Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/522,907

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONNECTION BETWEEN TERMINAL AND BASE STATION IN MULTI-HOP NETWORKS

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Nov 29, 2023
Priority
Nov 29, 2022 — RE 10-2022-0163515
Examiner
AJAYI, JOEL
Art Unit
2646
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
OA Round
2 (Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
4m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
490 granted / 636 resolved
+15.0% vs TC avg
Strong +47% interview lift
Without
With
+46.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
28 currently pending
Career history
674
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
§103
75.6%
+35.6% vs TC avg
§102
22.3%
-17.7% vs TC avg
§112
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 636 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-5, 8, 9, 12-16 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 of this title, 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 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2015/0245263) in view of Cook et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2010/0240371). Consider claim 1; Cho discloses a method of a terminal, the method comprising: receiving cell selection and reselection criteria information (e.g. load) broadcast from a base station (par. 47, lines 1-13); determining candidate base stations among all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal based on the cell selection and reselection criteria information [e.g. load (par. 47, lines 1-13)]; selecting one connection scheme from a lightening backhaul load (LBL) scheme or a maximum reference signal received power (RSRP) scheme based on a tolerable gap [e.g. power (par. 61, line 1 – par. 62, line 12)]; selecting one candidate base station from among the candidate base stations as a target base station (par. 47, lines 1-13) based on the one connection scheme [e.g. power (par. 61, line 1 – par. 62, line 12)]; and connecting to the target base station (par. 47, lines 13-15). Cho discloses the claimed invention except: wherein the tolerable gap is a ratio of a quality threshold, which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal, and an RSRP received from the base station, or the tolerable gap is a number of upper base stations in a ranking of base stations based on the quality threshold, which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal. In an analogous art Cook discloses the tolerable gap is a ratio of a quality threshold, which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal, and an RSRP received from the base station, or the tolerable gap is a number of upper base stations in a ranking of base stations based on the quality threshold [“…mobile device 130 may update the rankings in a potential handover candidate list according to the determination made in regards to the signal strength and quality level of the respective base station.” (par. 39, lines 13-16) “…the measurement report may include…six neighboring cells with the highest RxLev, and meeting the signal quality threshold…” (par. 39, lines 33-36)], which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal [“…mobile device 130 may receive one or more signals from up to N neighboring base stations (BS) 402, 404 and 406, respectively, where N is an integer. At 420, mobile devices 130 measures the power and quality level of the respective signals received at one or more of 414, 416 and/or 418. And, at 421, mobile devices 130 may determine whether the measured power and quality level meets or exceeds a signal quality threshold for each respective signal.” (par. 39, lines 1-9)]. It is an object of Cho’s invention to provide a method of handover and reselection of a base station/cell. It is an object of Cook’s invention to provide a method of reselecting and handing over a mobile communication device from one cell to another. 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 teaching of Cho by including ranking, as taught by Cook, for the purpose of effectively providing services in a telecommunications network. Consider claim 12; Cho discloses a terminal comprising: at least one processor (par. 69, lines 3-6), wherein the at least one processor causes the terminal to (par. 69, lines 3-6) receive cell selection and reselection criteria information (e.g. load) broadcast from a base station (par. 47, lines 1-13); determine candidate base stations among all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal based on the cell selection and reselection criteria information [e.g. load (par. 47, lines 1-13)]; select one connection scheme from a lightening backhaul load (LBL) scheme or a maximum reference signal received power (RSRP) scheme based on a tolerable gap [e.g. power (par. 61, line 1 – par. 62, line 12)]; select one candidate base station from among the candidate base stations as a target base station (par. 47, lines 1-13) based on the one connection scheme [e.g. power (par. 61, line 1 – par. 62, line 12)]; and connect to the target base station (par. 47, lines 13-15). Cho discloses the claimed invention except: wherein the tolerable gap is a ratio of a quality threshold, which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal, and an RSRP received from the base station, or the tolerable gap is a number of upper base stations in a ranking of base stations based on the quality threshold, which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal. In an analogous art Cook discloses the tolerable gap is a ratio of a quality threshold, which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal, and an RSRP received from the base station, or the tolerable gap is a number of upper base stations in a ranking of base stations based on the quality threshold [“…mobile device 130 may