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 .
Introduction
This is a non-final office action in response to Application Number 18/535,661 filed on 11 December 2023 with a preliminary amendment also filed on 11 December 2023 in which claims 21-133 are canceled and no claims are amended or added. The claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
The instant application is a 371 of PCT/US2022/032763 filed on 9 June 2022 and also claims priority to US provisional application 63/209,842 filed on 11 June 2021. The applicant of record is Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha and the inventor of record is Alireza Babaei.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 24 April 2024 and 24 April 2024 were filed after the filing date of the instant application on 11 December 2023 and before the mailing date of the first office action on the merits. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The claims have been considered according to the latest Patent Eligibility Guidelines and are considered eligible.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7 and 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xin et al. (WO 2022/057173 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Xin disclosed a method of multicast broadcast services (MBS) notification signaling (see Xin [0105]: “…The following illustration uses Figure 3 as an example, where the core network notifies the terminal device that it has started receiving MBS services and the terminal device has started receiving MBS services…”; [0119]: “S107: The base station sends a paging message to notify of the modification of the configuration information for the MBS service.”), comprising the steps of:
receiving, by a user equipment (UE), a downlink control information (DCI) (see Xin [0132]: “From the perspective of the terminal device listening to paging messages, currently, for terminal devices configured with discontinuous reception (DRX) in the RRC idle or inactive state, the terminal device listens to one PO in each DRX cycle to save energy. A single PO can include a series of PDCCH monitoring occasions, which may contain multiple time slots. The downlink control information (DCI) of the paging message is scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).” | Fig. 3 S107, [0119]: “S107: The base station sends a paging message to notify of the modification of the configuration information for the MBS service.”), wherein:
the DCI is associated with a first radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) (see Xin [0224]: “…For example, notification message 2 is a DCI, and notification message 3 is a paging message or other type of message. Notification message 2 can be used to schedule notification message 3….” | [0132]: “From the perspective of the terminal device listening to paging messages, currently, for terminal devices configured with discontinuous reception (DRX) in the RRC idle or inactive state, the terminal device listens to one PO in each DRX cycle to save energy. A single PO can include a series of PDCCH monitoring occasions, which may contain multiple time slots. The downlink control information (DCI) of the paging message is scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).”) corresponding at least to MBS-related notifications (see Xin Fig. 4 S201, [0146]: “S201: Network device determines first information.”; [0147]: “The first information can be used to instruct modifications to the configuration of the MBS service, or in other words, the first information can be used to notify of modifications to the configuration information of the MBS service.”; [0148]: “The first information may include information that can be used to identify MBS services and to determine which MBS service the network device has modified the configuration information for, so that the terminal device can determine whether to establish an RRC connection in response to the received first information. For example, the first information may include the service identifier of the MBS service, such as MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, MBS session ID, or PDUsession ID used for transmitting multicast services.”; [0156]: “…Alternatively, the identification information may be carried in the downlink control information of each first piece of information or other control information used to schedule the first piece of information.” [examiner notes that the DCI corresponds to the first information that is determined in S201, sent in S202, and received by terminal in S203] | Fig. 3 S108, [0120]: “S108: The terminal device receives the RAN paging message and determines that the RAN paging message is a configuration change notification for an MBS service related to itself, such as MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, multicast session ID (MBS session ID), protocol data unit (PDU) session ID used to transmit multicast services, and/or other information carried in the RAN paging message.”);
the DCI comprises a field comprising a plurality of bits (see Xin [0238]: “…the notification information 2 contains instructions that instruct the terminal device to read system information and/or MBS control information…The service type can be used to indicate information about MBS services, such as 1 bit of information to indicate whether notification information 2 is related to MBS services…Taking notification information 2 as an example of DCI used for scheduling paging messages, the indication information in notification information 2 can be included in the short message of DCI…”; [0276]: “…as an example, the paging message carrying tag1 sent by the base station has the same notification content, such as …notifying the modification of MBS service configuration, etc…”; [0278]: “…The tag can be several bits…” | [0156]: “…Alternatively, the identification information may be carried in the downlink control information of each first piece of information or other control information used to schedule the first piece of information.” [examiner notes that the DCI corresponds to the first information that is determined in Fig. 4 S201, sent in S202, received by terminal in S203]);
