DETAILED ACTION
This communication is responsive to Application No. #18/503191 filed on November 7, 2023. Claims 1-20 are subject to examination.
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 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, based on the similar independent claim 11, the limitation “triggering a handover from NR to LTE (Long Term Evolution) the network” should read, “triggering a handover from NR to LTE (Long Term Evolution) by the network” (emphasis added).
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 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.
Claims 1-8 and 11-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agarwal et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20230091383, hereinafter, “Agarwal”) in view of Si (Chinese Patent Application Publication, CN111405622A, hereinafter, “Si”).
Regarding claim 1, Agarwal teaches:
A method for inter-radio access technology (inter-RAT) handover, comprising (Agarwal: [0040] The UE 202 is configured to receive a handover trigger for the VoNR call from the base station 204 … to continue … the VoNR call as a voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE) call, based on the handover trigger for the VoNR call ... Fig. 2):
establishing New Radio (NR) connection between user equipment (UE) and a network (Agarwal: [0036] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example system 200 for managing voice/video over new radio (VoNR) calls according to various embodiments. The system 200 comprises at least one UE 202, a base station 204, and at least one neighbour cell 206. [0037] In an embodiment, the UE 202 is configured to detect a signal deterioration during a VoNR call ... Fig. 2);
sending first Measurement Report by the UE to the network when one of following conditions occurs:
New Radio (NR) signal quality does not satisfy an NR signal threshold (Agarwal: [0038] The UE 202 is configured to send a measurement report and a zero channel quality indicator (CQI) report to the base station 204 on detecting the signal deterioration ... Fig. 2);
the UE changes a calling preference to voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) (Agarwal: [0083] If the Wi-Fi network is available, the Wi-Fi module 314 of the communication module 304 checks voice preference mode; e.g., whether the voice preference is cellular or Wi-Fi, as depicted in operation 712. Connecting, by the Wi-Fi module 314 of the communication module 312, the VoNR call to the available Wi-Fi network as a default behaviour, on detecting the voice preference mode as Wi-Fi, as depicted in operation 714 ... Fig. 7); and
triggering a handover from NR to LTE (Long Term Evolution) the network (Agarwal: [0042] In an embodiment, the base station 204 is configured to receive the zero CQI report and the measurement report from the UE 202 which indicate the signal deterioration during the VoNR call. The base station 204 is further configured to trigger handover … of the UE 202 to at least one neighbour cell 206 e.g., to handover the VoNR call to … the neighbour LTE cell based on the measurement report and the zero CQI report ... Fig. 2).
Although Agarwal teaches handover trigger for voice over NR and voice over LTE, Agarwal does not explicitly teach:
sending first Measurement Report by the UE to the network when one of following conditions occurs:
Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) measurement does not satisfy an RTP threshold; and
triggering a handover from voice over LTE (VoLTE) to VoWiFi by the UE.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Si teaches:
sending first Measurement Report by the UE to the network when one of following conditions occurs:
Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) measurement does not satisfy an RTP threshold (Si: [0100] … During this triggering period, a measurement report is only submitted if the RTP packet loss rate remains above the first threshold, in order to avoid frequent switching …); and
triggering a handover from voice over LTE (VoLTE) to VoWiFi by the UE (Si: [0124] … if the RTP packet loss rate is consistently higher than Threshold2 within the trigger period and the inter-system threshold value meets the conditions, a B2 measurement report is sent to the network … [0125] Once the B2 measurement report is successfully uploaded to the network, the network sends a handover command to the terminal, which then switches to the different system to make a call … [0127] In some embodiments, the above-described voice quality-based switching method can also be used for … the switching process from VoLTE call to VoWiFi call …).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Agarwal to include the features as taught by Si above in order to avoid frequent switching. (Si, ¶ [0100]).
Regarding claim 11, Agarwal teaches:
A call service system comprising (Agarwal: [0036] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example system 200 for managing voice/video over new radio (VoNR) calls according to various embodiments. The system 200 comprises at least one UE 202, a base station 204, and at least one neighbour cell 206. Fig. 2):
a network configured to trigger a handover from New Radio (NR) to LTE (Long Term Evolution) (Agarwal: [0042] In an embodiment, the base station 204 is configured to receive the zero CQI report and the measurement report from the UE 202 which indicate the signal deterioration during the VoNR call. The base station 204 is further configured to trigger handover … of the UE 202 to at least one neighbour cell 206 e.g., to handover the VoNR call to … the neighbour LTE cell based on the measurement report and the zero CQI report ... Fig. 2); and
user equipment (UE) in connection with the network, configured to (Agarwal: [0036] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example system 200 for managing voice/video over new radio (VoNR) calls according to various embodiments. The system 200 comprises at least one UE 202, a base station 204, and at least one neighbour cell 206. Fig. 2):
send first Measurement Report to the network when one of following conditions occurs:
New Radio (NR) signal quality does not satisfy an NR signal threshold (Agarwal: [0038] The UE 202 is configured to send a measurement report and a zero channel quality indicator (CQI) report to the base station 204 on detecting the signal deterioration ... Fig. 2);
the UE changes a calling preference to voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) (Agarwal: [0083] If the Wi-Fi network is available, the Wi-Fi module 314 of the communication module 304 checks voice preference mode; e.g., whether the voice preference is cellular or Wi-Fi, as depicted in operation 712. Connecting, by the Wi-Fi module 314 of the communication module 312, the VoNR call to the available Wi-Fi network as a default behaviour, on detecting the voice preference mode as Wi-Fi, as depicted in operation 714 ... Fig. 7); and
wherein NR connection is established between the network and the UE (Agarwal: [0036] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example system 200 for managing voice/video over new radio (VoNR) calls according to various embodiments. The system 200 comprises at least one UE 202, a base station 204, and at least one neighbour cell 206. [0037] In an embodiment, the UE 202 is configured to detect a signal deterioration during a VoNR call ... Fig. 2)..
