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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 11/22/2023.
Claims 1-14, 17-26, 29-30, 32-35 and 37-47 are currently pending.
Claims 1-8, 13-14, 17-22, 25-26, 29-30, 32-35 and 37-47 are rejected.
Claims 9-12 and 23-24 are objected to
Claims 1, 34-35 and 37 are independent claims.
- Claim Objection
6. Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the IAB node” in line 4 should be “an IAB node”. Appropriate correction is required.
7. Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: “a IAB node” in line 3 should be “an IAB node”; “a egress backhaul RLC channel identifier” in line 16 should be “an egress backhaul RLC channel identifier”. Appropriate correction is required.
8. Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: “-----------updating” in line 19 should be “updating”. Appropriate correction is required.
9. Claim 23 is objected to because of the following informalities: “a IAB node” in line 7 should be “an IAB node”. Appropriate correction is required.
10. Claim 34 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the IAB node” in line 4 should be “an IAB node”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
11. Claims 13 and 25 are 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.
12. Claim 13 recites the limitation "the local available buffer size" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
13. Claim 25 recites the limitation "the local available buffer size" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
14. 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 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.
15. 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 of this title, 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.
16. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
17. Claims 1-8, 13-14, 17-22, 25-26, 29-30, 32-35 and 37-47 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuanping Zhu et al. (US 2024/0080262 A1), hereinafter Zhu, in view of Milos TESANOVIC (US 2021/0297198 A1), hereinafter TESANOVIC.
For claim 1, Zhu teaches a method for processing a flow control feedback in an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, network comprising a plurality of IAB nodes, each IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes configured to deliver data received over an ingress link to an egress link for transmission (Zhu, Figs. 3, 6 and paragraphs 7, 202.), the method, at the IAB node, comprising:
receiving, from another IAB node over an egress backhaul link between the IAB node and the another IAB node, a flow control feedback comprising link identification information (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraphs 202);
determining at least one ingress backhaul link for use in forwarding the flow control feedback (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraphs 202, 208.);
transmitting the flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraph 202).
Zhu does not explicitly teach updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide an updated flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback; transmitting the updated flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link.
However, TESANOVIC explicitly teaches updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node (TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Zhu with updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node taught in TESANOVIC to have updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide an updated flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback; transmitting the updated flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link. Because both Zhu and TESANOVIC teach data transmission in IAB system. TESANOVIC explicitly teaches updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node to improve the transmission efficiency.
For claim 2, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 1, wherein determining at least one ingress backhaul link comprises determining, based on the link identification information, at least one ingress backhaul link for use in forwarding the flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.).
For claim 3, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 1 wherein the link identification information includes a backhaul RLC channel identifier for identifying a backhaul RLC channel of the egress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.).
For claim 4, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 3, wherein the IAB node is configured with backhaul RLC channel mapping configuration information for mapping backhaul RLC channel identifiers from egress to ingress backhaul links,
wherein determining at least one ingress backhaul link comprises determining, based on the backhaul RLC channel identifier for the egress backhaul link and the backhaul RLC channel mapping configuration information, the at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraph 170.).
For claim 5, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 4, further comprising:
for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, determining a backhaul RLC channel identifier for a backhaul RLC channel of the ingress backhaul link associated with the backhaul RLC channel identifier for the egress backhaul link using the backhaul RLC channel mapping configuration information (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.), wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link comprises: updating the link identification information of the flow control feedback to replace the backhaul RLC channel identifier for identifying a backhaul RLC channel of the egress backhaul link in the flow control feedback with the backhaul RLC channel identifier for the backhaul RLC channel of the ingress backhaul link to provide the updated flow control feedback for transmission over the ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 6, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 4, further comprising:
for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, determining, at least one additional backhaul RLC channel of the ingress backhaul link not associated with the backhaul RLC channel of the egress backhaul link using the backhaul RLC channel mapping configuration information (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraph 170.); for each of the at least one additional backhaul RLC channel, determining the backhaul RLC channel identifier of the additional backhaul RLC channel and status information for the additional backhaul RLC channel (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.), wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link comprises: updating the flow control feedback to include the backhaul RLC channel identifier and status information for the at least one additional backhaul RLC channel (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 7, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 3, wherein the link identification information includes a first backhaul RLC channel identifier for a first backhaul RLC channel of the egress backhaul link and a second backhaul RLC channel identifier for a second backhaul RLC channel of the egress backhaul link and wherein the flow control feedback further comprises first status information for the first backhaul RLC channel and second status information for the second backhaul RLC channel, wherein determining at least one ingress backhaul link comprises determining, based on the first backhaul RLC channel identifier, a first ingress backhaul link and determining, based on the second backhaul RLC channel identifier, a second ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.),
wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link comprises:
updating information included in the flow control feedback for the first ingress backhaul link by removing the second backhaul RLC channel identifier and second status information for the second backhaul RLC channel to provide a first updated flow control feedback for the first ingress backhaul link, wherein transmitting the updated flow control feedback comprises transmitting the first updated flow control feedback over the first ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 8, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 7, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link further comprises:
