DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present U.S. non-provisional application is being examined under the first-inventor-to-file provisions of the AIA . The present U.S. non-provisional application, filed on November 21, 2023, is the U.S. national stage of an international PCT application, filed on May 27, 2022, and claims priority to a foreign application, filed on May 27, 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 3, 2026 was filed after the mailing date of a first Office action in the present U.S. non-provisional application, in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
This Office action is responsive to the amendment and arguments on April 3, 2026. Claims 1, 14, 16, 21, 22, 24, 30, 32, 34-37, 41, 44, 46, 47, 49 and 52 were amended. Claims 15, 31, 42 and 50 were canceled. Claims 54 and 55 were added. Claims 1-3, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 24-26, 30, 32-41, 43-49 and 51-55 are pending for consideration in the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Response to Arguments
The arguments (pages 11-16) directed to the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been considered. The arguments are directed to the amendment, but considered as not sufficient to overcome the rejections. The arguments indicate that Yi does not describe the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link because Yi at paragraph [0076] describes congestion status information that includes a backhaul RLC channel ID, a routing ID, and/or a link ID and a content of a corresponding congestion reporting message. However, Yi at Id. provides sufficient prior art disclosure and suggestions for the notification via description of a congestion reporting message (i.e. the notification) including congestion status information such as a backhaul RLC channel ID. Accordingly, the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 are maintained.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 33 and 53 would be considered as allowable if rewritten into independent form to include all of the limitations of the respective base claim and any intervening claims. The claimed invention is neither anticipated by the prior art of record, nor considered as obvious in view thereof to a person having ordinary skill in the art.
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 1-3, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 24-26, 30, 32, 34-41, 43-49, 51, 52, 54 and 55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Byun et al. (US 2021/0235291 A1) in view of Yi et al. (US 2023/0345344 A1).
1. A method at an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, node of an IAB network, the IAB network including a donor Central Unit, CU, the method (Byun, FIG. 13) comprising:
after detecting a link issue, the detected link issue being congestion affecting transmission of data over a backhaul link, sending a notification to the donor CU, wherein the notification includes link identification information identifying the backhaul link and link issue information indicating the detected link issue is congestion (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], “…In step S1331, upon receiving the feedback indication message from the IAB-node 1, the IAB-donor-DU transmits and/or forwards the received feedback indication message including the link congestion indication and/or link blockage indication to the IAB-donor-CU. The feedback indication may be included in the Initial UL RRC Message Transfer message. The feedback indication message may further include ID and/or IP address of at least one of the IAB-node 1 and/or IAB-node 2, in order to notify the IAB-donor-CU that link congestion and/or blockage occurs between the IAB-node 1 and IAB-node 2.”), wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], “In at least one embodiment, in the list of congestion status information, one piece of congestion status information may include: a BH RLC channel ID/or a routing ID/or a link ID and a content of a corresponding congestion reporting message. A congestion reporting message may include congestion report information being of different granularities. It should be noted that a BH RLC channel ID is unique for each link, hence, the BH RLC channel ID mentioned in this application actually refers to a combination of a link ID and a BH RLC channel ID, such as link ID+BH RLC channel ID…”)
Byun et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Yi et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Yi et al. are for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance (Yi, paras. [0057], [0062], “According to the embodiment of the first aspect of this disclosure, the IAB transmits the congestion reporting message indicating the load status of the communication link to the IAB-donor CU, thereby enabling the IAB-donor CU to execute a congestion alleviation method based on a control plane (CP). For example, the IAB-donor CU is able to perform routing reconfiguration, and/or backhaul radio link control (BH RLC) channel re-mapping, and/or resource reallocation, etc., according to the congestion message, thereby alleviating long-term data congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performances…”) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the link issue information includes information indicating the cause of the detected link issue or information indicating a type of the cause of the detected link issue (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.)
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the type of the cause of the detected link issue is one of a long-term cause or a short-term cause (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.)
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the link issue information relating to the detected link issue further includes at least one of: information indicating a nature of the detected link issue; information identifying a type of the detected link issue; information indicating the link quality of the backhaul link; link issue time information indicating a time between detecting the link issue and sending the notification (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.)
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request from the donor CU for link information, wherein sending comprises sending the notification in response to the received request (Yi, paras. [0082], [0101], “FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of triggering, by the IAB-donor CU 6 via the polling/request information, the IAB-node 3 to transmit the congestion reporting message. As shown in FIG. 6, in operation 601, the IAB-donor CU 6 transmits the polling/request information to the DU of the IAB-node 3, a name of the polling/request information being, for example, CONGESTION REPORT POLLING or CONGESTION REPORT REQUEST; in operation 602, the DU of the IAB-node 3 generates a congestion reporting message according to the granularity of the polling/request information, and/or the BH RLC channel ID, and/or the routing ID, and/or the link ID, and transmits the congestion reporting message to the IAB-node CU 6…”)
17. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a link issue for transmission of data over the backhaul link, wherein detecting a link issue comprises at least one of: monitoring a load of a buffer of the IAB node, the buffer being associated with the backhaul link, and when the load exceeds a congestion threshold, detecting congestion at the buffer, wherein the detected link issue is congestion for transmitting data over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0057], [0062], Id.); receiving a flow control feedback message associated with the backhaul link and determining from the flow control feedback message congestion over the backhaul link, wherein the detected link issue is congestion for transmitting data over the backhaul link (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.)
