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 Amendment
This communication is considered fully responsive to the amendment filed on 01/26/2026.
Claims 1 and 5 have been amended.
Claim 8 has been added.
Claims 2, 6, and 7 have been canceled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments and amendments filed on 01/26/2026, in response to the rejection under 35 USC § 112, have been carefully considered. However, the amended language remains indefinite for the reasons set forth below. Accordingly, the rejection under 35 USC § 112(b) is maintained.
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 01/26/2026, with respect to rejection(s) of claims 1 and 3-5 under 35 USC § 102/103 have been considered but are moot because the arguments related solely to newly added limitations addressed in the instant Office Action with previously identified prior arts by mapping the relevant teachings for more clarification thereof that read on said added features, thus rendering Applicant’s arguments moot.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, and 8 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding independent claims 1, 5 and 8, the claims recite the limitation “judge whether a plurality of terminals are suitable for sharing uplink data”. The phrase “suitable for sharing uplink data” is a relative term that renders the claim indefinite. A claim is indefinite if it fails to provide an objective standard for determining the scope of the term. In the present case, the term “suitable” is subjective and does not provide a person of ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) with a clear boundary for what constitutes ‘suitability’ for sharing uplink data.
While the specification in para [0148] provides an example of ‘suitability’ based on a measurement result being lower than a threshold for MU-MIMO, the claim language “suitable for sharing uplink data” is not limited to MU-MIMO and encompasses a significantly broader range of cooperative communications. The specification fails to provide an objective standard for ‘suitability’ across the full scope of the claimed ‘sharing uplink data.’ Furthermore, the term ‘threshold’ remains undefined and subjective, as the specification does not disclose how such a threshold is derived or what its objective parameters are. Thus, a person of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to determine the boundaries of the claim with reasonable certainty.
To overcome this rejection and provide clarity to the scope of the invention, the Applicant is encouraged to amend the claims to incorporate the specific measurement conditions (e.g., threshold for received power) disclosed in the specification.
Claims 3-4 depend from the independent claim 1, thus carry the same issues as described above, and therefore are rejected on the same grounds discussed above.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being as being anticipated by Huang et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220272602, hereinafter “Huang”).
Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to Huang unless otherwise mentioned.
With respect to independent claims:
Regarding Claim 1, Huang teaches A terminal (Fig. 7, relay UE 120-2 (e.g., relay UE 120-2 b)) comprising:
a receiving section (Fig. 10 and para [0133]: UE may include … a reception component 1002) that receives a signal to judge whether a plurality of terminals are suitable for sharing uplink data (para [0135]: The reception component 1002 may receive communications, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or a combination thereof, from the apparatus 1006 (‘a UE or another wireless communication device’, see para [0133]).) (para [0076]: In some aspects, a report may indicate at least one of a signal strength measurement or a channel estimate. For example, a UE 120 may perform measurements and/or channel estimation in connection with a channel between the UE 120 and a neighboring UE 120, in order to generate the report. In some aspects, a report from the source UE 120-1 may indicate an RSRP measurement for a channel between the source UE 120-1 and a relay UE 120-2 and/or may indicate a channel estimate (e.g., a channel matrix) for the channel. In some aspects, a report from a relay UE 120-2 may indicate an RSRP measurement for a channel between the relay UE 120-2 and the destination UE 120-3 and/or may indicate a channel estimate (e.g., a channel matrix) for the channel.) (para [0068]: a relay UE may be selected for the cooperative relaying based at least in part on a channel between a source UE and the relay UE being associated with a signal strength that satisfies a threshold value (interpreted as “whether a plurality of terminals are suitable for sharing uplink data”); and
