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 .
Priority
The instant application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. 120 and 35 U.S.C. 365(c) of PCT Application No. PCT/JP2022/019528, filed on 2 May 2022. The application also claims priority to Provisional U.S. Application No. 63/185,648, filed on 7 May 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6 November 2023 was filed before the mailing date of the first action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
In response to the previous restriction requirement, Applicant has elected to prosecute Group II, claims 8-10. Applicant has further stated that claims 1-7 and 11-14 are to be cancelled and is adding claims 15 and 16. Claims 8-10, 15, and 16 have been examined.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-16 are objected to under 37 C.F.R. 121(c) because of the following informalities: Any amendment to the claims should be submitted as a complete listing of the claims, including cancelled claims, along with each respective status (Original, Amended, etc.); additionally, any text added to the claims, including newly introduced claims, should be underlined.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 8-10, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 8 and 16 each recite that a donor node that comprises a first relay node and a second relay node, but which also recite that the first relay node and the second relay node are subordinate to the donor node, implying that they the two relay nodes are not part of the donor node itself. For purposes of the prior art search, it is being presumed that there is a donor node that is separate from and communicatively connected to the first relay node and the second relay node.
Claims 9 and 10 are dependent upon base claim 8 and wholly incorporates its limitations, rendering them likewise indefinite.
Claim 15 is directed to a first relay node, but recites the structure of a donor node that is outside of the scope of the claimed first relay node, as well as a relationship between the donor node and that the second relay node that is also outside of the scope of the claimed first relay node. For purposes of the prior art search, limitations that do not directly relate to the claimed first relay node are being treated as having no patentable weight.
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)(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.
Claims 8-10, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WIPO Patent Application Publication No. WO2020/164591 to Diao et al. (hereinafter Diao).
NOTE: Page numbers in the citations are to the English-language translation of Diao attached to this office action.
As per claim 8, Diao discloses a communication control method used in a network (see abstract), the communication control method comprising: configuring, by a donor node comprising a first relay node and a second relay node being a parent node of the first relay node (Donor node DU2 in combination with Node IAB2, which is a parent of Node IAB1, see figure 2), the first relay node using correspondence information representing a correspondence relationship (see p. 6, “Preset data type, the first hop count threshold, the second hop count threshold, the third hop count threshold, the first priority threshold, the second priority threshold, whether the pre-sent buffer status report is forwarded or not; pre-application cache Threshold, occupancy cache threshold, mapping relationship between LCG of IAB node and LCG of its child IAB node, pre-allocated uplink resource ratio value, IAB node routing table, uplink data volume threshold, priority of IAB node's preset cost measurement parameters And/or weight, first pre-application split ratio, first maximum cache threshold, uplink transmission indication parameter, first master maximum cache threshold, first auxiliary maximum cache threshold, weight threshold, second master maximum cache threshold, first The second auxiliary maximum cache threshold, the second pre-application split ratio, and the second maximum cache threshold.”) between a hop count of a logical channel (LCH) and a logical channel group (LCG) (see figure 4 and S402 on pp. 6-7), the first relay node and the second relay node being subordinate to the donor node (see figure 2); transmitting, by the first relay node, a buffer status report (BSR) to the second relay node (see figure 3), based on the correspondence information; and transmitting, by the second relay node, an uplink grant (UL grant) to the first relay node (see figure 3), based on the correspondence information and the buffer status report (see figure 4 and S402).
As per claim 9, Diao further discloses transmitting, by the donor node, the correspondence information to the second relay node (“the DU of each IAB node may all belong to the CU of the IAB host. The CU hosted by the IAB can configure the IAB node by sending information configuration instructions to the DU or MT corresponding to each IAB node,” see figure 2, and pp. 2 and 5-6).
As per claim 10, Diao further discloses the transmitting of the buffer status report comprises, by the first relay node, determining the logical channel group corresponding to the hop count of a packet received via the logical channel based on the correspondence information, and transmitting, to the second relay node, the buffer status report comprising a buffer size of the logical channel group (see figures 5 and 6).
As per claim 15, Diao discloses a first relay node in a network (see abstract), the first relay node comprising: a receiver configured to receive, from a donor node comprising the first relay node and a second relay node being a parent node of the first relay node (Donor node DU2 in combination with Node IAB2, which is a parent of Node IAB1, see figure 2), correspondence information representing a correspondence relationship (see p. 6, “Preset data type, the first hop count threshold, the second hop count threshold, the third hop count threshold, the first priority threshold, the second priority threshold, whether the pre-sent buffer status report is forwarded or not; pre-application cache Threshold, occupancy cache threshold, mapping relationship between LCG of IAB node and LCG of its child IAB node, pre-allocated uplink resource ratio value, IAB node routing table, uplink data volume threshold, priority of IAB node's preset cost measurement parameters And/or weight, first pre-application split ratio, first maximum cache threshold, uplink transmission indication parameter, first master maximum cache threshold, first auxiliary maximum cache threshold, weight threshold, second master maximum cache threshold, first The second auxiliary maximum cache threshold, the second pre-application split ratio, and the second maximum cache threshold.”) between a hop count of a logical channel (LCH) and a logical channel group (LCG) (see figure 4 and S402 on pp. 6-7), wherein the first relay node and the second relay node are subordinate to the donor node (see figure 2); and a transmitter configured to transmit, to the second relay node, a buffer status report (BSR) based on the correspondence information (see figure 3), wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, from the second relay node, an uplink grant (UL grant) based on the correspondence information (see figure 3) and the buffer status report (see figure 4 and S402).
As per claim 16, Diao discloses an apparatus configured to control a first relay node in a cellular communication system, the apparatus comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the processor configured to: receive, from a donor node comprising the first relay node and a second relay node being a parent node of the first relay node (Donor node DU2 in combination with Node IAB2, which is a parent of Node IAB1, see figure 2), correspondence information representing a correspondence relationship (see p. 6, “Preset data type, the first hop count threshold, the second hop count threshold, the third hop count threshold, the first priority threshold, the second priority threshold, whether the pre-sent buffer status report is forwarded or not; pre-application cache Threshold, occupancy cache threshold, mapping relationship between LCG of IAB node and LCG of its child IAB node, pre-allocated uplink resource ratio value, IAB node routing table, uplink data volume threshold, priority of IAB node's preset cost measurement parameters And/or weight, first pre-application split ratio, first maximum cache threshold, uplink transmission indication parameter, first master maximum cache threshold, first auxiliary maximum cache threshold, weight threshold, second master maximum cache threshold, first The second auxiliary maximum cache threshold, the second pre-application split ratio, and the second maximum cache threshold.”) between a hop count of a logical channel (LCH) and a logical channel group (LCG) (see figure 4 and S402 on pp. 6-7), wherein the first relay node and the second relay node are subordinate to the donor node (see figure 2); transmit, to the second relay node, a buffer status report (BSR) based on the correspondence information (see figure 3); and receive, from the second relay node, an uplink grant (UL grant) based on the correspondence information (see figure 3) and the buffer status report (see figure 4 and S402).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW E HENEGHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3834. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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, Michael Fuelling can be reached at (571)270-1367. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MATTHEW E HENEGHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992