Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of group I corresponding to claims 1-16 in the reply filed on 06/25/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 17-33 are cancelled by applicant.
Claims 1-16 and 34-37 are pending in this application.
The IDS has been considered by the examiner.
The specification and drawings have been accepted by the examiner.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-16 and 34-37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP Draft ZTE Corporation (RF-2104340, the IDS document submitted 07/28/2025, hereinafter 3GPP) in view of Mayer (US 11,218925).
Referring to claim 1, 3GPP discloses a method performed by a first secondary node (SN) in a wireless communication system (FIG. 10.2.1-1 and page 5, section 10.2, “Secondary Node Addition”), the method comprising,
receiving, from a master node (MN), a SN addition request message including (1) information informing that a multiple connectivity service for a specific UE is initiated (FIG. 10.2.1-1, steps 1 and 2, Section 7.2, Section 10.2.1, “SgNB Addition Request”, “If the measurement is configured to the UE in preparation for the secondary Node Addition procedure described in clause 10.2, the Master node should configure the measurement to the UE”, note that SN sends SgNB Addition Request from MN in step 1. Further note that the SgNB Addition serves as information informing that a multiple connectivity service for a specific UE), and (2) information on a maximum number of connections for the specific UE (Section 7.2, pages 2-3, “Measurements can be configured independently by the MN and by the SN intra-RAT measurements on serving and non-serving frequencies. The MN indicates the maximum number of frequency layers and measurement identities of intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurement that can be used in the SN to ensure that UE capabilities are not exceeded”, “In MR-DC, to assist MN to identify the measurement type, the SN indicates to the MN the list of SCG serving frequencies. In NR-DC, to assist SN to identify the measurement type, the MN indicates also to SN the list of MCG serving frequencies. The SN can also request the MN for new maximum values of the number of measurement identities that it can configure, and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request. If the SN receives from the MN a new value for the maximum number of measurement identities, in SN responsibility to ensure that its configured measurement identities to comply with the new limit”, note that the maximum number of frequency layers and measurement identities of intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurement is equivalent to maximum number of connections for the specific UE);
determining a number of connections for the multiple connectivity service, based on the information on the suggested number and the maximum number (Page 2, Section 7.2, “to assist SN to identify the measurement type, the MN indicates also to SN the list of MCG serving frequencies. The SN can also request the MN for new maximum values of the number of measurement identities that it can configure, and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request. If the SN receives from the MN a new value for the maximum number … its SN responsibility to ensure that its configured measurement identities to comply with the new limit”, note the SN requests the MN for new maximum values of the number and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request, thus, the a number of connections for the multiple connectivity service, based on the information on the maximum number would be determined); and
transmitting, to the MN, an SN addition Request Acknowledge message (FIG. 10.2.1-1, step 2, “SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge”. Page 5, section 10.2.1) including the determined number of connections (FIG. 10.2.1-1 and Page 5, section 10.2.1, “The SN decides the PSCell and other SCG SCells and provides the new SCG radio resources configuration to the MN in a NR RRC configuration message contained in the SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge message”).
3GPP is not relied on for the specific limitation receiving by a secondary node from a master node a suggested number connectivity service.
In an analogous art, Mayer discloses receiving by a secondary node from a master node a suggested number connectivity service (COL. 1, lined 45-57, “sending, by a master node of a first radio access technology (RAT) that is operating as a master node for an inter-radio access technology (inter-RAT) dual connectivity connection with a user device (or UE), a handover request to a target node of a second RAT to request a handover of the connection with the user device from the master node of the first RAT to the target node of the second RAT, wherein the second RAT is different than the first RAT and sending, by the master node of the first RAT to a secondary node of a third RAT that is operating as a secondary node for the inter-RAT dual connectivity connection with the user device”, note that master node sends a request for dual connectivity service for the user device. Thus, the master node sends a suggested number of connectivity service).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Bala by incorporating the teachings of Haim so that both frequency bands of licensed type and unlicensed type be used in as desired with the frequency sharing scheme of carrier aggregation, for the purpose of increasing available communication resources. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143.