updating information included in the flow control feedback for the second ingress backhaul link by removing the first backhaul RLC channel identifier and first status information for the first backhaul RLC channel to provide a second updated flow control feedback for the second ingress backhaul link; wherein transmitting the updated flow control feedback comprises transmitting the second updated flow control feedback over the second ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 13, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 3, wherein the flow control feedback further comprises status information including available buffer size for the backhaul RLC channel identified by the backhaul RLC channel identifier in the link identification information of the flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.), the method further comprising:
determining the local available buffer size of at least one buffer at the IAB node, the at least one buffer being associated with the backhaul RLC channel identified by the backhaul RLC channel identifier in the flow control feedback;
comparing the local available buffer size of the buffer at the IAB node with the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback; when the local available buffer size is less than the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback, updating information included in the flow control feedback by updating the status information to include the local available buffer size to provide the updated flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 204-205, 256. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 14, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 13, wherein updating the status information includes:
replacing the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback with the local available buffer size; or replacing the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback with the local available buffer size and adding an update indicator to indicate that the available buffer size has been replaced with the local available buffer size; or appending the local available buffer size to the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 204-205, 256. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
(Zhu, Fig. and paragraph teach.).
For claim 17, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 1, wherein the link identification information includes a routing identifier for identifying a routing path for routing data in the IAB network to a destination IAB node (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 202-205.).
For claim 18, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 17, further comprising providing mapping information for mapping at least one routing identifier to at least one ingress backhaul link, wherein determining at least one ingress backhaul link comprises determining, based on the routing identifier and the mapping information, the at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraph 170.).
For claim 19, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 17, wherein the routing identifier is a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol, BAP, routing identifier including a path identifier for identifying a routing path for routing data in the IAB network to a destination IAB node, and an address of the destination IAB node (Zhu, Fig. 5 and paragraphs 190, 202.).
For claim 20, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of any one of claims 17, wherein the link identification information includes a first routing identifier for a first routing path and a second routing identifier for a second routing path and wherein the flow control feedback further comprises first status information associated with the first routing identifier and second status information associated with the second routing identifier, wherein determining at least one ingress backhaul link comprises determining, based on the first routing identifier, a first ingress backhaul link and determining, based on the second routing identifier, a second ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.),
wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link comprises:
updating information included in the flow control feedback for the first ingress backhaul link by removing the second routing identifier and second status information to provide a first updated flow control feedback for the first ingress backhaul link, wherein transmitting the updated flow control feedback comprises transmitting the first updated flow control feedback over the first ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 21, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 20, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link further comprises: updating information included in the flow control feedback for the second ingress backhaul link by removing the first routing identifier and first status information to provide a second updated flow control feedback for the second ingress backhaul link; wherein transmitting the updated flow control feedback comprises transmitting the second updated flow control feedback over the second ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 22, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 17, further comprising:
for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, determining at least one additional routing identifier for an additional routing path associated with the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, the at least one additional routing identifier not being included in the link identification information of the received flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraph 170.); for each of the at least one additional routing identifier, determining status information associated with the additional routing path,
wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link comprises:
updating the flow control feedback to include the at least one additional routing identifier and status information associated with the at least one additional routing path (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 25, Zhu and Shah further the method of claim 17, wherein the flow control feedback further comprises status information including available buffer size associated with the routing identifier in the link identification information of the flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.), the method further comprising:
determining the local available buffer size of at least one buffer at the IAB node, the at least one buffer being associated with the routing identifier in the link identification information of the flow control feedback; comparing the local available buffer size of the buffer at the IAB node with the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback; when the local available buffer size is less than the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback, updating information included in the flow control feedback by updating the status information to include the local available buffer size to provide the updated flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 204-205, 256. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 26, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 25, wherein updating the status information includes:
replacing the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback with the local available buffer size; or replacing the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback with the local available buffer size and adding an update indicator to indicate that the available buffer size has been replaced with the local available buffer size; or appending the local available buffer size to the available buffer size included in the status information of the flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 204-205, 256. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 29, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 1, further comprising: determining the received flow control feedback is to be forwarded (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraphs 202, 208.).
