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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/07/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-5, 7-13, 15-19, 35, and 51 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.
However, upon further review of the Applicant’s arguments with respect to the broadest reasonable interpretation of the term “relay terminal”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees with the Applicant’s arguments for the same and/or similar reasons as discussed in the Final Office Action mailed on 06/02/2026.
Furthermore, with regards to the newly amended independent claim 1, i.e.
“1. (Currently Amended) A handover method, comprising: sending, by a source network device, a handover request message for a first terminal to a target network device through an interface between network devices; wherein the handover request message comprises identifications of candidate target relay terminals of the target network device, wherein subsequent to the sending the handover request message for the first terminal to the target network device, the method further comprises: receiving a handover request acknowledgement message sent by the target network device, wherein the handover request acknowledgement message comprises at least one of the following information: an identification of a target relay terminal; configuration information of a first bearer; configuration information of a second bearer; or, a first mapping relationship between the first bearer and the second bearer; wherein the first bearer is a direct communication interface bearer between the first terminal and the target relay terminal, and the second bearer is an end-to-end bearer between the first terminal and the target network device, wherein subsequent to the receiving the handover request acknowledgement message sent by the target network device, the method further comprises: when the first terminal is connected to a source relay terminal, sending a second RRC reconfiguration message to the source relay terminal, wherein the second RRC reconfiguration message triggers the source relay terminal to perform at least one of the following: releasing a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related only to the first terminal; or modifying a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related to the first terminal.”
During patent examination, the Applicant is reminded that the Examiner is only required to address one of the optional limitations in the claim. Thus, the highlighted portions of the claim above are optional limitations which have/will not be addressed. Therefore, the Applicant’s arguments on pg. 14 and 16 referring to “direct communication interface” or “PC5 interface” is moot.
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., “direct communication interface” or “PC5 interface”) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 9, and 17, are objected to because of the following informalities: The claims recited acronyms i.e. RRC that was not previously defined. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 9, 19, and 35, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aminaka (US Publication No. 20120142357) in view of Lee et al. (US Publication No. 20130286931).
As to claims 1 and 9, Aminaka teaches a handover method, comprising: sending, by a source network device, a handover request message for a first terminal to a target network device through an interface between network devices (fig. 6, fig. 15, S512, serving eNB sends handover request to Target eNB); wherein the handover request message comprises identifications of candidate target relay terminals of the target network device (fig. 6, fig. 15, S512, handover request includes plurality of candidate target relay node (T-RN) information e.g. RN 2A, RN 2B), wherein subsequent to the sending the handover request message for the first terminal to the target network device, the method further comprises: receiving a handover request acknowledgement message sent by the target network device (fig. 6, fig. 15, S517, handover request ack), wherein the handover request acknowledgement message comprises at least one of the following information: an identification of a target relay terminal (fig. 6, fig. 15, S517, handover request ack including info of RN 2B); configuration information of a first bearer; configuration information of a second bearer; or a first mapping relationship between the first bearer and the second bearer; wherein the first bearer is a direct communication interface bearer between the first terminal and the target relay terminal, and the second bearer is an end-to-end bearer between the first terminal and the target network device. Aminaka further teaches wherein subsequent to the receiving the handover request acknowledgement message sent by the target network device (fig. 6, fig. 15, S517, handover request ack). However, fails to explicitly teach the method further comprises: when the first terminal is connected to a source relay terminal, sending a second RRC reconfiguration message to the source relay terminal, wherein the second RRC reconfiguration message triggers the source relay terminal to perform at least one of the following: releasing a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related only to the first terminal; or modifying a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related to the first terminal.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Lee teaches the method further comprises: when the first terminal is connected to a source relay terminal (fig. 7), sending a second RRC reconfiguration message to the source relay terminal (fig. 7, pp0075, a macro cell notifies the relay node of Un DL subframe configuration for a Un interface, that is, a backhaul link between the macro cell and the relay node, as 8-bit sized bitmap information through RRC layer signaling), wherein the second RRC reconfiguration message triggers the source relay terminal to perform at least one of the following: releasing a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related only to the first terminal; or modifying (backhaul link i.e. Un subframe configuration) a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related to the first terminal (fig. 7, pp0075, a macro cell notifies the relay node of Un DL subframe configuration for a Un interface, that is, a backhaul link between the macro cell and the relay node, as 8-bit sized bitmap information through RRC layer signaling). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka with the teachings of Lee to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing a system to reduces the extension cost for installation of base stations and the maintenance cost of a backhaul network in a next generation mobile communication system and at the same time is necessarily required to extend service coverage and improve a data processing rate (Lee, pp0054).
As to claim 3, Aminaka in view of Lee teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. Aminaka further teaches wherein the handover request acknowledgement message is sent by the target network device after receiving a first response message sent by the target relay terminal (fig. 6, fig. 15, S516, the relay station 2B, can accept the handover), and the first response message is configured to indicate that the target relay terminal is able to provide relay services for the first terminal (fig. 6, fig. 15, S516, the relay station 2B, can accept the handover).
