DETAILED ACTION
Claim(s) 1-6, 9-11, and 14-22 have been examined and are pending.
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 .
Status of the Specification
In the Non-Final Rejection mailed January 14, 2026, the title was objected to as being non-descriptive.
Responsive to the objection to the title, Applicants have changed the title to: USER EQUIPMENT, NETWORK NODE AND METHODS FOR HANDLING A POWER HEADROOM REPORT (PHR) IN A SMALL DATA TRANSMISSION (SDT). The new title is sufficiently descriptive and accordingly the objection has been withdrawn.
Status of Claims
In the Non-Final Rejection mailed January 14, 2026 the status of the claims was as follows: Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, and 22 were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SONY (Sony, “Discussion on subsequent SDT in NR, and timer handling”, R2-2100906, 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 Meeting #113-e, Online meeting, 25 January-5 February 2021 ) in view of LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023). Claim(s) 6 and 19, were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SONY (Sony, “Discussion on subsequent SDT in NR, and timer handling”, R2-2100906, 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 Meeting #113-e, Online meeting, 25 January-5 February 2021 ) in view of LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023) in view of LASELVA (US 20240187927 A1).
In response to the prior art rejection(s) of said claim(s) Applicants have presented arguments with respect to the independent claims 1, 9, 14, and 20. Particularly Applicants emphasized with respect to independent claim 1, that the combination of SONY in view of LG fail to render obvious the feature, “…when the data volume for an SDT to be transmitted requires at least one transmission after a Random Access, RA, procedure, according to the buffer status of information triggering, a PHR, which PHR is to be transmitted to the network node.”. Similar features are also recited in each of independent claim(s) 9, 14, and 20. Applicants arguments are persuasive. Accordingly, a new ground of rejection has been made further in view of YI (US 20240129954 A1)
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SONY (Sony, “Discussion on subsequent SDT in NR, and timer handling”, R2-2100906, 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 Meeting #113-e, Online meeting, 25 January-5 February 2021 ) in view of YI (US 20240129954 A1) in view of LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023).
In regards to claim(s) 1 and 14, SONY (Sony, “Discussion on subsequent SDT in NR, and timer handling”, R2-2100906, 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 Meeting #113-e, Online meeting, 25 January-5 February 2021 ) teaches a method performed by a User Equipment, UE for handling an indication For the RRC_INACTIVE state”, “UL small data transmissions for RACH-based schemes (i.e. 2-step and 4-step RACH)” and “General procedure to enable UP data transmission for small data packets from INACTIVE state (e.g. using MSGA or MSG3) [RAN2]”):
obtaining buffer status information related to a data volume for a SDT comprised in a buffer in the UE; and when the data volume for an SDT to be transmitted to the network node requires at least one transmission the indication (See [Section 2.1, Subsequent Transmission] which teaches obtaining buffer status information related to a data volume for a SDT comprised in a buffer in the UE, and when the data volume for an SDT to be transmitted requires at least one transmission (i.e. at least one transmission such as the subsequent transmission needed when new data arrives) according to buffer status information, triggering the indication (i.e. generally an indication or more specifically as suggested by Sony, a buffer status report (BSR)), the indication to be transmitted to the network node, “For SDT DRBs: if new data arrives, majority of companies seem to agree that a BSR can be triggered (using the existing LCG multiplexing rules and BSR triggering principles – a few companies mentioned preference that these triggers should not change and this seems feasible). This seems agreeable and we can have a proposal for this…We support that the indication from the UE to the network could be in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer...Proposal 1: The indication for subsequent data is in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer.”).
SONY differs from claim 1, in that SONY is silent on when the data volume for an SDT to be transmitted to the network node requires at least one transmission after a Random Access, RA, procedure according to the buffer status information, triggering the indication, which the indication is to be transmitted to the network node, and in that SONY is silent on wherein the indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR). Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving a small data transmission (SDT) subsequent to an initial SDT transmission.
