶¶0125-0127).
As to claim 15, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the second network device according to claim 14, wherein the indication information comprises handover information corresponding to the SHR (Wang, Figs. 1C and 7; ¶¶0125-0127).
As to claim 16, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the second network device according to claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: sending handover success information to the first network device, wherein the handover success information indicates that the terminal device is successfully handed over to the second cell (Wang, Figs. 1C and 7; ¶0081-82 and ¶0127; the successful handover report may be sent to the target cell 135, which then may forward the report to the source cell 115).
As to claim 17, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the second network device according to claim 13, wherein the request information comprises information about the terminal device (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0049-53; the source node indicates which type(s) of feedback information the target node is to provide, the feedback information type(s) comprising information about the terminal device).
As to claim 18, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the second network device according to claim 17, wherein the request information further comprises at least one of information about the first network device, information about the second cell, or time information of the handover (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0049-53; the source node indicates which type(s) of feedback information the target node is to provide, the feedback information type(s) comprising information about the first network device, the second cell, or time information of a handover procedure).
As to claim 19, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the second network device according to claim 13, wherein the context information comprises mobility configuration information related to the terminal device (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0051-52, ¶0057).
As to claim 20, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the second network device according to claim 19, wherein the mobility configuration information comprises at least one of handover threshold information, handover resource information, handover offset information, or hysteresis information; or the mobility configuration information comprises conditional handover configuration information (Parichehrehteroujeni, ¶¶0051-52, ¶0057).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni and further in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2022/0386195 to Ishii.
As to claim 7, Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni discloses the method according to claim 6.
Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni does not disclose: wherein the conditional handover configuration information comprises conditional handover candidate cell information and conditional handover trigger condition information.
However, Ishii discloses: wherein the conditional handover configuration information comprises conditional handover candidate cell information and conditional handover trigger condition information (Fig. 7, act 7-6; ¶¶0137-0139).
Wang, Parichehrehteroujeni, and Ishii are considered to be similar to the claimed invention because they are in one or more of the same fields of: handoff or reselection arrangements; arrangements, scheduling, and transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports; and/or supervisory, monitoring, or testing arrangements, e.g. arrangements for optimizing operational condition(s). As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Wang in view of Parichehrehteroujeni to incorporate the teachings of Ishii to include: wherein the conditional handover configuration information comprises conditional handover candidate cell information and conditional handover trigger condition information. Doing so would aid in "efficiently and effectively implement conditional handover to a secondary cell group" (Ishii, ¶0008), which would "[increase] reliability and robustness of handovers" (Ishii, ¶0007). Thus, one would be motivated to combine Ishii with Wang and Parichehrehteroujeni to improve handover success rate and reduce handover interruption time, which would improve mobility robustness, service reliability, and customer experience.
References Cited
Ishii, Atsushi (2022). Configurations for conditional primary secondary cell addition/modification (US 2022/0386195 A1). Filed 2020-09-30.
Parichehrehteroujeni, Ali et al. (2023). Reconfiguration procedure in a wireless communication network (US 2023/0232298 A1). Filed 2021-06-15.
Wang, Da et al. (2024). Methods for communication, terminal device, network device, and computer readable media (US 2024/0298227 A1). Filed 2021-01-05.
Other Pertinent References
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
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Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/SAMUEL H. LEONARD/Examiner, Art Unit 2649
/YUWEN PAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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