update the rankings in a potential handover candidate list according to the determination made in regards to the signal strength and quality level of the respective base station.” (par. 39, lines 13-16) “…the measurement report may include…six neighboring cells with the highest RxLev, and meeting the signal quality threshold…” (par. 39, lines 33-36)], which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal [“…mobile device 130 may receive one or more signals from up to N neighboring base stations (BS) 402, 404 and 406, respectively, where N is an integer. At 420, mobile devices 130 measures the power and quality level of the respective signals received at one or more of 414, 416 and/or 418. And, at 421, mobile devices 130 may determine whether the measured power and quality level meets or exceeds a signal quality threshold for each respective signal.” (par. 39, lines 1-9)]. It is an object of Cho’s invention to provide a method of handover and reselection of a base station/cell. It is an object of Cook’s invention to provide a method of reselecting and handing over a mobile communication device from one cell to another. 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 teaching of Cho by including ranking, as taught by Cook, for the purpose of effectively providing services in a telecommunications network. Claims 2-5, 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2015/0245263) in view of Cook et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2010/0240371) in view of Wang (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2019/0208449). Consider claim 2, as applied in claim 1; Cho and Cook disclose selecting a base station whose RSRP, which is a measurement result of a reference signal (RS) received from the base station, is greater than or equal to a first threshold (par. 119, lines 1-7). Cho discloses the claimed invention except: selecting a candidate base station whose reference signal received quality (RSRQ), which is the measurement result of the RS received from the base station, is greater than or equal to a second threshold from the base station whose RSRP is greater than or equal to the first threshold. In an analogous art Wang discloses selecting a candidate base station whose reference signal received quality (RSRQ) (par. 44, lines 1-25), which is the measurement result of the RS received from the base station (par. 44, lines 1-25), is greater than or equal to a second threshold from the base station whose RSRP is greater than or equal to the first threshold (par. 44, lines 1-25). It is an object of Cho’s invention to provide a method of handover and reselection of a base station/cell. It is an object of Cook’s invention to provide a method of reselecting and handing over a mobile communication device from one cell to another. It is an object of Wang’s invention to provide a method of transferring data between a first and second base station. 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 teachings of Cho and Cook by including a second threshold, as taught by Wang, for the purpose of efficiently managing communication in a telecommunications network. Consider claim 3, as applied in claim 1; Wang discloses selecting one or more candidate base stations from among the candidate base stations based on a quality threshold that is the received signal for all base stations (par. 44, lines 1-25), when selecting the LBL scheme (par. 3, lines 4-15); and selecting the target base station from among the one or more candidate base stations [e.g. eNB2 (par. 44, lines 1-25)]. Consider claim 4, as applied in claim 3; Wang discloses connecting the base station with the largest selection criterion value for selecting the target base station among the one or more candidate base stations as the target base station (par. 44, lines 1-25). Consider claim 5, as applied in claim 4; Wang discloses calculating the selection criterion value based on at least one of a cell selection parameter, backhaul information, or the quality threshold [e.g. quality threshold (par. 44, lines 1-25)]. Consider claim 13, as applied in claim 12; Cho and Cook disclose selecting a base station whose RSRP, which is a measurement result of a reference signal (RS) received from the base station, is greater than or equal to a first threshold (par. 119, lines 1-7). Cho discloses the claimed invention except: selecting a candidate base station whose reference signal received quality (RSRQ), which is the measurement result of the RS received from the base station, is greater than or equal to a second threshold from the base station whose RSRP is greater than or equal to the first threshold. In an analogous art Wang discloses selecting a candidate base station whose reference signal received quality (RSRQ) (par. 44, lines 1-25), which is the measurement result of the RS received from the base station (par. 44, lines 1-25), is greater than or equal to a second threshold from the base station whose RSRP is greater than or equal to the first threshold (par. 44, lines 1-25). It is an object of Cho’s invention to provide a method of handover and reselection of a base station/cell. It is an object of Cook’s invention to provide a method of reselecting and handing over a mobile communication device from one cell to another. It is an object of Wang’s invention to provide a method of transferring data between a first and second base station. 