YI (US 20240129954 A1) teaches where data volume for an SDT to be transmitted to a network node requires at least one transmission after a random access procedure (“[0247] Case 4—The UE receives a UL grant in PDCCH (i.e., dynamic UL grant) for subsequent SDT data transmission after the successful completion of RA-SDT procedure.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of YI (US 20240129954 A1) it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the SDT feature of SONY, such that when the data volume for an SDT to be transmitted to the network node requires at least one transmission after a Random Access, RA, procedure according to the buffer status information, triggering the indication, in order to provide a benefit of an additional SDT in situation when there is more data to transmit after completion of a random access procedure.
The combined teachings of SONY in view YI still differ from claim 1, in that the combined teachings are silent on wherein the indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR), as arranged with the remaining elements of claim 1.
LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023) teaches in [Section 3.7 PHR, Page(s) 12-13] a feature for SDT where a power headroom report indicates a subsequent SDT transmission.
Ericsson
Option 1 or 2
Useful only for subsequent SDT, and if UE is brought to connected. Question is therefore somewhat unclear. The PHR will have higher prio and needed before the DTCH PDU.
Huawei, HiSilicon
Option 1
As subsequent data transmissions are supported for SDT, PHR is needed. We can check further whether any modifications for triggering conditions are needed, e.g. to avoid sending it when there is no subsequent data.
Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell
Option 1
The PHR is beneficial for subsequent transmissions.
NEC
Option 1 with comment
PHR is beneficial for the subsequent transmission but not needed for one-shot SDT, therefore PHR can be cancelled or deprioritized if the UL grant can accommodate the data but not able to accommodate the PHR plus its header, otherwise it can be reported.
CMCC
Option1
Considering subsequent data transmission, PHR should be supported.
Qualcomm
Option 1
We think PHR is beneficial for SDT for uplink transmission.
Lenovo
Option 1
We see some benefits in support PHR functionality for SDT transmission in particular given that subsequent data transmissions are supported.
ASUSTeK
Option 1 or 2
If PHR is supported, PHR is only needed if there is subsequent transmission. If there is no subsequent transmission, PHR can be cancelled.
If PHR is not supported, another default MAC configuration could be defined.
InterDigital
Optoin 1
PHR can be reused as is, given it’s beneficial for scheduling subsequent SDT either in inactive or connected mode.
China Telecom
Option 1
In order to support subsequent transmission, the PHR is needed, otherwise the network lacks accuracy information for uplink power control procedure.
Apple
Option 1 or 2
Same view as Ericsson. PHR is only useful for the subsequent transmission period.
TCL
Option 1
It’s beneficial for the subsequent SDT.
Thus based upon the teachings of LG, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify SONY in view of YI’s feature for performing a subsequent SDT, by providing a power headroom report (PHR) when a subsequent SDT is necessary as suggested by LG, to arrive at where SONY in view of YI’s indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR), and to consequently arrive at claim 1, in order to provide information necessary for uplink power control during a subsequent SDT.
In regards to claim(s) 9 and 20, SONY (Sony, “Discussion on subsequent SDT in NR, and timer handling”, R2-2100906, 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 Meeting #113-e, Online meeting, 25 January-5 February 2021 ) teaches a method performed by a network node for handling a Small Data Transmission, SDT, from a User Equipment, UE in a wireless communications network, which UE is in an Radio Resource Control, RRC, inactive state, the method comprising (Refer to page 1, where it recites to enable “For the RRC_INACTIVE state”, “UL small data transmissions for RACH-based schemes (i.e. 2-step and 4-step RACH)” and “General procedure to enable UP data transmission for small data packets from INACTIVE state (e.g. using MSGA or MSG3) [RAN2]”) : when the data volume for an SDT to be transmitted to the network node requires at least one transmission indication from the UE; and handling a part of the data volume of the SDT that is to be transmitted indication (See [Section 2.1, Subsequent Transmission] which teaches obtaining buffer status information related to a data volume for a SDT comprised in a buffer in the UE, and when the data volume for an SDT to be transmitted requires at least one transmission (i.e. at least one transmission such as the subsequent transmission needed when new data arrives) after a RA procedure according to buffer status information, triggering an indication (i.e. generally an indication or more specifically as suggested by Sony, a buffer status report (BSR)), the indication to be transmitted to the network node, “For SDT DRBs: if new data arrives, majority of companies seem to agree that a BSR can be triggered (using the existing LCG multiplexing rules and BSR triggering principles – a few companies mentioned preference that these triggers should not change and this seems feasible). This seems agreeable and we can have a proposal for this…We support that the indication from the UE to the network could be in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer...Proposal 1: The indication for subsequent data is in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer.”).
