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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 8-11, 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lyu et al (20230209500).
Regarding claim 1, Lyu et al discloses, a method in a distributed unit (gNB DU, fig. 8-10) of a distributed base station of a radio access network (gNB, fig. 8-10), the distributed base station including the DU and a central unit (gNB CU, fig. 8-10), for paging a user equipment (UE, , fig. 8-10) when a radio connection between the distributed base station and the UE is not active (¶ 0052, idle mode RRC_IDLE state or an inactive mode), the method comprising:
receiving, by the DU from the CU, a paging message indicating whether the UE supports paging subgrouping (¶ 0102-0105, a gNB CU sends an F1AP paging message to a gNB DU. In this case, the F1AP paging message also carries the service mode indication and the target UE identity. The gNB DU triggers, based on the service mode indication carried in the F1AP paging message, a target paging processing unit corresponding to the service mode indication and based on paging from the core network, all UEs managed in a gNB cell group with a CU-DU fusion architecture may be divided into three subgroups, gNB DU classifies all user services into three service modes: the mMTC, the URLLC, and the eMBB. Different paging processing units in a gNB paging corresponding UE subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 11. Internal paging management of the three service modes are respectively embodied in different paging processing units of the gNB, which respectively correspond to a paging processing unit 1, a paging processing unit 2, and a paging processing unit 3. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 12. Manner 2: Three gNB DUs manage the three service modes, respectively, and all related paging processing is completed at the three gNB DUs; and all UEs in a cell group is also divided into three subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 13); and
paging the UE in accordance with whether the UE supports paging sub grouping (¶ 0102-0105, the service mode indication is eMBB, and then a paging processing unit 3 (eMBB) in the gNB DU is triggered. The paging processing unit 3 initiates paging of all UEs related to the eMBB service mode and managed by the paging processing unit 3, where the paged UEs include a target UE identity and Different paging processing units in a gNB paging corresponding UE subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 11).
Regarding claims 2, 9, 13, 16, Lyu et al discloses, wherein receiving the paging message includes: receiving the paging message including a paging subgroup identity of the UE (¶ 0102-0105, the service mode indication is eMBB, and then a paging processing unit 3 (eMBB) in the gNB DU is triggered. The paging processing unit 3 initiates paging of all UEs related to the eMBB service mode and managed by the paging processing unit 3, where the paged UEs include a target UE identity and Different paging processing units in a gNB paging corresponding UE subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic).
Regarding claims 3, 10, 14, 17, Lyu et al discloses, wherein receiving the paging message includes: receiving the paging message defined by a protocol conforming to signaling between the CU and the DU (¶ 0073, 0101-0104, FIG. 7, a logic architecture of a 5G base station (generation Node-B, gNB) uses a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) separation mode. Based on configuration of a protocol stack function, the CU-DU logic architecture may be divided into a CU-DU distribution architecture and a CU-DU fusion architecture and a gNB CU sends an F1AP paging message to a gNB DU. In this case, the F1AP paging message also carries the service mode indication and the target UE identity).
Regarding claims 4, 11, 18, Lyu et al discloses, wherein receiving the paging message includes receiving a UE capability information element (IE) included in the paging message (see above, further, ¶ 0078, table 1).
Regarding claims 5, 19, 20, Lyu et al discloses, wherein the UE capability IE indicates whether the UE supports paging sub grouping (see above, further, ¶ 0078, 0099, table 1, UE Radio Capability for Paging and paging message carrying a service mode indication and a target UE identity).
