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 .
Applicant’s amendment filed 7/22/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 1 and 7 are amended.
Claims 3 and 9 are canceled.
Response to Amendment
Amendments filed on 7/22/2025 are entered for prosecution. Claims 1, 4-7, 10, and 11 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 1 and 7 (pages 7-9) in a reply filed 7/22/2025 have been considered but are moot because the arguments are based on newly changed limitations in the amendment and new ground of rejections using newly introduced references or a newly introduced portion of an existing reference are applied in the current rejection.
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.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1, 6, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang et al. (US 2017/0055187 A1, hereinafter Kang) in view of Kim et al. (US 2022/0256426 A1, hereinafter Kim) further in view of Fan et al. (US 2018/0352487 A1, hereinafter Fan).
Regarding claim 1:
Kang teaches a handover method of a first terminal in a wireless communication system (see, Kang: Fig. 23), the handover method comprising:
transmitting a first measurement report message to a first cell (e.g., MeNB) that is a primary cell (PCell) (see, Kang: Fig. 23, operation 2307; para. [0154], “UE provides the measurement report back to MeNB in operation 2307”, wherein the MeNB is a primary cell.) ;
receiving, from the first cell, one or more first configuration messages for one or more candidate PCells determined according to the first measurement report message (see, Kang: Fig. 23, operations 2309 and 2311; para. [0154], “MeNB determines which cell can be selected for candidate PCell in operation 2309.”; para. [0155], “In this case, the information of association level may include at least one of the set of candidate PCells of which UE should be synchronized to in uplink or downlink, the set of candidate PCells of which either downlink or uplink UE should be synchronized to. Then MeNB send this information to UE through RRC connection reconfiguration in operation 2311.”); and
adding each of the one or more candidate PCells to a candidate PCell list based on the one or more first configuration messages (see, Kang: Fig. 23, operation 2313; para. [0156], “Once UE receives this information it follows this configuration and it sends back to MeNB the complete message in operation 2313. According to this preference information UE gets 1 or more candidate PCells which can serve as new PCell when currently serving PCell has become unable to serve the UE.”);
performing data transmission and reception with the first cell before changing a PCell of the first terminal (Official Notice: This is a well-known feature in the art and the Examiner takes official notice that it is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for the UE to perform data transmission and reception with the currently connected cell until the UE is handed over to a different cell. The UE performs data transmission and reception with the currently connected PCell (i.e., MeNB), which is equivalent to the first cell of the instant application before the UE is handed over to a different PCell.); and
acquiring synchronization with the one or more candidate PCells based on a random access (RA) procedure, a time of performing the RA procedure being indicated by the first cell or determined by the first terminal (see, Kang: para. [0157], “The UE may perform RACH procedure to be synchronized with the added candidate PCells in operation 2315.”, wherein as the UE performs RACH procedure with the added candidate PCells in Kang, it is inherent that the UE determines a time of performing the RA procedure either by an indication from the currently connected PCell or by the UE itself.).
Kang does not explicitly teach wherein performing measurements on the one or more candidate PCells; and transmitting, to the first cell, a second measurement report message including measurement information on the one or more candidate PCell.
In the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches wherein performing measurements on the one or more candidate PCells (see, Kim: Fig. 17 and para. [0260], “In step 1706, the UE2 may transmit another measurement report to the PCell. The other measurement report may include the measurement results of cell B.”, wherein measurement of a PCell candidate cell B is performed before transmitting the measurement report to the Source PCell.); and
transmitting, to the first cell, a second measurement report message including measurement information on the one or more candidate PCells (see, Kim: Fig. 17 and para. [0260], “In step 1706, the UE2 may transmit another measurement report to the PCell. The other measurement report may include the measurement results of cell B.”);
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Kang in combination of the teachings of Kim in order for the source PCell to determine a target PCell based on the additional measurement report about the target PCell from the UE (see, Kim: para. [0262]).
Kang in view of Kim does not explicitly teach wherein receiving, from the first cell, a point change configuration message for a second cell among the one or more candidate PCells as a target cell decided by the first cell according to the second measurement report message; and changing a PCell of the first terminal from the first cell to the second cell determined according to the point change configuration message, wherein the point change configuration message is a medium access control (MAC) control message which includes information indicating the target cell decided among the configured one or more candidate PCells.