SONY differs from claim 9, in that SONY is silent on when the data volume for an SDT to be transmitted to the network node requires at least one transmission after a Random Access, RA, procedure according to the buffer status information, receiving the indication, from the UE, and in that SONY is silent on wherein the indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR). Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving a small data transmission (SDT) subsequent to an initial SDT transmission.
YI (US 20240129954 A1) teaches where data volume for an SDT to be transmitted to a network node requires at least one transmission after a random access procedure (“[0247] Case 4—The UE receives a UL grant in PDCCH (i.e., dynamic UL grant) for subsequent SDT data transmission after the successful completion of RA-SDT procedure.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of YI (US 20240129954 A1) it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the SDT feature of SONY, such that when the data volume for an SDT to be transmitted to the network node requires at least one transmission after a Random Access, RA, procedure according to the buffer status information, receiving the indication, from the UE, in order to provide a benefit of an additional SDT in situation when there is more data to transmit after completion of a random access procedure.
The combined teachings of SONY in view YI still differ from claim 9, in that the combined teachings are silent on wherein the indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR), as arranged with the remaining elements of claim 9.
LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023) teaches in [Section 3.7 PHR, Page(s) 12-13] a feature for SDT where a power headroom report indicates a subsequent SDT transmission.
Ericsson
Option 1 or 2
Useful only for subsequent SDT, and if UE is brought to connected. Question is therefore somewhat unclear. The PHR will have higher prio and needed before the DTCH PDU.
Huawei, HiSilicon
Option 1
As subsequent data transmissions are supported for SDT, PHR is needed. We can check further whether any modifications for triggering conditions are needed, e.g. to avoid sending it when there is no subsequent data.
Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell
Option 1
The PHR is beneficial for subsequent transmissions.
NEC
Option 1 with comment
PHR is beneficial for the subsequent transmission but not needed for one-shot SDT, therefore PHR can be cancelled or deprioritized if the UL grant can accommodate the data but not able to accommodate the PHR plus its header, otherwise it can be reported.
CMCC
Option1
Considering subsequent data transmission, PHR should be supported.
Qualcomm
Option 1
We think PHR is beneficial for SDT for uplink transmission.
Lenovo
Option 1
We see some benefits in support PHR functionality for SDT transmission in particular given that subsequent data transmissions are supported.
ASUSTeK
Option 1 or 2
If PHR is supported, PHR is only needed if there is subsequent transmission. If there is no subsequent transmission, PHR can be cancelled.
If PHR is not supported, another default MAC configuration could be defined.
InterDigital
Optoin 1
PHR can be reused as is, given it’s beneficial for scheduling subsequent SDT either in inactive or connected mode.
China Telecom
Option 1
In order to support subsequent transmission, the PHR is needed, otherwise the network lacks accuracy information for uplink power control procedure.
Apple
Option 1 or 2
Same view as Ericsson. PHR is only useful for the subsequent transmission period.
TCL
Option 1
It’s beneficial for the subsequent SDT.
Thus based upon the teachings of LG, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify SONY in view of YI’s feature for performing a subsequent SDT, by providing a power headroom report (PHR) when a subsequent SDT is necessary as suggested by LG, to arrive at where SONY in view of YI’s indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR), and to consequently arrive at claim 9, in order to provide information necessary for uplink power control during a subsequent SDT.