For claim 30, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 29, wherein determining the received flow control feedback is to be forwarded comprises at least one of: determining that the received flow control feedback indicates congestion; or determining that the received flow control feedback indicates congestion and in response to determining that no corrective action for the congestion can be performed by the IAB node (Zhu, Figs. 5, 6. and paragraphs 18, 28, 120.).
For claim 32, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 1, wherein updating the link identification information includes replacing or removing the link identification information in the flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 33, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 3, wherein updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information of the flow control feedback by replacing the backhaul RLC channel identifier for identifying the backhaul RLC channel of the egress backhaul link in the flow control feedback with a backhaul RLC channel identifier for a backhaul RLC channel of the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide the updated flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 34, Zhu teaches a method for processing a flow control feedback in an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, network comprising a plurality of IAB nodes, each IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes configured to deliver data received over an ingress link to an egress link for transmission (Zhu, Figs. 3, 6 and paragraphs 7, 202.), the method, at the IAB node, comprising:
receiving, from another IAB node over an egress backhaul link between the IAB node and the another IAB node, a flow control feedback comprising a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol, BAP, routing identifier including a path identifier for identifying a routing path for routing data in the IAB network to a destination IAB node, and an address of the destination IAB node (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraphs 202);
determining, based on the BAP routing identifier, at least one ingress backhaul link for use in forwarding the flow control feedback (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraphs 202, 208.);
transmitting the flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraph 202).
Zhu does not explicitly teach updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide an updated flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback; transmitting the updated flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link.
However, TESANOVIC explicitly teaches updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node (TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Zhu with updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node taught in TESANOVIC to have updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide an updated flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback; transmitting the updated flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link. Because both Zhu and TESANOVIC teach data transmission in IAB system. TESANOVIC explicitly teaches updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node to improve the transmission efficiency.
For claim 35, Zhu teaches an apparatus for an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, node for an IAB network (Zhu, Figs. 6, 10.), the apparatus comprising: at least one processor (Zhu, Fig. 10 item 220) configured to:
receive, from another IAB node over an egress backhaul link between the IAB node and the another IAB node, a flow control feedback comprising link identification information (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraphs 202);
determine at least one ingress backhaul link for use in forwarding the flow control feedback (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraphs 202, 208.);
transmit the flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraph 202).
Zhu does not explicitly teach updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide an updated flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback; transmitting the updated flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link.
However, TESANOVIC explicitly teaches updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node (TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Zhu with updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node taught in TESANOVIC to have updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide an updated flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback; transmitting the updated flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link. Because both Zhu and TESANOVIC teach data transmission in IAB system. TESANOVIC explicitly teaches updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node to improve the transmission efficiency.
For claim 37, Zhu teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying a computer program comprising instructions which, when the computer program is executed by at least one processor of an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, node (Zhu, Fig. 10 item 230.), cause the at least one processor to:
receive, from another IAB node over an egress backhaul link between the IAB node and the another IAB node, a flow control feedback comprising link identification information (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraphs 202);
determine at least one ingress backhaul link for use in forwarding the flow control feedback (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraphs 202, 208.);
transmit the flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Fig. 6 and paragraph 202).
Zhu does not explicitly teach updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide an updated flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback; transmitting the updated flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link.
However, TESANOVIC explicitly teaches updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node (TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught in Zhu with updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node taught in TESANOVIC to have updating information included in the flow control feedback for at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide an updated flow control feedback for the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link, wherein updating information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback; transmitting the updated flow control feedback over the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link. Because both Zhu and TESANOVIC teach data transmission in IAB system. TESANOVIC explicitly teaches updating information received from one IAB node and transmitting the updated information to another IAB node to improve the transmission efficiency.
For claim 38, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 17, wherein updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback includes removing one or more routing identifiers not associated with the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124, 170. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 39, Zhu and Shah further teach the method of claim 34, wherein updating the BAP routing identifier information includes removing one or more BAP routing identifiers not associated with the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124, 170. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 40, Zhu and Shah further teach the apparatus of claim 35, wherein determining at least one ingress backhaul link comprises determining, based on the link identification information, at least one ingress backhaul link for use in forwarding the flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.).
For claim 41, Zhu and Shah further teach the apparatus of claim 35, wherein the link identification information includes a backhaul RLC channel identifier for identifying a backhaul RLC channel of the egress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.).