Although Agarwal teaches handover trigger for voice over NR and voice over LTE, Agarwal does not explicitly teach:
send first Measurement Report to the network when one of following conditions occurs:
Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) measurement does not satisfy an RTP threshold; and
trigger a handover from VoLTE to VoWiFi.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Si teaches:
send first Measurement Report to the network when one of following conditions occurs:
Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) measurement does not satisfy an RTP threshold (Si: [0100] … During this triggering period, a measurement report is only submitted if the RTP packet loss rate remains above the first threshold, in order to avoid frequent switching …); and
trigger a handover from VoLTE to VoWiFi (Si: [0124] … if the RTP packet loss rate is consistently higher than Threshold2 within the trigger period and the inter-system threshold value meets the conditions, a B2 measurement report is sent to the network … [0125] Once the B2 measurement report is successfully uploaded to the network, the network sends a handover command to the terminal, which then switches to the different system to make a call … [0127] In some embodiments, the above-described voice quality-based switching method can also be used for … the switching process from VoLTE call to VoWiFi call …).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Agarwal to include the features as taught by Si above in order to avoid frequent switching. (Si, ¶ [0100]).
Regarding claims 2 and 12, Agarwal-Si discloses on the features with respect to claims 1 and 11 as outlined above.
Si further teaches:
wherein the first Measurement Report indicates the New Radio (NR) signal quality does not satisfy the NR signal threshold (Si: [0037] The handover events supported by networks such as 2G/3G, LTE (Long Term Evolution), and 5G NR (New Radio) are classified into Type A and Type B. Type A is used for intra-system measurements, while Type B is used for inter-system measurements … [0039] … When this condition is met and the event is reported, the terminal reports a measurement report, and the source base station initiates an inter-system handover request to measure high-priority inter-system cells; Event B2 : indicates that the service quality of the serving cell is lower than a certain threshold and the service quality of neighboring cells in the other system is higher than a certain threshold. The terminal reports a measurement report, and the source base station initiates an inter-system handover request …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Si is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claims 1 and 11.
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Agarwal-Si discloses on the features with respect to claims 1 and 11 as outlined above.
Si further teaches:
wherein the NR signal quality is measured by Reference Symbol Received Power (RSRP) and/or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) (Si: [0037] The handover events supported by networks such as 2G/3G, LTE (Long Term Evolution), and 5G NR (New Radio) are classified into Type A and Type B. Type A is used for intra-system measurements, while Type B is used for inter-system measurements. During LTE handover, the terminal needs to report the measurement results, including RSRP (Reference Signal Receiving Power) and RSRQ (Reference Signal Receiving Quality) …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Si is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claims 1 and 11.
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Agarwal-Si discloses on the features with respect to claims 1 and 11 as outlined above.
Si further teaches:
wherein the NR signal quality does not satisfy the NR signal threshold when Reference Symbol Received Power (RSRP) of the NR signal is less than -120 dBm (Si: [0090] Here, the first network signal energy value is lower than the second network signal energy value, which is used to trigger the network device to send an inter-system measurement event to the terminal. It can be a constructed RSRP or RSRQ value lower than the absolute threshold (-110dBm), such as -120dBm … [0091] In step S560, the network device sends an inter-system measurement event to the terminal …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Si is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claims 1 and 11.
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Agarwal-Si discloses on the features with respect to claims 1 and 11 as outlined above.
Si further teaches:
sending second Measurement Report by the UE (Si: [0093] Step S570: The terminal performs inter-system measurements. [0094] In step S580, the terminal sends a specific measurement report to the network device based on the measurement results from the different system.)..
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Si is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claims 1 and 11.
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Agarwal-Si discloses on the features with respect to claims 5 and 15 as outlined above.
Si further teaches:
wherein the second measurement report indicates the NR signal quality does not satisfy the NR signal threshold, and LTE signal quality does not satisfy a LTE signal threshold (Si: [0037] The handover events supported by networks such as 2G/3G, LTE (Long Term Evolution), and 5G NR (New Radio) are classified into Type A and Type B. … Type B is used for inter-system measurements. During LTE handover, the terminal needs to report the measurement results, including RSRP (Reference Signal Receiving Power) and RSRQ (Reference Signal Receiving Quality) … [0093] Step S570: The terminal performs inter-system measurements. [0094] In step S580, the terminal sends a specific measurement report to the network device based on the measurement results from the different system. [0095] Here, the specific measurement report is used by the network device to instruct the terminal to perform inter-system handover, and may include the measurement ID, the result of poor signal quality of the serving cell …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Si is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claims 1 and 11.