In regards to claim(s) 2 and 15, SONY in view of YI In view of LG suggest the method according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the PHR to the network node. SONY teaches transmitting an indication/indicator of a subsequent SDT to a network node, SONY is silent on the indication/indicator comprising a PHR (See [Section 2.1, Subsequent Transmission] “For SDT DRBs: if new data arrives, majority of companies seem to agree that a BSR can be triggered (using the existing LCG multiplexing rules and BSR triggering principles – a few companies mentioned preference that these triggers should not change and this seems feasible). This seems agreeable and we can have a proposal for this…We support that the indication from the UE to the network could be in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer...Proposal 1: The indication for subsequent data is in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer.”).
However, regarding providing PHR as indication of a subsequent SDT, similar features have been seen in other prior art involving SDT. LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023) teaches in [Section 3.7 PHR, Page(s) 12-13] a feature for SDT where a power headroom report indicates a subsequent SDT transmission., where the PHR is provided to a network node.
Thus based upon the teachings of LG, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify SONY in view of YI’s feature for performing a subsequent SDT, by providing a power headroom report (PHR) when a subsequent SDT is necessary as suggested by LG, to arrive at where SONY in view YI’ss indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR), and to consequently arrive at claim 2, in order to provide information necessary for uplink power control during a subsequent SDT.
In regards to claim(s) 3 and 16, SONY in view of YI in view of LG suggest the method according to claim 2, wherein the transmitting the PHR to the network node, is performed when a second criterion is met. However, SONY does teach transmitting an indication/indicator of a subsequent SDT to the network, when a criterion is met, the arrival of new data/subsequent data (See [Section 2.1, Subsequent Transmission] “For SDT DRBs: if new data arrives, majority of companies seem to agree that a BSR can be triggered (using the existing LCG multiplexing rules and BSR triggering principles – a few companies mentioned preference that these triggers should not change and this seems feasible). This seems agreeable and we can have a proposal for this…We support that the indication from the UE to the network could be in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer...Proposal 1: The indication for subsequent data is in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer.”). Sony is silent on where the indication comprises a PHR. However, regarding a PHR, and providing the PHR as indication of a subsequent SDT, similar features have been seen in other prior art involving SDT. LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023) teaches in [Section 3.7 PHR, Page(s) 12-13] a feature for SDT where a power headroom report indicates a subsequent SDT transmission., where the PHR is provided to a network node.
Thus based upon the teachings of LG, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify SONY in view of YI’s feature for performing a subsequent SDT, by providing a power headroom report (PHR) when a subsequent SDT is necessary as suggested by LG, to arrive at where SONY in view of YI’s indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR), and to consequently arrive at claim 3, in order to provide information necessary for uplink power control during a subsequent SDT.
In regards to claim(s) 10 and 21, SONY in view of YI in view of LG suggest the method according to claim 9, wherein the PHR is received when one or more second criteria is met. However, SONY does teach receiving an indication/indicator of a subsequent SDT to the network, when a criterion is met, the arrival of new data/subsequent data (See [Section 2.1, Subsequent Transmission] “For SDT DRBs: if new data arrives, majority of companies seem to agree that a BSR can be triggered (using the existing LCG multiplexing rules and BSR triggering principles – a few companies mentioned preference that these triggers should not change and this seems feasible). This seems agreeable and we can have a proposal for this…We support that the indication from the UE to the network could be in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer...Proposal 1: The indication for subsequent data is in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer.”). SONY is silent on where the indicator/indication comprises a PHR. However, regarding a PHR, and receiving the PHR as indication of a subsequent SDT, similar features have been seen in other prior art involving SDT. LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023) teaches in [Section 3.7 PHR, Page(s) 12-13] a feature for SDT where a power headroom report indicates a subsequent SDT transmission, where the PHR is provided to a network node.
Thus based upon the teachings of LG, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify SONY in view of YI’s feature for performing a subsequent SDT, by providing a power headroom report (PHR) when a subsequent SDT is necessary as suggested by LG, to arrive at where SONY in view of YI’s indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR), and to consequently arrive at claim 10, in order to provide information necessary for uplink power control during a subsequent SDT.