For claim 42, Zhu and Shah further teach the apparatus of claim 35, wherein updating the link identification information includes replacing or removing the link identification information in the flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 43, Zhu and Shah further teach the apparatus of claim 41, wherein updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback includes updating the link identification information of the flow control feedback by replacing the backhaul RLC channel identifier for identifying the backhaul RLC channel of the egress backhaul link in the flow control feedback with a backhaul RLC channel identifier for a backhaul RLC channel of the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link to provide the updated flow control feedback (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124.).
For claim 44, Zhu and Shah further teach the apparatus of claim 35, wherein the link identification information includes a routing identifier for identifying a routing path for routing data in the IAB network to a destination IAB node (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 202-205.).
For claim 45, Zhu and Shah further teach the apparatus of claim 44, wherein the routing identifier is a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol, BAP, routing identifier including a path identifier for identifying a routing path for routing data in the IAB network to a destination IAB node, and an address of the destination IAB node (Zhu, Fig. 5 and paragraphs 190, 202.).
For claim 46, Zhu and Shah further teach the apparatus of claim 44, wherein updating the link identification information included in the flow control feedback includes removing one or more routing identifiers not associated with the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124, 170. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
For claim 47, Zhu and Shah further teach the apparatus of claim 45, wherein updating the BAP routing identifier information includes removing one or more BAP routing identifiers not associated with the at least one of the determined at least one ingress backhaul link (Zhu, Figs. 5-6 and paragraphs 120, 124, 170. TESANOVIC, Fig. 2 and paragraphs 10, 20, 46.).
Allowable Subject Matter
18. Claims 9-12 and 23-24 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
19. Claims 9-12 and 23-24 are considered allowable because the prior art does not teach limitations including:
"wherein the IAB node is configured with a backhaul RLC channel mapping configuration table including at least one entry, each entry having a next hop address field for a next hop address of an IAB node that is next to the IAB node in a routing path for data, a prior hop address field for a prior hop address of a prior hop IAB node that is prior to the IAB node in the routing path for data, an ingress backhaul RLC channel identifier field for the backhaul RLC channel identifier of a backhaul RLC channel of an ingress backhaul link between the IAB node and the prior hop IAB node and an egress backhaul RLC channel identifier field for a backhaul RLC channel identifier of a backhaul RLC channel for an egress backhaul link between the IAB node and the next hop IAB node, wherein determining at least one ingress backhaul link comprises: identifying a backhaul RLC channel identifier in the flow control feedback; checking each entry in the backhaul RLC channel mapping configuration table to determine whether the identified backhaul RLC channel identifier in the flow control feedback matches a egress backhaul RLC channel identifier in the egress backhaul RLC channel identifier field of an entry and whether an address of the another IAB node matches a next hop address in the next hop address field of the entry; when the identified backhaul RLC channel identifier in the flow control feedback matches the egress backhaul RLC channel identifier in the egress backhaul RLC channel identifier field of an entry and the address of the another IAB node matches the next hop address in the next hop address field of the entry, identifying a matched entry; for each matched entry, using the prior hop address in the prior hop address field of the matched entry to identify an IAB node as a prior hop IAB node having the prior hop address and determining a backhaul link between the prior hop IAB node and the IAB node as an ingress backhaul link for use in forwarding the flow control feedback" in dependent claim 9.
"wherein the routing identifier is a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol, BAP, routing identifier including a path identifier for identifying a routing path for routing data in the IAB network to a destination IAB node, and an address of the destination IAB node, wherein the mapping information comprises a mapping table including at least one entry, each entry having a BAP routing identifier field for a BAP routing identifier and a prior hop address field for an address of a IAB node that is prior to the IAB node in the routing path identified by the BAP routing identifier, wherein determining at least one ingress backhaul link comprises: identifying a BAP routing identifier in the flow control feedback;
checking each entry in the mapping table to determine whether the identified BAP routing identifier in the flow control feedback matches the BAP routing identifier in the BAP routing identifier field; when the identified BAP routing identifier in the flow control feedback matches the BAP routing identifier in the BAP routing identifier field of an entry, identifying a matched entry; for each matched entry, using the address in the prior hop address field of the entry to identify an IAB node as a prior hop IAB node and determining a backhaul link between the prior hop IAB node and the IAB node as an ingress backhaul link for use in forwarding the flow control feedback" in dependent claim 23.
Claim 10 is allowable because it depends from claim 9.
Claim 11 is allowable because it depends from claim 10.
Claim 12 is allowable because it depends from claim 9.
Claim 24 is allowable because it depends from claim 23.
Conclusion
20. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILL W LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-8749. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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/WILL W LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412