Referring to claim 2, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the number of connections for the multiple connectivity service is determined by considering (1) resource of the SN, (2) QoS parameters of requested PDU sessions, bearers, or flows, and/or (3) number of packets for the specific UE (3GPP, Section 7.2 on page 5, the number of connections is determined by QoS parameters/resources of SN or packet for the UE. Note because of alternative claim format is sufficient for prior art to disclose only one of the alternatives, in this case, considering (1) resource of the SN, (2) QoS parameters of requested PDU sessions).
Referring to claim 3, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SN addition request message includes information on a second SN, wherein the second SN is a target SN for the multiple connectivity service (3GPP, section 10.2, “target SN”, note that the target SN is suggested as the second SN).
Referring to claim 4, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SN addition request message includes information informing that one or more specific bearers is requested for the multiple connectivity service (3GPP, section 10.2.1, “specific bearers requested”, note specific bearers are for connection is requested by MN).
Referring to claim 5, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the one or more specific bearers include at least one SN terminated bearer (section 10.2.1, note that the specific bearers could have connections to a secondary node, thus, specific bearers include at least one SN terminated bearer).
Referring to claim 6, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises, receiving information on a Transport Network Layer (TNL) address of a second SN (3GPP, section 10.2.1, “TNL”).
Referring to claim 7, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 6, wherein the information on the TNL address of the second SN is transmitted from the second SN and forwarded by the MN(3GPP, section 10.2.1, “TNL”).
Referring to claim 8, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SN addition request message includes information informing that one or more specific Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions and/or one or more Quality of Service (QoS) flows are requested for the multiple connectivity service (section 10.2.2, QoS flows).
Referring to claim 9, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SN addition request message includes measurement reports for the first SN and/or the MN (section 7.2, measurements for SN or MN).
Referring to claim 10, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 9, wherein the number of connections for the multiple connectivity service is determined by considering the measurement reports (section 7.2, measurements for SN or MN).
Referring to claim 11, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 9, wherein the SN addition request message includes measurement reports for a second SN (figures 10.2.1, 10.2.2.1, communication of devices).
Referring to claim 12, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SN addition Request Acknowledge message includes information informing (1) whether the multiple connectivity service for the specific UE is accepted or not and/or (2) the decided number of connections (3GPP, Section 7.2, pages 2-3, “Measurements can be configured independently by the MN and by the SN intra-RAT measurements on serving and non-serving frequencies. The MN indicates the maximum number of frequency layers and measurement identities of intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurement that can be used in the SN to ensure that UE capabilities are not exceeded”, “In MR-DC, to assist MN to identify the measurement type).
Referring to claim 13, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SN addition Request Acknowledge message includes information on one or more TNL addresses related to connections for the multiple connectivity service (3GPP, FIG. 10.2.1-1, step 2, “SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge”. Page 5, section 10.2.1. Also FIG. 10.2.1-1 and Page 5, section 10.2.1, “The SN decides the PSCell and other SCG SCells and provides the new SCG radio resources configuration to the MN in a NR RRC configuration message contained in the SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge message”).
Referring to claim 14, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises, receiving, from the MN, information informing whether a second SN is added successfully or not for the multiple connectivity service (FIG. 10.2.1-1, step 2, “SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge”. Page 5, section 10.2.1 and FIG. 10.2.1-1 and Page 5, section 10.2.1, “The SN decides the PSCell and other SCG SCells and provides the new SCG radio resources configuration to the MN in a NR RRC configuration message contained in the SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge message”, note that acknowledgement indicates the number of connectivities, thus, informing whether a second SN is added successfully or not for the multiple connectivity service).
Referring to claim 15, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the specific UE is in communication with at least one of a user equipment, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other than the specific UE (FIG. 10.2.1-1, UE. Note that the UE communicates with MN, SN and the network (S-GW and MME), thus, the specific UE is in communication with at least one of a user equipment, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other than the specific UE).