In regards to claim(s) 4 and 17, SONY in view of YI in view of LG teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein: transmitting to the network node, a Buffer Status Report, BSR, according to the buffer status information ( SONY [Section 2.1, Subsequent Transmission] “For SDT DRBs: if new data arrives, majority of companies seem to agree that a BSR can be triggered (using the existing LCG multiplexing rules and BSR triggering principles – a few companies mentioned preference that these triggers should not change and this seems feasible). This seems agreeable and we can have a proposal for this…We support that the indication from the UE to the network could be in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer...Proposal 1: The indication for subsequent data is in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer.”).
In regards to claim(s) 11 and 22, SONY in view of YI in view of LG teaches the method according to claim 9, wherein: receiving from the UE, a Buffer Status Report, BSR, which BSR relates to the data volume for the SDT to be transmitted to the network node(See SONY [Section 2.1, Subsequent Transmission] “For SDT DRBs: if new data arrives, majority of companies seem to agree that a BSR can be triggered (using the existing LCG multiplexing rules and BSR triggering principles – a few companies mentioned preference that these triggers should not change and this seems feasible). This seems agreeable and we can have a proposal for this…We support that the indication from the UE to the network could be in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer...Proposal 1: The indication for subsequent data is in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer.”).
In regards to claim(s) 5 and 18, SONY in view of YI in view of LG is silent on the method according to claim 1, wherein: the triggering of the PHR to the network node, is performed when any one or more first criteria are met. However, SONY does teach triggering an indication/indicator of a subsequent SDT to the network, when criteria is met, the arrival of new data/subsequent data (See [Section 2.1, Subsequent Transmission] “For SDT DRBs: if new data arrives, majority of companies seem to agree that a BSR can be triggered (using the existing LCG multiplexing rules and BSR triggering principles – a few companies mentioned preference that these triggers should not change and this seems feasible). This seems agreeable and we can have a proposal for this…We support that the indication from the UE to the network could be in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer...Proposal 1: The indication for subsequent data is in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer.”). SONY is silent on wherein the indication/indicator comprises a PHR. However, regarding a PHR, and providing the PHR as indication of a subsequent SDT, similar features have been seen in other prior art involving SDT. LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023) teaches in [Section 3.7 PHR, Page(s) 12-13] a feature for SDT where a power headroom report indicates a subsequent SDT transmission., where the PHR is provided to a network node.
Thus based upon the teachings of LG, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify SONY in view of YI’s feature for performing a subsequent SDT, by providing a power headroom report (PHR) when a subsequent SDT is necessary as suggested by LG, to arrive at where SONY in view of YI’s indication comprises a power headroom report (PHR), and to consequently arrive at claim 5, in order to provide information necessary for uplink power control during a subsequent SDT.
Claim(s) 6 and 19, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SONY (Sony, “Discussion on subsequent SDT in NR, and timer handling”, R2-2100906, 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 Meeting #113-e, Online meeting, 25 January-5 February 2021 ) in view of YI (US 20240129954 A1) in view of LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023) in view of LASELVA (US 20240187927 A1).
In regards to claim(s) 6 and 19, SONY in view of YI in view of LG is silent on the method according to claim 1, wherein the triggering of the PHR is performed when the data volume exceeds threshold. However, SONY does teach where triggering the indication of the subsequent SDT is responsive to there being a volume of data requiring subsequent SDT (See [Section 2.1, Subsequent Transmission] “For SDT DRBs: if new data arrives, majority of companies seem to agree that a BSR can be triggered (using the existing LCG multiplexing rules and BSR triggering principles – a few companies mentioned preference that these triggers should not change and this seems feasible). This seems agreeable and we can have a proposal for this…We support that the indication from the UE to the network could be in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer...Proposal 1: The indication for subsequent data is in the form of a BSR for SDT bearer.”). SONY is silent on wherein the indication/indicator comprises a PHR. However, regarding a PHR, and providing the PHR as indication of a subsequent SDT, similar features have been seen in other prior art involving SDT. LG (LG Electronics, “Report of [AT113bis-e][501][SDT] UP SDT open issues”, R2-2104395, 3GPP TSG-RAN2 #113bis-e Electronic Meeting, April 12 – April 20, 2021, cited in IDS received November 11, 2023) teaches in [Section 3.7 PHR, Page(s) 12-13] a feature for SDT where a power headroom report indicates a subsequent SDT transmission., where the PHR is provided to a network node.