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 teachings of Cho and Cook by including a second threshold, as taught by Wang, for the purpose of efficiently managing communication in a telecommunications network. Consider claim 14, as applied in claim 12; Wang discloses selecting one or more candidate base stations from among the candidate base stations based on a quality threshold that is the received signal for all base stations (par. 44, lines 1-25), when selecting the LBL scheme (par. 3, lines 4-15); and selecting the target base station from among the one or more candidate base stations [e.g. eNB2 (par. 44, lines 1-25)]. Consider claim 15, as applied in claim 14; Wang discloses connecting the base station with the largest selection criterion value for selecting the target base station among the one or more candidate base stations as the target base station (par. 44, lines 1-25). Consider claim 16, as applied in claim 15; Wang discloses calculating the selection criterion value based on at least one of a cell selection parameter, backhaul information, or the quality threshold [e.g. quality threshold (par. 44, lines 1-25)]. Claims 8, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2019/0208449) in view of Cho (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2015/0245263) in view of Cook et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2010/0240371). Consider claim 8; Wang discloses a method of a base station, the method comprising: transmitting a network environment parameter to a central server (par. 23, lines 1-14; par. 39, lines 29-33); receiving a tolerable gap (par. 44, lines 1-25) from the central server (par. 23, lines 1-14) to maximize a performance of a network metric set based on the network environment parameter (par. 44, lines 1-25). Wang discloses the claimed invention except: generating cell selection and reselection information based on the network environment parameter and the tolerable gap; and transmitting the cell selection and reselection information to a terminal. In an analogous art Cho discloses generating cell selection and reselection information based on the network environment parameter (e.g. load information) and the tolerable gap (e.g. optimum load) (par. 60); and transmitting the cell selection and reselection information to a terminal (par. 47, lines 1-13). It is an object of Wang’s invention to provide a method of transferring data between a first and second base station. It is an object of Cho’s invention to provide a method of handing over from a serving base station to another base station. 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 teaching of Wang by including cell reselection, as taught by Cho, for the purpose of efficiently managing communication in a telecommunications network. Wang and Cho discloses the claimed invention except: wherein the tolerable gap is a ratio of a quality threshold, which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal, and an RSRP received from the base station, or the tolerable gap is a number of upper base stations in a ranking of base stations based on the quality threshold, which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal. In an analogous art Cook discloses the tolerable gap is a ratio of a quality threshold, which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal, and an RSRP received from the base station, or the tolerable gap is a number of upper base stations in a ranking of base stations based on the quality threshold [“…mobile device 130 may update the rankings in a potential handover candidate list according to the determination made in regards to the signal strength and quality level of the respective base station.” (par. 39, lines 13-16) “…the measurement report may include…six neighboring cells with the highest RxLev, and meeting the signal quality threshold…” (par. 39, lines 33-36)], which is a received signal for all base stations capable of communicating with the terminal [“…mobile device 130 may receive one or more signals from up to N neighboring base stations (BS) 402, 404 and 406, respectively, where N is an integer. At 420, mobile devices 130 measures the power and quality level of the respective signals received at one or more of 414, 416 and/or 418. And, at 421, mobile devices 130 may determine whether the measured power and quality level meets or exceeds a signal quality threshold for each respective signal.” (par. 39, lines 1-9)]. It is an object of Wang’s invention to provide a method of transferring data between a first and second base station. It is an object of Cho’s invention to provide a method of handover and reselection of a base station/cell. It is an object of Cook’s invention to provide a method of reselecting and handing over a mobile communication device from one cell to another. 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 teachings of Wang and Cho by including ranking, as taught by Cook, for the purpose of effectively providing services in a telecommunications network. Consider claim 9, as applied in claim 8; Cho discloses the network metric is generated based on a probability of communication success (par. 48), which is a probability that the capacity of the terminal is greater than the capacity of the target service (par. 48). 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 extension fee 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Joel Ajayi whose telephone number is (571) 270-1091. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday from 7:30am to 5:00pm and Friday 7:30am to 4:00 pm. If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Jeanette Parker can be reached on (571) 270-3647. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free) or 703-305-3028. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist/customer service whose telephone number is (571) 272-2600. /JOEL AJAYI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 29, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Apr 21, 2026
Response Filed
May 07, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
77%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+46.8%)
2y 10m (~4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 636 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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