DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment, filed 18 May 2026, has been entered and carefully considered.
Claims 1, 4, 7, 9, 11, 16, 19, 22, 23, 26, 32, 34 and 35 are amended.
Claims 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13-15, 17, 18, 21, 24, 25, 27-31 and 33 are canceled.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 32, 34 and 35 are currently pending.
The outstanding rejection of Claims 9, 11, 16, 22, 26 and 35 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) is withdrawn in light of Applicant’s amendment to said claims.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 32, 34 and 35 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) is withdrawn in light of Applicant’s amendment to Claims 1, 16 and 19.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Interpretation
Independent claims 1, 16 and 19 recite the claim language (emphasis added by the Office) “the relevant information comprises at least one of the following: information related to a data volume of the first transmission data; information related to a signal quality of a measured reference signal; information related to the determined target transmission mode.” As such, the Office interprets this phrase to comprise an alternative limitation, where prior art teaching any of the respective information options (either alone or in combination with others) meets the claimed “relevant information.” As set forth in the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) herein, limitations in dependent claims that further limit an unselected option for the “relevant information” in the independent claims are not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation. The Office notes that Claims 4, 7 and 12 (and the corresponding apparatus claims) also recite similar alternative limitations and are interpreted in a consistent fashion to the independent claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 32, 34 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Laselva et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication 20230389117), hereinafter Laselva.
Regarding Claim 19, Laselva discloses a terminal device (Figure 9a), comprising
a memory, a transceiver and a processor (Figure 9a – the UE 10 comprises processor 12, transceiver 18 and memory 14);
wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program (paragraph 0077);
the transceiver is configured to transmit and receive data under a control of the processor (paragraphs 0078-0080);
the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory (paragraph 0078) and execute the following operations:
determining a target transmission mode of first transmission data according to SDT configuration information, wherein the SDT configuration information is configured by a network device (Figure 6a at step 602 and paragraph 0056 – the UE receives SDT configuration from the gNB; as shown at steps 606 and 616 and described in paragraph 0057, the UE determines the need to transmit in either SDT or non-SDT mode);
sending relevant information generated in a process of determining the target transmission mode for the first transmission data to the network device (Figure 6a and paragraphs 0056-0057 – the UE either sends a PRACH preamble and SDT payload (step 612) or a PRACH preamble and RRC resume request (at steps 618 and 622) for non-SDT transmission),
wherein the relevant information is used to adjust the SDT configuration information (Figure 6a and paragraph 0057 – after SDT transmission, the gNB sends RRC release w/ suspendconfig to the UE (step 614); alternatively, after the RRC resume request is sent to the gNB, the gNB transmits an RRC resume to allow the UE to transmit in non-SDT), and the relevant information comprises at least one of the following:
information related to a data volume of the first transmission data (paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”);
information related to a signal quality of a measured reference signal (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation); or,
information related to the determined target transmission mode (paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”);
wherein in a case that the determined target transmission mode is a non-SDT mode, the information related to the determined target transmission mode comprises:
a reason for adopting the non-SDT mode (paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”);
wherein the reason for adopting the non-SDT mode comprises at least one of the following:
the data volume of the first transmission data is greater than a preset data volume threshold (paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”; paragraphs 0041 and 0048 – the decision to perform SDT or non-SDT transmission is based on a data volume threshold);
a measured value of the signal quality of the reference signal is less than a first preset signal quality threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
a measured value of a signal quality of a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with a preconfigured resource is less than a second preset signal quality threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
information on transmission failure for transmitting the first transmission data using an SDT mode (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
a cumulative number of SDT exceeds a preset transmission number threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation); or,
a transmission mode conversion instruction is received, wherein the transmission mode conversion instruction is used to indicate a conversion to the non-SDT mode (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation).
Claim 1 is directed to a method comprising the same steps performed by the terminal device of Claim 19. Therefore, Claim 1 is rejected for the same reasons as presented above for Claim 19.
Regarding Claims 2 and 20, Laselva discloses storing the relevant information generated in the process of determining the target transmission mode for the first transmission data (paragraph 0077 – the UE comprises memory stores information and instructions for execution by the processor; paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”).
Regarding Claims 4 and 32, Laselva discloses wherein in a case that the determined target transmission mode is an SDT mode, the information related to the determined target transmission mode comprises at least one of the following:
timing advance timer (TAT) information (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
indication information of whether a valid preconfigured resource exists (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
information related to a signal quality of a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with a preconfigured resource (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
a transmission type for the SDT mode adopted, wherein the transmission type comprises one of an SDT mode based on a preconfigured resource and an SDT mode based on a random access (RA) resource (paragraph 0061 – the UE can send an RRC resume message indicating “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present,” or similarly “MO-SDT+Resume Request”) or;
a cumulative number of SDT (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation).
Regarding Claims 7 and 34, Laselva discloses wherein the information related to the data volume of the first transmission data comprises at least one or more of the following:
the data volume of the first transmission data (paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”), a preset data volume threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation), and a comparison result between the data volume of the first transmission data and the preset data volume threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
and/or, the information related to the signal quality of the measured reference signal (Note: further limitations to the “information related to the signal quality” correspond to a non-selected option in the independent claims; therefore, the following limitations are not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation) comprises at least one of the following: a measured value of the signal quality of the measured reference signal (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation), a first preset signal quality threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation), and a comparison result between the measured value and the first preset signal quality threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation).
Regarding Claims 9 and 35, Laselva anticipates Claims 7 and 34, as described above. As Claims 9 and 35 further limit a non-selected option from the alternative limitations in parent claims (“the signal quality of the reference signal”), these limitations are therefore not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation. Therefore, Laselva anticipates Claims 9 and 35 as well.