a control section that controls one of reception of the uplink data from another terminal of the plurality of terminals and transmission of the uplink data to the other terminal, based on the signal (Fig. 6 and para [0090]: As shown by reference number 625, the source UE 120-1 may transmit a communication for cooperative relaying to the destination node. For example, the source UE 120-1 may perform a groupcast transmission to the set of relay UEs (e.g., relay UE 120-2 a and relay UE 120-2 b) selected for the source UE 120-1. As shown by reference number 630, the set of relay UEs may perform cooperative relaying of the communication to the destination node (e.g., the destination UE 120-3 or the base station 110). For example, each relay UE 120-2, of the set of relay UEs, may relay a MIMO layer of the communication to the destination node.) (para [0099]: the source UE 120-1 may select a relay UE 120-2 for the set of relay UEs, that are to be used for the cooperative relaying, based at least in part on a determination that the relay UE 120-2 satisfies one or more conditions. In some aspects, the source UE 120-1 may select a relay UE 120-2 (e.g., relay UE 120-2 b) for the set of relay UEs based at least in part on a determination that: a discovery measurement for a channel between the source UE 120-1 and the relay UE 120-2 is above a first threshold value; (interpreted as “controls one of reception of the uplink data from another terminal of the plurality of terminals and transmission of the uplink data to the other terminal, based on the signal”)),
(Examiner’s note: Huang discloses a terminal (UE 120) and a base station (110) involved in a cooperative relaying scheme. As shown in para [0075] (at reference number 605 in Fig. 6), a UE 120 transmits, and the base station 110 receives, a report relating to a neighboring UE 120. According to para [0076], this report is generated by the UE 120 performing measurements and/or channel estimation in connection with a channel between itself and a neighboring UE. These measurements are performed on Reference Signals (such as SRS or Sidelink RS) transmitted by neighboring UEs (see paras [0135 & 0159]). Furthermore, as shown in para [0099], the source UE 120-1 may select a relay UE 120-2 (e.g., relay UE 120-2 b) for the set of relay UEs based at least in part on a determination that a discovery measurement for a channel between the source UE 120-1 and the relay UE 120-2 is above a first threshold value. Thus, the claimed ““controls …, based on the signal”)” is found in the teachings (Fig. 6 and paras [0072-0090, and 0099] of Huang)
wherein the signal includes uplink signals from the other terminals of the plurality of terminals (para [0097]: In some aspects, the source UE 120-1 may select the set of relay UEs based at least in part on a discovery measurement and/or a channel estimate obtained by the source UE 120-1. In some aspects, the source UE 120-1 may select the set of relay UEs based at least in part on respective discovery measurements for the first plurality of channels (e.g., respective channels between the source UE 120-1 and the set of relay UEs) (interpreted as “from the other terminals of the plurality of terminals”).) (para [0135]: The reception component 1002 may receive communications, such as reference signals (interpreted as “uplink signals”), control information, data communications, or a combination thereof, from the apparatus 1006.) (para [0159]: wherein the relay UE is selected for the cooperative relaying further based at least in part on: a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement for the channel between the source UE and the relay UE being above a threshold value; a sounding reference signal (SRS) (interpreted as “uplink signals”) power measurement for the channel between the relay UE and the destination node (‘a destination UE or a base station’, see para [0068]) being above a threshold value;) (Examiner’s note: Huang discloses, in para [0097], that “the source UE 120-1 may select the set of relay UEs based at least in part on respective discovery measurements for the first plurality of channels (e.g., respective channels between the source UE 120-1 and the set of relay UEs.” The term ‘respective discovery measurements’ requires the source UE to receive and process distinct signals originating from each individual terminal within the set of relay UEs. Accordingly, Huang teaches the claimed feature of “the signal includes uplink signals from the other terminals of the plurality of terminals.”), and
the control section performs measurement of the uplink signals from the other terminals of the plurality of terminals and judges whether the plurality of terminals are suitable for sharing uplink data, based on the measurement result (para [0076]: For example, a UE 120 may perform measurements and/or channel estimation in connection with a channel between the UE 120 and a neighboring UE 120, in order to generate the report. In some aspects, a report from the source UE 120-1 may indicate an RSRP measurement for a channel between the source UE 120-1 and a relay UE 120-2 and/or may indicate a channel estimate (e.g., a channel matrix) for the channel. In some aspects, a report from a relay UE 120-2 may indicate an RSRP measurement for a channel between the relay UE 120-2 and the destination UE 120-3 and/or may indicate a channel estimate (e.g., a channel matrix) for the channel.) (para [0099]: the source UE 120-1 may select a relay UE 120-2 for the set of relay UEs, that are to be used for the cooperative relaying, based at least in part on a determination that the relay UE 120-2 satisfies one or more conditions. In some aspects, the source UE 120-1 may select a relay UE 120-2 (e.g., relay UE 120-2 b) for the set of relay UEs based at least in part on a determination that: a discovery measurement for a channel between the source UE 120-1 and the relay UE 120-2 is above a first threshold value; (interpreted as “judges whether the plurality of terminals are suitable for sharing uplink data, based on the measurement result”)).