Referring to claim 16, 3GPP discloses a first secondary node (SN) in a wireless communication system (FIG. 10.2.1-1 and page 5, section 10.2, “Secondary Node Addition”) comprising: a memory; and at least one processor operatively coupled to the memory (FIG. 10.2.1-1 and page 5, section 10.2, note that the secondary node is an electronic communication device, e.g., a base station or eNB or gNB, thus, it includes a memory; and at least one processor operatively coupled to the memory), and configured to:
receive, from a master node (MN), a SN addition request message including (1) information informing that a multiple connectivity service for a specific UE is initiated (FIG. 10.2.1-1, steps 1 and 2, Section 7.2, Section 10.2.1, “SgNB Addition Request”, “If the measurement is configured to the UE in preparation for the secondary Node Addition procedure described in clause 10.2, the Master node should configure the measurement to the UE”, note that SN sends SgNB Addition Request from MN in step 1. Further note that the SgNB Addition serves as information informing that a multiple connectivity service for a specific UE), and (2) information on a maximum number of connections for the specific UE (Section 7.2, pages 2-3, “Measurements can be configured independently by the MN and by the SN intra-RAT measurements on serving and non-serving frequencies. The MN indicates the maximum number of frequency layers and measurement identities of intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurement that can be used in the SN to ensure that UE capabilities are not exceeded”, “In MR-DC, to assist MN to identify the measurement type, the SN indicates to the MN the ist of SCG serving frequencies. In NR-DC, to assist SN to identify the measurement type, the MN indicates also to SN the list of MCG serving frequencies. The SN can also request the MN for new maximum values of the number of measurement identities that it can configure, and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request. If the SN receives from the MN a new value for the maximum number of measurement identities, in SN responsibility to ensure that its configured measurement identities to comply with the new limit”, note that the maximum number of frequency layers and measurement identities of intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurement is equivalent to maximum number of connections for the specific UE);
determine a number of connections for the multiple connectivity service, based on the information on the suggested number and the maximum number (Page 2, Section 7.2, “to assist SN to identify the measurement type, the MN indicates also to SN the list of MCG serving frequencies. The SN can also request the MN for new maximum values of the number of measurement identities that it can configure, and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request. If the SN receives from the MN a new value for the maximum number … its SN responsibility to ensure that its configured measurement identities to comply with the new limit”, note the SN requests the MN for new maximum values of the number and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request, thus, the a number of connections for the multiple connectivity service, based on the information on the maximum number would be determined); and
transmit, to the MN, an SN addition Request Acknowledge message (FIG. 10.2.1-1, step 2, “SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge”. Page 5, section 10.2.1) including the determined number of connections (FIG. 10.2.1-1 and Page 5, section 10.2.1, “The SN decides the PSCell and other SCG SCells and provides the new SCG radio resources configuration to the MN in a NR RRC configuration message contained in the SgNB Addition Request Acknowledge message”).
3GPP is not relied on for the specific limitation receiving by a secondary node from a master node a suggested number connectivity service.
In an analogous art, Mayer discloses receiving by a secondary node from a master node a suggested number connectivity service (COL. 1, lined 45-57, “sending, by a master node of a first radio access technology (RAT) that is operating as a master node for an inter-radio access technology (inter-RAT) dual connectivity connection with a user device (or UE), a handover request to a target node of a second RAT to request a handover of the connection with the user device from the master node of the first RAT to the target node of the second RAT, wherein the second RAT is different than the first RAT and sending, by the master node of the first RAT to a secondary node of a third RAT that is operating as a secondary node for the inter-RAT dual connectivity connection with the user device”, note that master node sends a request for dual connectivity service for the user device. Thus, the master node sends a suggested number of connectivity service).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Bala by incorporating the teachings of Haim so that both frequency bands of licensed type and unlicensed type be used in as desired with the frequency sharing scheme of carrier aggregation, for the purpose of increasing available communication resources. Further, this an example of use of known technique to improve similar devices, methods or products in the same way. MPEP 2143.
