DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to communications filed on March 13, 2026. Claims 1, 5-7, 11-13, 17, and 18 have been amended. Claims 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, and 16 have been canceled. New claims 21-26 have been added. Claims 1, 2, 5-8, 11-14, and 17-26 are pending in the application.
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 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.
Claims 1, 2, 5-8, 11-14, 17, 18, and 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2019/0253869) in view of Han et al. (WO 2018/059313, see attached translation).
Regarding Claim 1, Xu teaches a relay communication method, applied to an access network device and comprising:
receiving first information from a core network element, wherein the first information comprises information of a relay device that a terminal device is allowed to access (“The MME sends a second notification message to a base station, and the base station receives the second notification message sent by the MME” – See [0212]; “The second notification message includes the N first relay function parameter sets and user equipment identities of N user equipment supporting the relay function, where the N user equipment supporting the relay function are in an ECM_CONNECTED state” – See [0213]; The base station (access network device) receives second notification 402 (first information) from the MME (core network element), wherein the second notification 402 comprises identities of relay functions that the remote UE (terminal device) is allowed to access); and
receiving second information from the terminal device, wherein the second information comprises an identifier of a first relay device (“Remote UE sends a second request message to the base station, and the base station receives the second request message sent by the remote UE” – See [0214]; “The second request message includes a second relay function parameter set of the remote UE” – See [0215]; “the second relay function parameter set includes at least one of the following relay function parameters: the remote user equipment association identifier supported by the user equipment supporting the relay function” – See [0016]; The base station receives second request 403 (second information) from the remote UE (terminal device, wherein the second request 403 comprises an association identifier of a user equipment supporting the relay function (relay device)), wherein
the first information and the second information are used by the access network device to determine whether the terminal device is allowed to access the first relay device (“The base station determines, for the remote user equipment, at least one of the N UEs supporting the relay function” – See [0217]; “A first relay function parameter set of the at least one UE supporting the relay function and the second relay function parameter set satisfy a preset matching relationship” – See [0218]; The first information and second information are used to determine whether a matching relationship is satisfied so that the remote UE (terminal device) is allowed to access the relay device).
Xu does not explicitly teach that the first information further comprises a network slice identifier associated with the relay device.
However, Han teaches that the first information further comprises a network slice identifier associated with the relay device (“S1004: The public core network control plane device sends an attach response message to the radio access network device, and the radio access network device receives the attach response message sent by the public core network control plane device. The attach response message carries the ID of the network slice allocated by the public core network control plane device to the terminal device” – See p. 39; “the terminal device is a relay UE” – See p. 37; The radio access network device receives, from the core network element, first information that further comprises a slice ID associated with a relay).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xu such that the first information further comprises a network slice identifier associated with the relay device. Motivation for doing so would be to save additional signaling indications and mapping relationships (See Han, p. 26).
Regarding Claim 2, Xu in view of Han teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu teaches that the second information further comprises one or more of a public land mobile network identifier associated with the first relay device, a network slice identifier associated with the first relay device, or a non-public network identifier associated with the first relay device (“Remote UE sends a second request message to the base station, and the base station receives the second request message sent by the remote UE” – See [0214]; “The second request message includes a second relay function parameter set of the remote UE” – See [0215]; “the second relay function parameter set includes at least one of the following relay function parameters: the remote user equipment association identifier supported by the user equipment supporting the relay function” – See [0016]; “In a possible design, the relay function parameter set includes at least one of the following parameters: a remote user equipment association identifier supported by the user equipment supporting the relay function, a device-to-device connection access mode supported by the user equipment supporting the relay function, a public land network PLMN identity supported by the user equipment supporting the relay function” – See [0044]; The second information includes a PLMN identity of the user equipment supporting the relay function (public land mobile network identifier associated with the first relay device) or a non-public network identifier such as an association identifier associated with the user equipment supporting the relay function).
Regarding Claim 5, Xu in view of Han teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu teaches that the method further comprises receiving other information from the first relay device, wherein the other information comprises the identifier of the first relay device and one or more of the following associated with the identifier of the first relay device: a public land mobile network identifier; a network slice identifier; or a non-public network identifier (“S301. A network device obtains N first relay function parameter sets of N user equipment supporting a relay function, where the N first relay function parameter sets correspond to the N user equipment supporting the relay function, and N is a positive integer” – See [0108]; “In a possible design, the relay function parameter set includes at least one of the following parameters: a remote user equipment association identifier supported by the user equipment supporting the relay function, a device-to-device connection access mode supported by the user equipment supporting the relay function, a public land network PLMN identity supported by the user equipment supporting the relay function” – See [0044]; The base station receives, from the first relay device, other information that includes a PLMN identity of the first relay device or a non-public network identifier such as an association identifier associated with the first relay device).
Regarding Claim 6, Xu in view of Han teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu teaches that the method further comprises: sending first indication information to the terminal device, wherein the first indication information indicates the terminal device to access the first relay device (“The base station sends a first notification message to the at least one UE supporting the relay function. The at least one UE supporting the relay function receives the first notification message” – See [0220]; “The first notification message is used to trigger the at least one user equipment supporting the relay function to initiate a device-to-device discovery process” – See [0221]; “The at least one UE supporting the relay function initiates a discovery process” – See [0222]; “user equipment supporting a relay function broadcasts a discovery message in a preset period. If another remote user equipment is monitoring the discovery message in this case, the another remote user equipment discovers the user equipment supporting the relay function. In this model, the user equipment sending the notification message discovery message is referred to as an announcing terminal announcing UE, and the user equipment receiving the discovery message is referred to as a monitoring terminal monitoring UE” – See [0100]; The relay sends a discovery message (first indication) to the remote UE (terminal device) indicating to perform discovery so that the remote UE can access the relay).