one or more bits of the plurality of bits of the field (see Xin [0157]: “Optionally, the first information may include displayed indication information, such as version information, which indicates that the base station should perform a multicast service configuration update, or number/identification information: the same configuration update corresponds to the same number/identification information. One possible approach is to use one or more bits to represent the same configuration update...”) indicate an update or a change to one or more MBS-related parameters (see Xin Fig. 6, [0275]: “If the tag is located in notification information 2 as shown in Figure 9B, the terminal device can determine whether to receive notification information 2 by using the tag. For example, if the tag carried by notification information 2 is the same tag carried by the first information received previously, then the terminal device does not need to receive notification information 3 again, thereby reducing power consumption. If the tag carried in notification information 2 is different from the tag carried in the first information received previously, then the terminal device receives notification information 3…”; [0276]: “…as an example, the paging message carrying tag1 sent by the base station has the same notification content, such as …notifying the modification of MBS service configuration, etc…” | Fig. 3 S107, [0119]: “The base station sends a paging message to notify of the modification of the configuration information for the MBS service…”);
determining, based on the indication by the one or more bits, to monitor signaling indicating the updated or changed MBS-related parameters (see Xin [0132]: “From the perspective of the terminal device listening to paging messages, currently, for terminal devices configured with discontinuous reception (DRX) in the RRC idle or inactive state, the terminal device listens to one PO in each DRX cycle to save energy. A single PO can include a series of PDCCH monitoring occasions, which may contain multiple time slots. The downlink control information (DCI) of the paging message is scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).” | Fig. 6, [0275]: “If the tag is located in notification information 2 as shown in Figure 9B, the terminal device can determine whether to receive notification information 2 by using the tag. For example, if the tag carried by notification information 2 is the same tag carried by the first information received previously, then the terminal device does not need to receive notification information 3 again, thereby reducing power consumption. If the tag carried in notification information 2 is different from the tag carried in the first information received previously, then the terminal device receives notification information 3…”; [0276]: “…as an example, the paging message carrying tag1 sent by the base station has the same notification content, such as …notifying the modification of MBS service configuration, etc…” | [0220]: “Taking paging messages as an example, currently, the scheduling information (such as the DCI of the paging message) of the paging message sent from the base station to the terminal device can contain short messages….If the scheduling information of the paging message indicates the existence of information for scheduling the paging message (e.g., the scheduling information contains only information for scheduling the paging message, or the scheduling information contains information for scheduling the paging message and a short message), then subsequent paging messages may exist. Among them, paging messages can be carried on the PDSCH channel and require corresponding scheduling information (such as DCI) for scheduling.” | Fig. 4 S204, [0152]: “S204: The terminal device responds to the first received first message and establishes an RRC connection with the network device.”; [0153]: “Therefore, after establishing an RRC connection, the terminal device can receive updated configuration information for the MBS service in the RRC connection state. This updated configuration information can be used by the terminal device to receive data from the MBS service…”); and
receiving MBS data based on the updated or changed MBS-related parameters (see Xin Fig. 3 S110, [0122]: “S110: The base station sends the modified configuration information for this MBS service to the terminal equipment via dedicated signaling.”; [0124]: “In addition, terminal devices may start or continue ongoing MBS services in certain scenarios. These scenarios include, for example, when the terminal device performs cell selection and begins receiving ongoing MBS services; or when the terminal device performs cell reselection and continues receiving ongoing MBS services; or when the terminal device was previously unable to receive interested MBS services due to capability limitations, but can now begin receiving interested ongoing MBS services.”; S113, [0128]: “S113: The terminal device receives the configuration information of the MBS service through dedicated signaling.” | Fig. 4 S204, [0152]: “S204: The terminal device responds to the first received first message and establishes an RRC connection with the network device.”; [0153]: “Therefore, after establishing an RRC connection, the terminal device can receive updated configuration information for the MBS service in the RRC connection state. This updated configuration information can be used by the terminal device to receive data from the MBS service…”).