Referring to claim 34, 3GPP discloses a method (FIG. 10.2.1-1 and page 5, section 10.2, “Secondary Node Addition”), comprising,
transmitting, by a master node (MN) to a first secondary node (SN), a SN addition request message including (1) information informing that a multiple connectivity service for a specific UE is initiated (FIG. 10.2.1-1, steps 1 and 2, Section 7.2, Section 10.2.1, “SgNB Addition Request”, “If the measurement is configured to the UE in preparation for the secondary Node Addition procedure described in clause 10.2, the Master node should configure the measurement to the UE”, note that SN sends SgNB Addition Request from MN in step 1. Further note that the SgNB Addition serves as information informing that a multiple connectivity service for a specific UE), and (2) information related to a maximum number of connections for the specific UE (Section 7.2, pages 2-3, “Measurements can be configured independently by the MN and by the SN intra-RAT measurements on serving and non-serving frequencies. The MN indicates the maximum number of frequency layers and measurement identities of intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurement that can be used in the SN to ensure that UE capabilities are not exceeded”, “In MR-DC, to assist MN to identify the measurement type, the SN indicates to the MN the ist of SCG serving frequencies. In NR-DC, to assist SN to identify the measurement type, the MN indicates also to SN the list of MCG serving frequencies. The SN can also request the MN for new maximum values of the number of measurement identities that it can configure, and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request. If the SN receives from the MN a new value for the maximum number of measurement identities, in SN responsibility to ensure that its configured measurement identities to comply with the new limit”, note that the maximum number of frequency layers and measurement identities of intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurement is equivalent to maximum number of connections for the specific UE), wherein the first SN determines a number of connections for the multiple connectivity service, based on the information on the suggested number and the maximum number (Page 2, Section 7.2, “to assist SN to identify the measurement type, the MN indicates also to SN the list of MCG serving frequencies. The SN can also request the MN for new maximum values of the number of measurement identities that it can configure, and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request. If the SN receives from the MN a new value for the maximum number … its SN responsibility to ensure that its configured measurement identities to comply with the new limit”, note the SN requests the MN for new maximum values of the number and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request, thus, the a number of connections for the multiple connectivity service, based on the information on the maximum number would be determined); and
receiving, by the MN from the first SN, an SN addition Request Acknowledge message including the determined number of connections (Page 2, Section 7.2, “to assist SN to identify the measurement type, the MN indicates also to SN the list of MCG serving frequencies. The SN can also request the MN for new maximum values of the number of measurement identities that it can configure, and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request. If the SN receives from the MN a new value for the maximum number … its SN responsibility to ensure that its configured measurement identities to comply with the new limit”, note the SN requests the MN for new maximum values of the number and it is up to the MN whether to accommodate the SN request, thus, the a number of connections for the multiple connectivity service, based on the information on the maximum number would be determined) and receiving, from the MN, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including information on the determined number of connections (3GPP, FIG. 10.2.1-1, and section 10.2.1, “RRCConnectionReconfurationComplete”, note in the figure 10.2.1-1, RRC connection is established between UE and MN and SN insteps 3 and 4, thus, receiving, from the MN, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including information on the determined number of connections ).
Referring to claim 35, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 34, wherein the number of connections for the multiple connectivity service is determined by considering (1) resource of the SN, (2) QoS parameters of requested PDU sessions, bearers, or flows, and/or (3) number of packets for the specific UE (3GPP, Section 7.2 on page 5, the number of connections is determined by QoS parameters/resources of SN or packet for the UE. Note because of alternative claim format is sufficient for prior art to disclose only one of the alternatives, in this case, considering (1) resource of the SN, (2) QoS parameters of requested PDU sessions).
Referring to claim 36, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 34wherein the SN addition request message includes information on a second SN, wherein the second SN is a target SN for the multiple connectivity service (3GPP, section 10.2.1, “specific bearers requested”, note specific bearers are for connection is requested by MN).
Referring to claim 37, the combination of 3GPP/Mayer discloses the method of claim 34 wherein the SN addition request message includes information informing that one or more specific bearers is requested for the multiple connectivity service (section 10.2.1, note that the specific bearers could have connections to a secondary node, thus, specific bearers include at least one SN terminated bearer).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fred A. Casca whose telephone number is (571) 272-7918. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Kathy Wang-Hurst, can be reached at (571) 270-5371. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/FRED A CASCA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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