Regarding Claim 5, it is a radio communication method claim corresponding to the apparatus (“a terminal”) claim 1, and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding Claim 8, Huang teaches A system (Figs. 5&6, wireless communication system) comprising:
a base station (Fig. 6, Base Station 110); and
a terminal (Fig. 6, Source UE),
wherein the base station comprises a transmitting section that transmits a signal to judge whether a plurality of terminals are suitable for sharing uplink data (Fig. 6 and para [0089]: As shown by reference number 620, the base station 110 may transmit, and the source UE 120-1 may receive, information identifying the set of relay UEs (interpreted as “a signal to judge …”) selected for cooperative relaying from the source UE 120-1 to the destination node (e.g., which may be identified in the information by a source identifier and a destination identifier).), and
wherein the terminal comprises:
a receiving section (Fig. 10 and para [0133]: UE may include … a reception component 1002) that receives the signal (Fig. 6 and para [0089]: As shown by reference number 620, the base station 110 may transmit, and the source UE 120-1 may receive, information identifying the set of relay UEs (interpreted as “a signal to judge …”) selected for cooperative relaying from the source UE 120-1 to the destination node (e.g., which may be identified in the information by a source identifier and a destination identifier).); and
a control section that controls one of reception of the uplink data from another terminal of the plurality of terminals and transmission of the uplink data to the other terminal, based on the signal (Fig. 6 and para [0090]: As shown by reference number 625, the source UE 120-1 may transmit a communication for cooperative relaying to the destination node. For example, the source UE 120-1 may perform a groupcast transmission to the set of relay UEs (e.g., relay UE 120-2 a and relay UE 120-2 b) selected for the source UE 120-1. As shown by reference number 630, the set of relay UEs may perform cooperative relaying of the communication to the destination node (e.g., the destination UE 120-3 or the base station 110). For example, each relay UE 120-2, of the set of relay UEs, may relay a MIMO layer of the communication to the destination node.),
wherein the signal includes uplink signals from the other terminals of the plurality of terminals (para [0075]: As shown by reference number 605, a UE 120 may transmit, and the base station 110 may receive, a report relating to a neighboring UE 120 (e.g., another UE in the sidelink network with the UE 120). The UE 120 may transmit the report periodically. In some aspects, each UE 120 in the sidelink network may transmit respective reports (e.g., periodically) relating to the other UEs 120 in the sidelink network.) (para [0076]: As shown by reference number 605, a UE 120 may transmit, and the base station 110 may receive, a report relating to a neighboring UE 120 (e.g., another UE in the sidelink network with the UE 120).) (para [0077]: In some aspects, a report may indicate both of an RSRP measurement and a channel estimate when the destination for a relayed communication is the destination UE 120.) (para [0080]: In some aspects, the base station 110 may select the set of relay UEs based at least in part on the reports received from the UEs 120 (e.g., the first report received from the source UE 120-1 and the second report received from the relay UE 120-2).) (para [0089]): As shown by reference number 620, the base station 110 may transmit, and the source UE 120-1 may receive, information identifying the set of relay UEs (interpreted as “a signal to judge …”) selected for cooperative relaying from the source UE 120-1 to the destination node (e.g., which may be identified in the information by a source identifier and a destination identifier).) (para [0097]: In some aspects, the source UE 120-1 may select the set of relay UEs based at least in part on a discovery measurement and/or a channel estimate obtained by the source UE 120-1. In some aspects, the source UE 120-1 may select the set of relay UEs based at least in part on respective discovery measurements for the first plurality of channels (e.g., respective channels between the source UE 120-1 and the set of relay UEs) (interpreted as “from the other terminals of the plurality of terminals”).) (Examiner’s note: Huang discloses a terminal (UE 120) and a base station (110) involved in a cooperative relaying scheme. As shown in para [0075] (at reference number 605 in Fig. 6), a UE 120 transmits, and the base station 110 receives, a report relating to a neighboring UE 120. According to paras [0076 &0097], this report is generated by the UE 120 performing measurements and/or channel estimation in connection with a channel between itself and neighboring UEs. These measurements are performed on Reference Signals (such as SRS or Sidelink RS) transmitted by neighboring UEs (see paras [0049, 0135 & 0159]). Since these signals originated from UEs, they constitute “uplink signals” as recited in the claim. Furthermore, as shown in para [0089] (at reference number 605 in Fig. 6), the base station 110 transmits information identifying the set of relay UEs selected for cooperative relaying to the source UE 120-1. Thus, the claimed “the signal includes uplink signals from the other terminals of the plurality of terminals” is found in the teachings (Fig. 6 and paras [0049, 0072-0090, 0097, 0135 & 0159]) of Huang), and
the control section performs measurement of the uplink signals from the other terminals of the plurality of terminals and judges whether the plurality of terminals are suitable for sharing uplink data, based on the measurement result (para [0076]: For example, a UE 120 may perform measurements and/or channel estimation in connection with a channel between the UE 120 and a neighboring UE 120, in order to generate the report. In some aspects, a report from the source UE 120-1 may indicate an RSRP measurement for a channel between the source UE 120-1 and a relay UE 120-2 and/or may indicate a channel estimate (e.g., a channel matrix) for the channel. In some aspects, a report from a relay UE 120-2 may indicate an RSRP measurement for a channel between the relay UE 120-2 and the destination UE 120-3 and/or may indicate a channel estimate (e.g., a channel matrix) for the channel.) (para [0099]: the source UE 120-1 may select a relay UE 120-2 for the set of relay UEs, that are to be used for the cooperative relaying, based at least in part on a determination that the relay UE 120-2 satisfies one or more conditions. In some aspects, the source UE 120-1 may select a relay UE 120-2 (e.g., relay UE 120-2 b) for the set of relay UEs based at least in part on a determination that: a discovery measurement for a channel between the source UE 120-1 and the relay UE 120-2 is above a first threshold value; (interpreted as “judges whether the plurality of terminals are suitable for sharing uplink data, based on the measurement result”)).