Thus based upon the teachings of LG, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify SONY in view of YI’s feature for performing a subsequent SDT, by providing a power headroom report (PHR) when a subsequent SDT is necessary as suggested by LG, to arrive at triggering the indication of the subsequent SDT is responsive to there being a volume of data requiring subsequent SDT, in order to provide information necessary for uplink power control during a subsequent SDT.
The combined teachings of SONY in view of YI in view of LG differ from claim 6, in that the combined teachings are silent on triggering of the PHR when the data volume exceeds a threshold.
However, similar features have been seen with respect to small data transmission (SDT).
LASELVA (US 20240187927 A1) teaches triggering an initial and/or subsequent SDT based on a data volume exceeding a threshold, (“[0115] In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, the network element 170 can configure a user equipment 110 so that there is a data volume range definition for each SDT type such as CG-SDT, 2-step RA-SDT and 4-step RA SDT which in one example influences the SDT type selection e.g. as follows. It is assumed that there is a first data volume range definition for CG-SDT comprising at least a first minimum data volume threshold MinThr_CG-SDT, a second data volume range definition for 2-step RA-SDT comprising at least a second minimum data volume threshold MinThr_2stepRA-SDT, and a third data volume range definition for 4-step RA SDT comprising at least a third minimum data volume threshold MinThr_4stepRA-SDT. It is also assumed that the first minimum data volume threshold MinThr_CG-SDT is smaller than the second minimum data volume threshold MinThr_2stepRA-SDT. If a situation occurs in which the volume of the data is less than the first minimum data volume threshold MinThr_CG-SDT then the user equipment waits and collects more data. On the other hand, if the volume of the data is not less than the first minimum data volume threshold MinThr_CG-SDT but is less than the second minimum data volume threshold MinThr_2stepRA-SDT, then the user equipment 110 selects the CG-SDT method. If the volume of the data is not less than the first minimum data volume threshold MinThr_CG-SDT and is not less than the second minimum data volume threshold MinThr_2stepRA-SDT, then the user equipment 110 selects the RA-SDT method. It should be noted here that the above procedure assumes that other possible validity conditions are also met…[0118] In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, the user equipment 110 may operate as follows when uplink (UL) data belonging to a SDT DRB or a SDT SRB becomes available for transmission, but the data volume is either less than the minimum data volume threshold 126 or greater than the maximum data volume threshold 129 i.e. is not in the configured range, the user equipment 110 may initiate a regular RRC Resume procedure instead of SDT procedure. This might motivate UE implementations to arrange data transmissions so that SDT could be used according to the network configured data volume range. [0119] The network element 170 may not configure the maximum data volume threshold for the user equipment 110 but only the minimum data volume threshold for SDT and/or for SDT data radio bearer(s) and/or for signalling radio bearer(s) (SRB(s). In such a case the network element 170 can then abort the SDT procedure based on its own logic. For example, the network element 170 can e.g. bring the UE to RRC connected state or release the UE to RRC IDLE/INACTIVE. This can be used, for example, for enabling subsequent SDT transmissions within the same SDT procedure.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of LASELVA it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the SDT feature of SONY in view of YI in view of LG, by taking into account data volume threshold when triggering a SDT (i.e. subsequent SDT) as similarly seen in LASELVA, to thus arrive at the method according to claim 1, wherein the triggering of the PHR is performed when the data volume exceeds threshold., in order to enhance the efficiency of the SDT feature of SONY.
Conclusion
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/TARELL A HAMPTON/ Examiner, Art Unit 2476 /AYAZ R SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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