Regarding claim 2, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein receiving the downlink control information (DCI) is based on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (see Xin [0132]: “From the perspective of the terminal device listening to paging messages, currently, for terminal devices configured with discontinuous reception (DRX) in the RRC idle or inactive state, the terminal device listens to one PO in each DRX cycle to save energy. A single PO can include a series of PDCCH monitoring occasions, which may contain multiple time slots. The downlink control information (DCI) of the paging message is scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).”).
Regarding claim 3, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein receiving of the downlink control information (DCI) occurs while the user equipment (UE) is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state (see Xin Fig. 3, [0104]: “…It should be understood that the process shown in Figure 3 is based on the following assumptions: a terminal device in the radio resource control (RRC) idle or inactive state enters the RRC connected state and receives the configuration information of the MBS…”; S102, [0111]: “S102: the core network notifies terminal devices interested in this MBS service…Terminal devices may include…terminal devices in an RRC connected state.”; [0118]: “Additionally, as shown in Figure 3, once an MBS service has started playing, the base station may modify the MBS service configuration…Therefore, the base station needs to notify the terminal device of the configuration change of MBS service, the terminal device needs to be in RRC connected state…”).
Regarding claim 4, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the downlink control information (DCI) occurs while the user equipment (UE) is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state (see Xin [0132]: “From the perspective of the terminal device listening to paging messages, currently, for terminal devices configured with discontinuous reception (DRX) in the RRC idle or inactive state, the terminal device listens to one PO in each DRX cycle to save energy. A single PO can include a series of PDCCH monitoring occasions, which may contain multiple time slots. The downlink control information (DCI) of the paging message is scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).”).
Regarding claim 5, Xin disclosed the method of claim 4, wherein the receiving of the downlink control information (DCI) occurs based on monitoring a downlink control channel in a monitoring occasion determined based on a discontinuous reception (DRX) procedure in the radio resource control (RRC) idle state or the RRC inactive state (see Xin [0132]: “From the perspective of the terminal device listening to paging messages, currently, for terminal devices configured with discontinuous reception (DRX) in the RRC idle or inactive state, the terminal device listens to one PO in each DRX cycle to save energy. A single PO can include a series of PDCCH monitoring occasions, which may contain multiple time slots. The downlink control information (DCI) of the paging message is scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).” | [0280]: “Specifically, for example, if the terminal device knows that the first information is repeated 3 times, according to the existing technology, the terminal device listens to the PO once per DRX cycle. If the first information with the same tag is received but is different after 3 or more DRX cycles, the terminal device needs to respond to the received first information and perform the first operation…”).
Regarding claim 6, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein:
the first radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) is a paging RNTI (see Xin [0132]: “…The downlink control information (DCI) of the paging message is scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).”); and
the downlink control information (DCI) is associated with transmission of paging information (see Xin [0132]: “…The downlink control information (DCI) of the paging message is scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).”).
Regarding claim 7, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein the first radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) is a multicast broadcast services (MBS)-RNTI (see Xin [0111]: “…the paging message may contain the service identifier of the MBS, such as…a temporary radio network identifier used to schedule the MBS service, such as a group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI)…”).
Regarding claim 9, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein determining to monitor signaling associated with updated or changed multicast broadcast services (MBS)-related parameters is further based on the user equipment (UE) being an MBS UE (see Xin Fig. 3, S108, [0120]: “S108: The terminal device receives the RAN paging message and determines that the RAN paging message is a configuration change notification for an MBS service related to itself, such as MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, multicast session ID (MBS session ID), protocol data unit (PDU) session ID used to transmit multicast services, and/or other information carried in the RAN paging message.”).
Regarding claim 10, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein the multicast broadcast services (MBS)-related parameters comprise semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration parameters for reception of MBS data (see Xin [0105]: “For mobile terminated (MT) mode, the core network can notify terminal devices of …service configuration modifications via notification information. Service configuration modifications can include…semi-persistent scheduling (SPS)…”).
Regarding claim 11, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein a multicast broadcast services (MBS) notification, received based on the downlink control information (DCI), indicates one or more of: a notification type; target MBS service type; target MBS Service or group identifiers (IDs); and uplink feedback or reply (see Xin Fig. 3 S108, [0120]: “S108: The terminal device receives the RAN paging message and determines that the RAN paging message is a configuration change notification for an MBS service related to itself, such as MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, multicast session ID (MBS session ID), protocol data unit (PDU) session ID used to transmit multicast services, and/or other information carried in the RAN paging message.” | [0236]: “…The indication information may be part or all of the information in the paging message notification service, such as the service identifier, service type, and/or the identifier of the terminal device receiving the service….”).