Regarding claim 8, Lyu et al discloses, a method in a central unit (CU) of a distributed base station of a radio access network (RAN), the distributed base station including the CU and a distributed unit (DU), for paging a user equipment (UE) when a radio connection between the distributed base station and the UE is not active, the method (see detail in claim 1, fig. 8-13) comprising:
determining, by the CU, to page the UE (¶ 0073, 0099-0105, a gNB CU receives, from an AMF, an NGAP paging message carrying a service mode indication and a target UE identity, the gNB CU sends an F1AP paging message to a gNB DU. In this case, the F1AP paging message also carries the service mode indication and the target UE identity. F1AP provides a signaling service between a gNB-CU node and a gNB-DU node); and
in response to the determining, transmitting the paging message to the DU to instruct the DU to page the UE, the paging message indicating whether the UE supports paging subgrouping (¶ 0102-0105, a gNB CU sends an F1AP paging message to a gNB DU. In this case, the F1AP paging message also carries the service mode indication and the target UE identity. The gNB DU triggers, based on the service mode indication carried in the F1AP paging message, a target paging processing unit corresponding to the service mode indication and based on paging from the core network, all UEs managed in a gNB cell group with a CU-DU fusion architecture may be divided into three subgroups, gNB DU classifies all user services into three service modes: the mMTC, the URLLC, and the eMBB. Different paging processing units in a gNB paging corresponding UE subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 11. Internal paging management of the three service modes are respectively embodied in different paging processing units of the gNB, which respectively correspond to a paging processing unit 1, a paging processing unit 2, and a paging processing unit 3. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 12. Manner 2: Three gNB DUs manage the three service modes, respectively, and all related paging processing is completed at the three gNB DUs; and all UEs in a cell group is also divided into three subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 13).
Regarding claim 15, Lyu et al discloses, a distributed unit (DU) of a distributed base station operating in a radio access network (RAN), the DU comprising processing hardware and configured to page a user equipment (UE) when a radio connection between the distributed base station and the UE is not active, including:
receive, from the CU, a paging message indicating whether the UE supports paging subgrouping (¶ 0102-0105, a gNB CU sends an F1AP paging message to a gNB DU. In this case, the F1AP paging message also carries the service mode indication and the target UE identity. The gNB DU triggers, based on the service mode indication carried in the F1AP paging message, a target paging processing unit corresponding to the service mode indication and based on paging from the core network, all UEs managed in a gNB cell group with a CU-DU fusion architecture may be divided into three subgroups, gNB DU classifies all user services into three service modes: the mMTC, the URLLC, and the eMBB. Different paging processing units in a gNB paging corresponding UE subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 11. Internal paging management of the three service modes are respectively embodied in different paging processing units of the gNB, which respectively correspond to a paging processing unit 1, a paging processing unit 2, and a paging processing unit 3. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 12. Manner 2: Three gNB DUs manage the three service modes, respectively, and all related paging processing is completed at the three gNB DUs; and all UEs in a cell group is also divided into three subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 13), and
page the UE in accordance with whether the UE supports paging sub grouping (¶ 0102-0105, a gNB CU sends an F1AP paging message to a gNB DU. In this case, the F1AP paging message also carries the service mode indication and the target UE identity. The gNB DU triggers, based on the service mode indication carried in the F1AP paging message, a target paging processing unit corresponding to the service mode indication and based on paging from the core network, all UEs managed in a gNB cell group with a CU-DU fusion architecture may be divided into three subgroups, gNB DU classifies all user services into three service modes: the mMTC, the URLLC, and the eMBB. Different paging processing units in a gNB paging corresponding UE subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 11. Internal paging management of the three service modes are respectively embodied in different paging processing units of the gNB, which respectively correspond to a paging processing unit 1, a paging processing unit 2, and a paging processing unit 3. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 12. Manner 2: Three gNB DUs manage the three service modes, respectively, and all related paging processing is completed at the three gNB DUs; and all UEs in a cell group is also divided into three subgroups. Reference may be made to the schematic diagram of paging logic shown in FIG. 13).
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.
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) 6-7 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lyu et al (20230209500) in view of Nader et al (20240244529).
Regarding claims 6-7 and 12, Lyu et al discloses, in claim 1, further,
Lyu et al does not specifically disclose paging early indication (PEI).
In the same field of endeavor, Wang et al discloses paging early indication (¶ 0024-0026, PEI applicability during mobility via dedicated configuration sent to the UE, e.g. as part of UE paging capabilities, and also conveyed in the Paging message to the gNB in case of CN initiated paging, gNB initiated paging, the gNB-Control Unit (CU) conveys the information to the gNB-Distributed Unit DU). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claim invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the device of Lyu et al by specifically adding feature in order to enhance system performance to The method introduces the configurability of PEI and applicability of PEI upon mobility on a per user equipment basis, thus enhancing as taught by Nader et al.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHAWAR IQBAL whose telephone number is (571)272-7909. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jinsong Hu can be reached at 5712723965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KHAWAR IQBAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643