Claims 7 and 13 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 1.
Claims 8 and 14 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 2.
Claims 11 and 17 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 5.
Claims 12 and 18 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 6.
Regarding Claim 24, Xu in view of Han teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu further teaches that the receiving, by the access network device, of the first information from the core network element comprises: receiving, by the access network device, an initial context setup request message from a mobility management network element, wherein the initial context setup request message comprises the first information (“the MME notifies, by using a second message on an S1 interface, the base station of context information that is of the user equipment and is related to the relay function, that is, the first relay function parameter set” – See [0172]; The first information is part of a context setup message from the MME).
Claims 25 and 26 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 24.
Claims 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2019/0253869) in view of Han et al. (WO 2018/059313, see attached translation) and further in view of Wu et al. (US 2023/0413351).
Regarding Claim 19, Xu in view of Han teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu and Han do not explicitly teach sending measurement configuration information to the terminal device, and then receiving a measurement report, where the measurement report includes the second information and a measurement result.
However, Wu teaches sending measurement configuration information to the terminal device (“receiving, from the BS at the first UE, measurement configuration information; and determining whether to perform a measurement based on the measurement configuration information” – See [0014]; “the measurement configuration information may indicate a first set of candidate relay UEs connecting to the serving cell of the first UE” – See [0015]; The base station sends measurement configuration information to the UE (terminal device)), and
then receiving a measurement report, where the measurement report includes the second information and a measurement result (“The identity (ID) of the candidate relay UE (e.g., which satisfies the report condition) may be included in the measurement result report” – See [0151]; “The measurement report may include at least one of the following: … the channel quality (e.g., RSRP or RSRQ) associated with a candidate relay, UE ID of the candidate relay” – See [0160]-[0162]; The base station receives a measurement report that includes the relay identifier (second information) and an RSRP value (measurement result)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xu to include sending measurement configuration information to the terminal device, and then receiving a measurement report, where the measurement report includes the second information and a measurement result. Motivation for doing so would be to configure the terminal device to access a first relay device when the first relay device has a highest channel quality compared to other relay devices (See Wu, [0149]).
Regarding Claim 20, Xu in view of Han and Wu teaches the method of Claim 19. Wu further teaches that the measurement result is a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of the first relay device (“The measurement report may include at least one of the following: … the channel quality (e.g., RSRP or RSRQ) associated with a candidate relay, UE ID of the candidate relay” – See [0160]-[0162]).
Claims 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2019/0253869) in view of Han et al. (WO 2018/059313, see attached translation) and further in view of Chen et al. (US 2022/0394592).
Regarding Claim 21, Xu in view of Han teaches the method of Claim 1. Xu and Han do not explicitly teach that, after the determination of whether the terminal device is allowed to access the first relay device is made: sending first indication information to the terminal device, wherein the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to access the first relay device.
However, Chen teaches after the determination of whether the terminal device is allowed to access the first relay device is made: sending first indication information to the terminal device, wherein the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to access the first relay device (“Since the establishment cause is low priority, the relay UE 112 may reject the RRC Connection Request by sending a rejection message 590 to the remote UE 110. The rejection message 590 may be, for example, a sidelink reject message. However, other types of rejection messages may also be used. The rejection message 590 may include information for the remote UE 110, such as, the reason for the rejection (e.g., access control), a further candidate relay UE for the remote UE, etc.” – See [0048]; First indication information indicating that the remote UE (terminal device) is not allowed to access the relay UE (first relay device) is sent to the remote UE).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Xu such that after the determination of whether the terminal device is allowed to access the first relay device is made: sending first indication information to the terminal device, wherein the first indication information indicates that the terminal device is not allowed to access the first relay device. Motivation for doing so would be to enable the relay to provide the terminal device with a reason that access is not allowed as well as indicate a further candidate relay, and so on (See Chen, [0048]).
Claims 22 and 23 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 21.
Response to Arguments
On pages 9-10 of the remarks, Applicant argues in substance that Xu does not teach “the first information further comprises a network slice identifier associated with the relay device,” as recited in independent claims 1, 7, and 13. Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot based on the new grounds of rejection. In response to the amended limitations, the Examiner relies upon the newly-cited Han reference.
On page 10 of the remarks, Applicant argues in substance that Xu does not teach “sending first indication information to the terminal device,” as recited in dependent claims 6, 12, and 18. Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In response to the amended limitations, the Examiner has cited additional passages from Xu. For example Xu discloses “user equipment supporting a relay function broadcasts a discovery message in a preset period. If another remote user equipment is monitoring the discovery message in this case, the another remote user equipment discovers the user equipment supporting the relay function. In this model, the user equipment sending the notification message discovery message is referred to as an announcing terminal announcing UE, and the user equipment receiving the discovery message is referred to as a monitoring terminal monitoring UE” (See [0100]). Thus, first indication information is sent to the remote UE (i.e., the terminal device) in the form of a discovery message.
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 mailing date of this final action.
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/SCOTT M SCIACCA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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