Regarding claim 12, Xin disclosed the method of claim 11, wherein the notification type comprises at least one of:
multicast broadcast services (MBS) system information update;
MBS session start/activation or MBS session stop/deactivation;
MBS configuration change before or during an active session (see Xin Fig. 3 S108, [0120]: “S108: The terminal device receives the RAN paging message and determines that the RAN paging message is a configuration change notification for an MBS service related to itself, such as MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, multicast session ID (MBS session ID), protocol data unit (PDU) session ID used to transmit multicast services, and/or other information carried in the RAN paging message.” | 0118]: “Additionally, as shown in Figure 3, once an MBS service has started playing, the base station may modify the MBS service configuration…Therefore, the base station needs to notify the terminal device of the configuration change of MBS service); and
MBS counting order to seek interest indication.
Regarding claim 13, Xin disclosed the method of claim 11, wherein the multicast broadcast services (MBS) service type is one of a plurality of MBS service types comprising a multicast service type and a broadcast service type (see Xin [0236]: “…Taking MBS service as an example, the service identifier may include MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, MBS session ID, or PDUsession ID used for transmitting multicast services. The service type can be information used to indicate MBS services, such as 1 bit of information to indicate whether notification information 2 is related to MBS services. The service type can also be a notification service, such as a broadcast service or a multicast service, without any restrictions.”).
Regarding claim 14, Xin disclosed the method of claim 11, wherein the target multicast broadcast services (MBS) service or group identifiers (IDs) are from a plurality of target MBS Service or group IDs comprising an MBS paging ID and a Temporary Mobile Group Identity (TMGI) (see Xin [0132]: “…The downlink control information (DCI) of the paging message is scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).” | [0236]: “…Taking MBS service as an example, the service identifier may include MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, MBS session ID, or PDUsession ID used for transmitting multicast services. The service type can be information used to indicate MBS services, such as 1 bit of information to indicate whether notification information 2 is related to MBS services. The service type can also be a notification service, such as a broadcast service or a multicast service, without any restrictions.”).
Regarding claim 15, Xin disclosed the method of claim 11, wherein the uplink feedback or reply comprises a need for trigger and resource to use (see Xin [0105]: configuration information includes indicating time-frequency resources to use to receive service data | [0178]: “…In order to obtain the MBS service configuration of the cell, they [terminal devices] need to enter RA and/or access RRC connection state…”; [0117]: “The terminal device initiates random access (RA), establishes an RRC connection, and informs the base station of the reason for establishing the RRC connection…such as carrying the identification information of the MBS service”).
Regarding claim 16, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of bits comprise a flag indicating presence of a multicast broadcast services (MBS) notification (see Xin [0236]: “…Taking MBS service as an example, the service identifier may include MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, MBS session ID, or PDUsession ID used for transmitting multicast services. The service type can be information used to indicate MBS services, such as 1 bit of information to indicate whether notification information 2 is related to MBS services. The service type can also be a notification service, such as a broadcast service or a multicast service, without any restrictions.”).
Regarding claim 17, Xin disclosed the method of claim 16, wherein:
the flag comprises a bit (see Xin [0236]: “…Taking MBS service as an example, the service identifier may include MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, MBS session ID, or PDUsession ID used for transmitting multicast services. The service type can be information used to indicate MBS services, such as 1 bit of information to indicate whether notification information 2 is related to MBS services. The service type can also be a notification service, such as a broadcast service or a multicast service, without any restrictions.”);
a first value of the bit indicates presence of the multicast broadcast services (MBS) notification (see Xin [0236]: “…Taking MBS service as an example, the service identifier may include MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, MBS session ID, or PDUsession ID used for transmitting multicast services. The service type can be information used to indicate MBS services, such as 1 bit of information to indicate whether notification information 2 is related to MBS services. The service type can also be a notification service, such as a broadcast service or a multicast service, without any restrictions.”); and
a second value of the bit indicates an absence of the MBS notification (see Xin [0236]: “…Taking MBS service as an example, the service identifier may include MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, MBS session ID, or PDUsession ID used for transmitting multicast services. The service type can be information used to indicate MBS services, such as 1 bit of information to indicate whether notification information 2 is related to MBS services. The service type can also be a notification service, such as a broadcast service or a multicast service, without any restrictions.”).