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Agarwal-Si discloses on the features with respect to claims 6 and 16 as outlined above.
Si further teaches:
wherein the NR signal quality and the LTE signal quality are measured by Reference Symbol Received Power (RSRP) and/or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) (Si: [0090] Here, the first network signal energy value is lower than the second network signal energy value, which is used to trigger the network device to send an inter-system measurement event to the terminal. It can be a constructed RSRP or RSRQ value lower than the absolute threshold (-110dBm), such as -120dBm … [0091] In step S560, the network device sends an inter-system measurement event to the terminal …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Si is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claims 1 and 11.
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Agarwal-Si discloses on the features with respect to claims 6 and 16 as outlined above.
Si further teaches:
wherein the NR signal quality does not satisfy the NR signal threshold when Reference Symbol Received Power (RSRP) of the NR signal is less than -120 dBm, and LTE signal quality does not satisfy the LTE signal threshold when RSRP of the LTE signal is less than -120 dBm (Si: [0090] Here, the first network signal energy value is lower than the second network signal energy value, which is used to trigger the network device to send an inter-system measurement event to the terminal. It can be a constructed RSRP or RSRQ value lower than the absolute threshold (-110dBm), such as -120dBm … [0091] In step S560, the network device sends an inter-system measurement event to the terminal …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Si is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claims 1 and 11.
Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agarwal-Si in view of Xie et.al., (US Patent Application Publication, xxx, hereinafter, “Xie”).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Agarwal-Si discloses on the features with respect to claims 1 and 11 as outlined above.
Agarwal-Si does not explicitly teach:
wherein the RTP measurement does not satisfy the RTP threshold when a RTP loss rate is greater than 50 percent.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Xie teaches:
wherein the RTP measurement does not satisfy the RTP threshold when a RTP loss rate is greater than 50 percent (Xie: [0074] Thus, using such techniques, a voice call stall may be evaluated based on an adaptive threshold that is calculated for each evaluation period, where the UE determines a voice call stall when a number of received RTP packets in the evaluation window is less than the threshold value (M). If the evaluation is triggered by RTCP with SR (e.g., when a gap to a previous RTCP with SR is 5 seconds or greater), the UE calculates the converted-RTP-activity-ratio, and calculates an number of expected RTP packets in the evaluation window based on the Sender's packet count in the RTCP SRs. The UE may calculate the threshold value (M) based on the number of expected RTP packets and a target RTP loss ratio (e.g., an 80% loss ratio, such that if the number of received RTP packets is less than 20% of the number of expected RTP packets, a stall is identified) …).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Agarwal-Si to include the features as taught by Xie above in order to provide voice call stall detection and mitigation. (Xie, ¶ [0002]).
Claims 10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agarwal-Si in view of Qu et.al., (US Patent Application Publication, 20180206153, hereinafter, “Qu”).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, Agarwal-Si discloses on the features with respect to claims 1 and 11 as outlined above.
Agarwal-Si does not explicitly teach:
setting up an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) for a handover of an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) public data network (PDN) from LTE to Wi-Fi.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Qu teaches:
setting up an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) for a handover of an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) public data network (PDN) from LTE to Wi-Fi (Qu: [0003] Take the handover between LTE and Wi-Fi as an example. Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a diagram of a transition between the services of the voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) and the voice over LTE (VoLTE) for a user equipment (UE) 102, wherein the dotted lines represent signaling transmission paths for control signal transmission, and the solid lines represent data transmission paths for data transmission (such as voices, images, etc.). As shown in FIG. 1, when the UE 102 uses the LTE communication mode (i.e. VoLTE), the UE 102 can be connected via a cellular radio access network 104 to a public data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 106, and further establish a connection to the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 108 via the PGW 106, so that the cellular network provides the IMS service (such as VoLTE) for the UE 102. The UE 102 camps on a cell (including macrocell, micro cell, picocell, femtocell, etc.) provided by a base station (BS) (e.g., node B (NB), Enhanced node B (eNB), etc.) in the cellular radio access network 104. To establish an IMS service connection, the UE 102 can communicate via the cellular radio access network 104, the PGW 106, and a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) module 114 provided by operators to send a request signal to the IMS 108. In addition, the UE 102 can also use Wi-Fi to provide IMS services (such as VoWiFi) for users. After the UE 102 completes the transition to the Wi-Fi communication mode, the UE 102 can establish an IP security tunnel (IPsec tunnel) between an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) 112 via a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 110 and further connect to the IMS 108 through the PGW 106 …).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Agarwal-Si to include the features as taught by Qu above in order to perform network handover in a cellular network radio access technology (RAT) and wireless local area network (WLAN). (Qu, ¶ [0003]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIEM H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (408) 918-7636. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 8:30AM-5:00PM PT.
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/LIEM H. NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416