With respect to dependent claims:
Regarding Claim 3, Huang teaches The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control section controls transmission of control information indicating, to the other terminal, the reception of the uplink data and the transmission of the uplink data (para [0105]: the relay UE 120-2 (e.g., relay UE 120-2 b) may transmit, and the source UE 120-1 may receive, an indication (e.g., a signal) of whether the relay UE 120-2 is to participate in the cooperative relaying from the source UE 120-1 to the destination UE 120-3 (e.g., which may be identified in the information by a source identifier and a destination identifier)(para [0107]: the source UE 120-1 may transmit a communication for cooperative relaying to the destination UE 120-3, in a similar manner as described above. For example, the source UE 120-1 may perform a groupcast transmission to the final set of relay UEs (e.g., relay UE 120-2 a and relay UE 120-2 b). As shown by reference number 735, the final set of relay UEs may perform cooperative relaying of the communication to the destination UE 120-3, in a similar manner as described above (interpreted as “controls transmission of control information indicating, to the other terminal (‘to the destination UE 120-3’), the reception of the uplink data and the transmission of the uplink data”)).
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Xu et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230099586, hereinafter “Xu”).
Regarding Claim 4, Huang teaches The terminal according to claim 1,
Huang does not teach wherein the receiving section receives one repetition of a plurality of repetitions of the uplink data, and the control section controls transmission of the received repetition.
In analogous art, Xu teaches:
the receiving section receives one repetition of a plurality of repetitions of the uplink data (para [0273]: The first relay terminal may receive, through an air interface, the configuration information (interpreted as “one repetition”) sent by the access network device)(para [0280]: the terminal device may learn of a correspondence between links based on the configuration information, to complete duplication transmission over a relay link in a subsequent process.)(para [0289]: When a first preset condition is met, the terminal device activates at least one link that is for performing duplication transmission.) (para [0290]: The first preset condition includes at least one of the following: the link quality of the first link is less than or equal to the first preset quality threshold; or the link quality of the second link is less than or equal to the second preset quality threshold; or a bit error rate of transmission of the first data packet is greater than or equal to a preset bit error rate threshold;), and
the control section controls transmission of the received repetition (para [0331]: the terminal device may learn of a correspondence between links based on the configuration information, to complete duplication transmission over a relay link in a subsequent process.)(para [0342]: determine a first data packet, and obtain M data packets through duplicating the first data packet, where M is an integer greater than 1; and the transceiver module 702 sends the M data packets to the access network device in a duplication transmission mode.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of instant application to modify Huang's method by using the features of Xu in order to have more effective method such that the terminal receives one repetition of a plurality of repetitions of the uplink data and controls transmission of the received repetition. Thus, when at least one data packet is transmitted over the relay link, in this way, a same data packet is duplicated and transmitted on different paths, so that a problem of how to improve data transmission reliability when there is an obstruction is resolved. In addition, when a quality of an existing relay link is poor, dynamic update of the relay link avoids a problem that duplication transmission over a relay link cannot be performed due to a poor link quality when there is an obstruction, and also avoids a problem that data transmission is unreliable when the duplication transmission over the relay link cannot be performed. See para [0310] of Xu.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WON JUN CHOI whose telephone number is (703)756-1695. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FRI 08:00 - 17:00.
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/WON JUN CHOI/Examiner, Art Unit 2411 /DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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