21. The method of claim 1, wherein the IAB node comprises a Distributed Unit, DU, and wherein sending the notification to the donor CU are performed by the DU of the IAB node (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.)
22. The method of claim 21, wherein sending comprises sending, by the DU of the IAB node, the notification in a F1 Application Protocol, F1-AP, layer message (Yi, paras. [0082], [0101], “…For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the DU of the IAB-node 3 receives the congestion reporting requests for the uplink and downlink from the IAB-donor CU 6 via the F1AP signaling, and the DU of the IAB-node 3 may transmit the congestion reporting message to the IAB-donor CU 6 via the F1AP signaling; in addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the DU of the IAB-node 3 receives the congestion reporting configurations for the uplink and downlink via the F1AP signaling, and transmits the configuration acknowledgement information via the F1AP signaling.” Id.)
24. A method at a donor Central Unit, CU, of an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, network, the IAB network including a plurality of IAB nodes, the method (Byun, FIG. 13, Id.) comprising:
receiving, from an IAB node, a notification, wherein the notification includes link issue information relating to a detected link issue for transmission of data over a backhaul link of the IAB network and link information identifying the backhaul link, wherein the link issue information indicates the detected link issue is congestion (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.), wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id.);
identifying, based on the received notification, congestion at the one or more RLC channels over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id. cf. Claim 1).
Byun et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Yi et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Yi et al. are for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance (Yi, paras. [0057], [0062], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the link issue information includes information indicating the cause of the detected link issue or information indicating a type of the cause of the detected link issue (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id. cf. Claim 2).
26. The method of claim 25, wherein the type of the cause of the detected link issue is one of a long-term cause or a short-term cause (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id. cf. Claim 3).
30. The method of claim 24, wherein the link issue information further includes at least one of: information indicating a nature of the detected link issue; information identifying a type of the detected link issue; information indicating the link quality of the backhaul link; link issue time information indicating a time between detecting the link issue and sending the notification (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id. cf. Claim 14).
32. The method of claim 24, wherein receiving the notification, comprises: receiving, from a Distributed Unit, DU, of the IAB node, the notification in a F1 Application Protocol, F1-AP, layer message (Yi, paras. [0082], [0101], Id. cf. Claim 22).
34. An apparatus for an Integrated access and backhaul, IAB, node for an IAB network, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors (Byun, FIG. 2) configured to:
after detecting a link issue, the detected link issue being congestion affecting transmission of data over a backhaul link, send a notification to a donor Central Unit, CU, of the IAB network, wherein the notification includes link identification information identifying the backhaul link and link issue information indicating the detected link issue is congestion (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.), wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id. cf. Claim 1).
Byun et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Yi et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Yi et al. are for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance (Yi, paras. [0057], [0062], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance.
35. An apparatus for a donor Central Unit, CU, for an integrated access and backhaul, IAB, network comprising a plurality of IAB nodes, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors (Byun, FIG. 2, Id.) configured to:
receive, from an IAB node, a notification, wherein the notification includes link issue information relating to a detected link issue for transmission of data over a backhaul link of the IAB network and link information identifying the backhaul link, wherein the link issue information indicates the detected link issue is congestion (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.), wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id.);
identify, based on the received notification, congestion at the one or more RLC channels over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id. cf. Claim 1).
Byun et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Yi et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Yi et al. are for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance (Yi, paras. [0057], [0062], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance.
36. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by one or more processors of an Integrated access and backhaul, IAB, node for an IAB network, cause the one or more processors (Byun, FIG. 2, Id.) to:
after detecting a link issue, the detected link issue being congestion affecting transmission of data over a backhaul link, send a notification to a donor Central Unit, CU, of the IAB network, wherein the notification includes link identification information identifying the backhaul link and link issue information indicating the detected link issue is congestion (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.), wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id. cf. Claim 1).
Byun et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Yi et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Yi et al. are for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance (Yi, paras. [0057], [0062], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance.
37. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by one or more processors of a donor Central Unit, CU, for an integrated access and backhaul, IAB, network, cause the one or more processors (Byun, FIG. 2, Id.) to:
receive, from an IAB node, a notification, wherein the notification includes link issue information relating to a detected link issue for transmission of data over a backhaul link of the IAB network and link information identifying the backhaul link, wherein the link issue information indicates the detected link issue is congestion (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id.), wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id.);
identify, based on the received notification, congestion at the one or more RLC channels over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id. cf. Claim 1).