In the same field of endeavor, Fan teaches wherein receiving, from the first cell, a point change configuration message for a second cell among the one or more candidate PCells as a target cell decided by the first cell according to the second measurement report message (see, Fan: para. [0055], “upon receipt of measurement report on quality of all neighboring cell and carriers including one or more of the first primary cell 140 and second primary cell 150 from the terminal device 120, the BS 110 determines a second primary cell 150 and a second group of secondary cells 160 and detects whether layer 2 context being kept and/or one or more serving secondary cells remain for a primary cell change for the terminal device 120 and configures a message indicating the primary cell change based on the detecting and then transmit the message to the terminal device 120.”, wherein the measurement report is equivalent to the second measurement report of the instant application.; para. [0063], “the network device 110 configures a message of primary cell change based on the detecting.”; para. [0065], “the network device 110 transmits the configured message to the terminal device 120 indicating the primary cell change and instructing the terminal device 120 to perform the primary cell change.”, wherein the configured message (which is a MAC message including the index of the second primary cell) is equivalent to the point change configuration message of the instant application.); and
changing a PCell of the first terminal from the first cell to the second cell determined according to the point change configuration message (see, Fan: para. [0071], “a message of primary cell change is received from a network device.”; para. [0073], “the terminal device 120 derives a new security key, updates the second primary cell index according to the received message, resets MAC; re-establishes PDCP/RLC; and initiates random access to the second primary cell to get sync with the second primary cell 150.”), wherein the point change configuration message is a medium access control (MAC) control message which includes information indicating the target cell decided among the configured one or more candidate PCells (see, Fan: para. [0063], “the network device 110 configures a message of primary cell change based on the detecting.”; para. [0064], “when it is detected that the index of the secondary primary cell is same as one secondary cell of the first group of secondary cells, the message may be configured via a MAC message and RRC procedure may be used for other scenarios. For the scenario using the MAC message, a new MAC CE (control element) is defined which is used to notify the terminal device 120 the index of the second primary cell 150.”, wherein the index of the second primary cell 150 among the first group of secondary cells is equivalent to the information indicating the target cell decided among the configured one or more candidate PCells of the instant application.; para. [0065], “the network device 110 transmits the configured message to the terminal device 120 indicating the primary cell change and instructing the terminal device 120 to perform the primary cell change. In some embodiments, the message is transmitted via all existing component cells controlled by the network device 110 which continues transmitting the MAC control element until receiving a HARQ ACK from one of the component cells corresponding to this MAC control element transmission.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Kang in view of Kim in combination of the teachings of Fan in order to perform the primary cell change using MAC message including a MAC control element and the second primary cell index without the conventional handover procedure (i.e., RRC reconfigurations) to reduce the time period and optimize the data transmission during the period of primary cell change (see, Fan: para. [0054-0056] [0064] [0065] [0071-0073]).
Kang further teaches wherein each of the one or more first configuration messages is a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message (see, Kang: Fig. 23 and para. [0155], “Then MeNB send this information to UE through RRC connection reconfiguration in operation 2311.”).
Regarding claim 6:
As discussed above, Kang in view of Kim and Fan teaches all limitations in claim 1.
Kang further teaches wherein performing an RA procedure for the second cell that is the target cell; and acquiring synchronization with the second cell based on the RA procedure (see, Kang: para. [0157], “The UE may perform RACH procedure to be synchronized with the added candidate PCells in operation 2315.”).