Regarding claim 18, Xin disclosed the method of claim 17, wherein:
the first value is one (see Xin [0236]: “…Taking MBS service as an example, the service identifier may include MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, MBS session ID, or PDUsession ID used for transmitting multicast services. The service type can be information used to indicate MBS services, such as 1 bit of information to indicate whether notification information 2 is related to MBS services. The service type can also be a notification service, such as a broadcast service or a multicast service, without any restrictions.” | [0241]: “In this application, the indication information carried by the first information can be 1 bit, such as using 0 or 1 to indicate whether the first information is related to MBS services (or to indicate whether the first information is used for MBS service notification), or when the first information is scheduling information, to indicate whether the paging message it schedules is related to MBS services (or to indicate whether the first information is used for MBS service notification).”); and
the second value is zero (see Xin [0236]: “…Taking MBS service as an example, the service identifier may include MBS service ID, TMGI, G-RNTI, MBS session ID, or PDUsession ID used for transmitting multicast services. The service type can be information used to indicate MBS services, such as 1 bit of information to indicate whether notification information 2 is related to MBS services. The service type can also be a notification service, such as a broadcast service or a multicast service, without any restrictions.” | [0241]: “In this application, the indication information carried by the first information can be 1 bit, such as using 0 or 1 to indicate whether the first information is related to MBS services (or to indicate whether the first information is used for MBS service notification), or when the first information is scheduling information, to indicate whether the paging message it schedules is related to MBS services (or to indicate whether the first information is used for MBS service notification).”).
Regarding claim 19, Xin disclosed the method of claim 16, wherein the flag is ignored by a non-multicast broadcast services (MBS) user equipment (UE) (see Xin [0111]: “…Terminal devices can determine whether an MBS service is one they are interested in … and decide whether to respond to the paging message”; [0248]: “If the UE is not interested in MBS services, it can determine whether the notification information 2 is also used for other notifications…If notification message 2 contains other notifications…, then this UE needs to read the paging message”; examiner notes that messages are ignored if they are determined to not be applicable).
Regarding claim 20, Xin disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of bits of the field comprise one or more first bits indicating a modification of multicast broadcast services (MBS) system information block (SIB) (see Xin [0240]: “In one possible example, the first information is scheduling information (such as paging DCI), and the first information contains indication information. In this case, identification information such as service identifiers can be carried in the first system information (such as an SIB)…” | [0281]: “…Specifically, after receiving the scheduling information (i.e., the first information) containing the paging message with indication information, the terminal device reads the system information. Specifically, this could involve immediately reading SIB1 and then using the corresponding SIB (such as the version number of the multicast SIB) in SIB1 to determine if the MBS service has been updated. In other words, if the MBS business changes, the content of the SIB will change, and the corresponding version number will be updated; if the MBS business does not change, the content of the SIB will not change, and the corresponding version number will not be updated. The subsequent response behavior of the terminal device is the same as above.”).
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, 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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xin as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of (U.S. Patent 12,470,897).
Regarding claim 8, Xin disclosed the invention, substantially as claimed, as described in the method of claim 1 above, but did not explicitly disclose “wherein one or more bits of the plurality bits of the field indicate a broadcast control channel (BCCH) modification”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that bits indicating modification of parameters would include indicating BCCH modification. However in a related art, Dai disclosed DCI including a bit indicating BCCH modification (see Dai 7:21-40, Table 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Xin and Dai to further clarify the types of bits included within DCI messages. Replacing Xin’s DCI bit indicating modification with Dai’s DCI bit indicating modification would clarify that BCCH modifications are indicated within DCI messages. Incorporating Dai’s teachings would enable notifying UE’s whether or not it is necessary to enter RRC_CONNECTED state for receiving MBS session and meeting QoS requirements (see Dai 1:29-36).
Conclusion
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/ANGELA WIDHALM DE RODRIGUEZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2443