Byun et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Yi et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as wherein the notification includes RLC channel identifier information identifying one or more RLC channels associated with the congestion over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Yi et al. are for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance (Yi, paras. [0057], [0062], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of alleviating long-term congestion, reducing data loss, and optimizing network performance.
38. The method of claim 1, wherein the link information identifying the backhaul link is a BAP address of an IAB node of the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], “…Table 1 is an example of a format of the congestion information IE in the congestion reporting message. ‘O’ in Presence indicates that it is optional, for example, ‘O’ indicates a granularity of each item in the list of the convergence information IE or that only one content needs to be selected. In Table 1, a link ID is not directly used, but is instead replaced with a prior-hop BAP address or a next-hop BAP address.” Id.)
39. The method of claim 24, wherein the link information identifying the backhaul link is a BAP address of an IAB node of the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id. cf. Claim 38).
40. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the link issue information includes information indicating the cause of the detected link issue or information indicating a type of the cause of the detected link issue (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id. cf. Claim 2).
41. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the link issue information relating to the detected link issue further includes at least one of: information indicating a nature of the detected link issue; information identifying a type of the detected link issue; information indicating the link quality of the backhaul link; link issue time information indicating a time between detecting the link issue and sending the notification (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id. cf. Claim 14).
43. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the link information identifying the backhaul link is a BAP address of an IAB node of the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id. cf. Claim 38).
44. The apparatus of claim 34, the one or more processors are further configured to receive a request from the donor CU for link information, wherein the one or more processors are configured to send the notification by sending the notification in response to the received request (Yi, paras. [0082], [0101], Id. cf. Claim 16).
45. The apparatus of claim 34, the one or more processors are further configured to detect a link issue for transmission of data over the backhaul link, wherein the one or more processors are configured to detect a link issue by at least one of: monitoring a load of a buffer of the IAB node, the buffer being associated with the backhaul link, and when the load exceeds a congestion threshold, detecting congestion at the buffer, wherein the detected link issue is congestion for transmitting data over the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0057], [0062], Id.); receiving a flow control feedback message associated with the backhaul link and determining from the flow control feedback message congestion over the backhaul link, wherein the detected link issue is congestion for transmitting data over the backhaul link (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id. cf. Claim 17).
46. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the IAB node comprises a Distributed Unit, DU, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to send the notification to the donor CU by the DU of the IAB node (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id. cf. Claim 21).
47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the one or more processors are configured to send, by the DU of the IAB node, the notification in a F1 Application Protocol, F1-AP, layer message (Yi, paras. [0082], [0101], Id. cf. Claim 22).
48. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the link issue information includes information indicating the cause of the detected link issue or information indicating a type of the cause of the detected link issue (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id. cf. Claim 2).
49. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the link issue information further includes at least one of: information indicating a nature of the detected link issue; information identifying a type of the detected link issue; information indicating the link quality of the backhaul link; link issue time information indicating a time between detecting the link issue and sending the notification (Byun, paras. [0162], [0163], Id. cf. Claim 14).
51. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the link information identifying the backhaul link is a BAP address of an IAB node of the backhaul link (Yi, paras. [0076], [0077], Id. cf. Claim 38).
52. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the notification from a Distributed Unit, DU, of the IAB node, in a F1 Application Protocol, F1-AP, layer message (Yi, paras. [0082], [0101], Id. cf. Claim 22).
54. The method of claim 24, further comprising: after determining reconfiguration is required based on the received notification, sending reconfiguration information for reconfiguring routing configuration for all or some of the plurality of IAB nodes (Byun, paras. [0163], [0169], “…If the different/new path is found/selected, the IAB-donor-CU(-CP) may transmit routing information related to sending the DL user data/DL data traffic to the IAB-donor-DU and IAB-node(s) on routing path which the DL user data/DL data traffic is delivered…”)
55. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising: after determining reconfiguration is required based on the received notification, sending reconfiguration information for reconfiguring routing configuration for all or some of the plurality of IAB nodes (Byun, paras. [0163], [0169], Id. cf. Claim 54).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record (PTO-1449, PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the subject matter of the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Xu et al. (US 2024/0179597 A1) provides prior art disclosure considered as relevant to the subject matter of the claimed invention (Xu, Abstract, “An electronic device, a wireless communication method, and a computer readable storage medium are provided. The electronic device comprises a processing circuit configured to: determine whether uplink transmission of an IAB node satisfies a long-term congestion condition; when it is determined that the long-term congestion condition is satisfied, send an offloading request to an IAB donor node; and perform data offloading of an egress link of the uplink transmission of the IAB node according to offloading license information from the IAB donor node. According to at least one aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the uplink transmission of the IAB node satisfies the long-term congestion condition, the data offloading of the egress link of the uplink transmission of the IAB node can be performed, so as to improve the backhaul capability of the IAB node, thereby solving the long-term congestion problem of the IAB node.”)
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Timothy J. Weidner whose telephone number is (571) 270-1825. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz R. Sheikh can be reached on (571) 272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY J WEIDNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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