Regarding claim 7:
Kang teaches a handover control method (see, Kang: Fig. 23) of a first cell (e.g., MeNB) in a wireless communication system, the handover control method comprising:
receiving a first measurement report message from a first terminal (e.g., UE) connected to the first cell (see, Kang: Fig. 23, operation 2307; para. [0154], “UE provides the measurement report back to MeNB in operation 2307”);
determining one or more candidate primary cells (PCells) according to the first measurement message (see, Kang: Fig. 23, operation 2309; para. [0154], “In this case, multiple cells are measured. And MeNB determines which cell can be selected for candidate PCell in operation 2309.”); and
transmitting, to the first terminal, one or more first configuration messages instructing to add each of the one or more candidate PCells to a candidate PCell list (see, Kang: Fig. 23, operation 2311; para. [0155], “In this case, the information of association level may include at least one of the set of candidate PCells of which UE should be synchronized to in uplink or downlink, the set of candidate PCells of which either downlink or uplink UE should be synchronized to. Then MeNB send this information to UE through RRC connection reconfiguration in operation 2311.”).
Kang does not explicitly teach wherein receiving, from the first terminal, a second measurement report message including measurement information on the configured candidate PCells.
In the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches wherein receiving, from the first terminal, a second measurement report message including measurement information on the configured candidate PCells (see, Kim: Fig. 17 and para. [0260], “In step 1706, the UE2 may transmit another measurement report to the PCell. The other measurement report may include the measurement results of cell B.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Kang in combination of the teachings of Kim in order for the source PCell to determine a target PCell based on the additional measurement report about the target PCell from the UE (see, Kim: para. [0262]).
Kim further teaches wherein transmitting, to the first terminal, a point change configuration message for a second cell among the one or more candidate PCells as a target cell decided by the first cell according to the second measurement report message, wherein the point change configuration message allows the first terminal to change a PCell of the first terminal from the first cell to the second cell (see, Kim: para. [0263], “In step 1708, the source PCell may transmit, to the UE2, a normal handover command.”; para. [0262], “the source PCell may determine that the UE2 needs to be handed over to cell B at the moment based on the other measurement report.”, wherein the cell B is equivalent to the target cell of the instant application.; para. [0264], “Upon receiving the normal handover command, the UE2 may perform handover to the cell B.”).
Kang in view of Kim does not explicitly teach wherein the point change configuration message is a medium access control (MAC) control message which includes information indicating the target cell decided among the configured one or more candidate PCells.
In the same field of endeavor, Fan teaches wherein the point change configuration message is a medium access control (MAC) control message which includes information indicating the target cell decided among the configured one or more candidate PCells (see, Fan: para. [0063], “the network device 110 configures a message of primary cell change based on the detecting.”; para. [0064], “when it is detected that the index of the secondary primary cell is same as one secondary cell of the first group of secondary cells, the message may be configured via a MAC message and RRC procedure may be used for other scenarios. For the scenario using the MAC message, a new MAC CE (control element) is defined which is used to notify the terminal device 120 the index of the second primary cell 150.”, wherein the index of the second primary cell 150 among the first group of secondary cells is equivalent to the information indicating the target cell decided among the configured one or more candidate PCells of the instant application.).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Kang in view of Kim in combination of the teachings of Fan in order to perform the primary cell change using MAC message including a MAC control element and the second primary cell index without the conventional handover procedure (i.e., RRC reconfigurations) to reduce the time period and optimize the data transmission during the period of primary cell change (see, Fan: para. [0054-0056] [0064] [0065] [0071-0073]).
Kang further teaches wherein each of the one or more first configuration messages is a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message (see, Kang: Fig. 23 and para. [0155], “Then MeNB send this information to UE through RRC connection reconfiguration in operation 2311.”).
Claims 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang in view of Kim further in view of Fan further in view of Ishii (US 2022/0394584 A1, hereinafter Ishii) claiming benefit to and fully-supported by US provisional applications 62/910,267 filed Oct. 3, 2019.
Regarding claim 4:
As discussed above, Kang in view of Kim and Fan teaches all limitations in claim 1.
Kang in view of Fan does not explicitly teach wherein after the adding of each of the one or more candidate PCells, receiving, from the first cell, an additional configuration message indicating information instructing to change candidate PCell-related configuration; and changing the candidate PCell-related configuration based on the additional configuration message, wherein the additional configuration message corresponds to one of a third configuration message instructing to release at least part of the one or more candidate PCells, a fourth configuration message instructing the first terminal to add a new cell other than the one or more candidate PCells as a candidate PCell, and a fifth configuration message instructing to modify information registered with respect to one cell among the one or more candidate PCells.