Regarding Claims 11 and 22, Laselva discloses storing the relevant information generated in the process of determining the target transmission mode for the first transmission data comprises: upon determining that multiple pieces of first transmission data exist, storing relevant information corresponding to the target transmission mode determined for each first transmission data respectively, wherein the relevant information is information generated in the process of determining the target transmission mode for the first transmission data (paragraph 0077 – the UE comprises memory stores information and instructions for execution by the processor; paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”).
Regarding Claims 12 and 23, Laselva discloses wherein sending the relevant information generated in the process of determining the target transmission mode for the first transmission data to the network device comprises at least one of the following: (i) generating an information report according to the relevant information generated in the process of determining the target transmission mode for the first transmission data, and sending the information report to the network device (paragraph 0061 – the UE may be configured (or act as specified) to indicate the presence of data belonging to a non-SDT-LCG via a (new) RRC message, and send such RRC message multiplexed with the UL data when initiating an SDT. According to other example embodiments, the (new) RRC message may extend the RRC resume request message and include an additional indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present,” or similarly “MO-SDT+Resume Request,” or the like. According to further example embodiments, the RRC message may include the UEs' UL data amounts for non-SDT DRBs and/or SDT DRBs) or,
(ii) writing the relevant information into a first report; or, in a case of obtaining the relevant information, generating identification information of the relevant information, and writing the identification information into a first report, wherein the identification information is used to obtain the relevant information corresponding to the identification information; sending the first report to the network device; wherein the first report comprises one or more of an RA report, a logged minimization of drive tests (MDT) measurement report, a connection establishment failure (CEF) report and a radio link failure RLF report (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation); or,
(iii) sending, according to preconfigured reporting information, the relevant information corresponding to the reporting information to the network device (paragraph 0061 – the UE may be configured (or act as specified) to indicate the presence of data belonging to a non-SDT-LCG via a (new) RRC message, and send such RRC message multiplexed with the UL data when initiating an SDT. According to other example embodiments, the (new) RRC message may extend the RRC resume request message and include an additional indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present,” or similarly “MO-SDT+Resume Request,” or the like. According to further example embodiments, the RRC message may include the UEs' UL data amounts for non-SDT DRBs and/or SDT DRBs); or,
(iv) sending, to the network device, a first dedicated signaling comprising indication information that the relevant information is available; receiving a second dedicated signaling that is used to request the relevant information sent by the network device; sending the relevant information to the network device in a third dedicated signaling (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation).
Regarding Claim 16, Laselva discloses a data transmission method, applied to a network device, comprising:
receiving relevant information sent by a terminal device, wherein the relevant information is generated by the terminal device in a process of determining a target transmission mode for first transmission data according to SDT configuration information (Figure 6a and paragraphs 0056-0057 – the UE either sends a PRACH preamble and SDT payload (step 612) or a PRACH preamble and RRC resume request (at steps 618 and 622) for non-SDT transmission to the gNB), wherein the relevant information is used to adjust the SDT configuration information (Figure 6a and paragraph 0057 – after SDT transmission, the gNB sends RRC release w/ suspendconfig to the UE (step 614); alternatively, after the RRC resume request is sent to the gNB, the gNB transmits an RRC resume to allow the UE to transmit in non-SDT), and the relevant information comprises at least one of the following:
information related to a data volume of the first transmission data (paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”);
information related to a signal quality of a measured reference signal (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation); or,
information related to the determined target transmission mode (paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”);
wherein in a case that the determined target transmission mode is a non-SDT mode, the information related to the determined target transmission mode comprises:
a reason for adopting the non-SDT mode (paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”);
wherein the reason for adopting the non-SDT mode comprises at least one of the following:
the data volume of the first transmission data is greater than a preset data volume threshold (paragraph 0061 – the RRC resume request message includes an indication that the cause of the transmission is “MO-SDT+non-SDT data present”; paragraphs 0041 and 0048 – the decision to perform SDT or non-SDT transmission is based on a data volume threshold);
a measured value of the signal quality of the reference signal is less than a first preset signal quality threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
a measured value of a signal quality of a synchronization signal block (SSB) associated with a preconfigured resource is less than a second preset signal quality threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
information on transmission failure for transmitting the first transmission data using an SDT mode (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation);
a cumulative number of SDT exceeds a preset transmission number threshold (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation); or,
a transmission mode conversion instruction is received, wherein the transmission mode conversion instruction is used to indicate a conversion to the non-SDT mode (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation).
Regarding Claim 26, Laselva discloses a network device (Figure 9b – gNB 20), comprising a memory (Figure 9b – memory 24), a transceiver (Figure 9b – transceiver 28) and a processor (Figure 9b – processor 22); wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program (paragraph 0091); the transceiver is configured to transmit and receive data under a control of the processor (paragraphs 0089-0090); the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory (paragraph 0091) and execute the method according to claim 16 (refer to the rejection of Claim 16 above).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Agiwal (United States Pre-Grant Publication 20220022266) discloses the UE determining whether to operate in SDT or non-SDT mode (Figure 10) and sending an RRC Resume Request with a cause value specified (refer to paragraphs 0302-0310).
Tsai et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication 20220304100) is directed to a small data transmission procedure.
Chin et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication 20220210860) is directed to CG-SDT procedures.
Shih et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication 20220095410) is directed to small data transmission procedures.
Lin (United States Pre-Grant Publication 20230088082) discloses sending an RRCResumeRequest with a cause value (Figures 5 and 6).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW W. CHRISS whose telephone number is (571)272-1774. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kevin Bates can be reached at (571) 272-3980. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW W CHRISS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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