In the same field of endeavor, Ishii teaches wherein after the adding of each of the one or more candidate PCells, receiving, from the first cell, an additional configuration message indicating information instructing to change candidate PCell-related configuration (see, Ishii: Fig. 16, act 16-16; para. [0173], “the source gNodeB 22 may send a conditional handover de-configuration message to the wireless terminal 26.”, wherein the CHO de-config message is an example of an additional configuration message indicating information instructing to change candidate PCell-related nconfiguration. Support is found in Fig. 16 and para. [000137] of 62/910,267.); and changing the candidate PCell-related configuration based on the additional configuration message (see, Ishii: Fig. 16, act 16-17; para. [0173], “Upon successful receipt of the conditional handover de-configuration message, as act 16-17 the wireless terminal 26 replies to source gNodeB 22 with a RRCReconfigurationComplete message.”, support is found in Fig. 16 and para. [000137] of 62/910,267.), wherein the additional configuration message corresponds to one of a third configuration message instructing to release at least part of the one or more candidate PCells (see, Ishii: Listing 8, “CHOConfigToRemoveList”), a fourth configuration message instructing the first terminal to add a new cell other than the one or more candidate PCells as a candidate PCell (see, Ishii: Listing 8, “CHOConfigToAddModList”), and a fifth configuration message instructing to modify information registered with respect to one cell among the one or more candidate PCells (see, Ishii: Listing 8, “CHOConfigToAddModList”) (see, Ishii: Listing 8 teaches condition handover configuration command parameters (e.g., “CHOConfigToAddModList” and “CHOConfigToRemoveList”) to modify an RRC connection to add/modify/release conditional PCell change configuration, equivalent to act 16-16. Support is found in Listing 8 of 62/910,267.).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Kang in view of Kim and Fan in combination of the teachings of Ishii in order for the network to modify/update conditional handover configuration by receiving additional RRCReconfiguration message with corresponding CHO modification information (e.g., add/modify/release) (see, Ishii: Fig. 16, para. [0173], and Listing 8, supports are found in Fig. 16, para. [000137], and Listing 8 of 62/910,267).
Regarding claim 5:
As discussed above, Kang in view of Kim and Fan teaches all limitations in claim 1.
Kang in view of Kim and Fan does not explicitly teach wherein the one or more first configuration messages include at least part of radio resource configuration information for performing connection and/or data transmission/reception with the one or more candidate PCells, configuration information for performing synchronization and/or random access (RA) for the one or more candidate PCells, and configuration information for performing signal strength measurement for the one or more candidate PCells.
In the same field of endeavor, Ishii teaches wherein the one or more first configuration messages include at least part of radio resource configuration information (see, Ishii: Fig. 7, act 7-6; para. [0139-0145], RRCReconfiguration message, supports are found in Fig. 7 and para. [000107-000108] of 62/932,443) for performing connection and/or data transmission/reception with the one or more candidate PCells (see, Ishii: para. [0144], “UL/DL configuration(s) of the candidate target cell(s)”), configuration information for performing synchronization and/or random access (RA) for the one or more candidate PCells (see, Ishii: para. [0144], “RACH configuration(s) of the candidate target cell(s)”), and configuration information for performing signal strength measurement for the one or more candidate PCells (see, Ishii: para. [0147], “measConfig”. Support is found in para. [000108] [000110] of 62/932,443).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Kang in view of Kim and Fan in combination of the teachings of Ishii in order to send the conditional handover configuration parameters to the UE (see, Ishii: para. [0138-0147], support is found in para. [000106-000110] of 62/910,267).
Regarding claim 10:
As discussed above, Kang in view of Kim and Fan teaches all limitations in claim 7.
Claim 10 is directed towards the method of claim 7 that is further limited to perform the features of claim 4. Therefore, claim 10 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 11:
As discussed above, Kang in view of Kim and Fan teaches all limitations in claim 7.
Claim 11 is directed towards the method of claim 7 that is further limited to perform the features of claim 5. Therefore, claim 11 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 5 above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 date of this final action.
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/JI-HAE YEA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471