As to claim 4, Aminaka in view of Lee teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. Aminaka further teaches wherein the terminal identification is used in a relay-related adaptation layer after a terminal accesses the target relay terminal (dependent claim is directed to an optional limitation, thus no patentable weight has been given).
As to claim 5, Aminaka in view of Lee teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. Aminaka further teaches wherein subsequent to the receiving the handover request acknowledgement message sent by the target network device, the method further comprises: sending a first radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to the first terminal, wherein the first RRC reconfiguration message is configured to trigger the first terminal to initiate a handover process (fig. 6, fig. 15, S518, S519, RRC connection reconfiguration, including cell info of RN 2B), and the first RRC reconfiguration message carries the identification of the target relay terminal (fig. 6, fig. 15, S518, S519, RRC connection reconfiguration, including cell info of RN 2B).
As to claims 19 and 35, Aminaka in view of Lee teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. Aminaka further teaches a network device, wherein the network device is a target network device and/or a source network device and comprises: a memory, a transceiver and a processor: the memory is configured to store program instructions; the transceiver is configured to send and receive data under a control of the processor; the processor is configured to read the program instructions in the memory to perform the handover method according to claim 1 (fig. 6, fig. 15, S-eNB, T-eNB, and fig. 7).
Claim(s) 7 and 8, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aminaka (US Publication No. 20120142357) in view of Lee et al. (US Publication No. 20130286931) and further in view of Sivaraj et al. (US Publication No. 20220232452).
As to claim 7, Aminaka in view of Lee teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, fails to explicitly teach further comprising: sending, by a centralized unit-control plane (CU-CP) of the source network device, through an interface between the CU-CP and a centralized unit-user plane (CU-UP), a bearer context release message to the centralized unit-user plane of the source network device serving the first terminal, wherein the bearer context release message comprises terminal identification of the first terminal.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Sivaraj teaches further comprising: sending, by a centralized unit-control plane (CU-CP) of the source network device, through an interface between the CU-CP and a centralized unit-user plane (CU-UP), a bearer context release message to the centralized unit-user plane of the source network device serving the first terminal (fig. 1, fig. 6, #6024, bearer context release command, and pp0206, includes at least one identifier for the UE used over at least one of the E1 interface and the F1 interface), wherein the bearer context release message comprises terminal identification of the first terminal (fig. 1, fig. 6, #6024, bearer context release command, and pp0206, includes at least one identifier for the UE used over at least one of the E1 interface and the F1 interface). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka and Lee with the teachings of Sivaraj to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing services with guarantees and avoiding bottleneck in a communication system (Sivaraj, pp0007).
As to claim 8, Aminaka in view of Lee teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, fails to explicitly teach further comprising: sending, by a CU-CP of the source network device, through an interface between the CU- CP and a Distribute Unit (DU), a terminal context release message to the DU of the source network device serving the first terminal, wherein the terminal context release message comprises at least one of the following information: a terminal identification of the first terminal; an identification of a source relay terminal corresponding to the first terminal.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Sivaraj teaches further comprising: sending, by a CU-CP of the source network device, through an interface between the CU- CP and a Distribute Unit (DU), a terminal context release message to the DU of the source network device serving the first terminal (fig. 1, fig. 6, #6025, UE context release command, and pp0206, includes at least one identifier for the UE used over at least one of the E1 interface and the F1 interface), wherein the terminal context release message comprises at least one of the following information: a terminal identification of the first terminal (fig. 1, fig. 6, #6025, UE context release command, and pp0206, includes at least one identifier for the UE used over at least one of the E1 interface and the F1 interface); an identification of a source relay terminal corresponding to the first terminal. Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka and Lee with the teachings of Sivaraj to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing services with guarantees and avoiding bottleneck in a communication system (Sivaraj, pp0007).
Claim(s) 10, 11, 17, 18, and 51, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aminaka (US Publication No. 20120142357) in view of Lee et al. (US Publication No. 20130286931) and further in view of Cai et al. (US Publication No. 20110080891).
As to claim 10, Aminaka in view of Lee teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. Aminaka further teaches wherein subsequent to the receiving the handover request message for the first terminal sent by the source network device and before sending to the handover request acknowledgement message to the source network device (fig. 6, fig. 15, S512, S515, S517 serving eNB sends handover request to Target eNB, i.e. S515 before sending S517), the method further comprises: sending a first message to the candidate target relay terminals (fig. 6, fig. 15, S515, serving eNB sends handover request to T-RN). However, fails to explicitly teach wherein the first message comprises at least one of the following information: configuration information of the first bearer; configuration information of a third bearer; the first mapping relationship between the first bearer and the second bearer; a second mapping relationship between the first bearer and the third bearer; a third mapping relationship between the second bearer and the third bearer; a fourth mapping relationship among the first bearer, the second bearer and the third bearer; wherein the third bearer is a Uu interface bearer between the candidate target relay terminals and the target network device.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Cai teaches wherein the first message comprises at least one of the following information: configuration information of the first bearer; configuration information of a third bearer; the first mapping relationship between the first bearer and the second bearer; a second mapping relationship between the first bearer and the third bearer; a third mapping relationship between the second bearer and the third bearer; a fourth mapping relationship among the first bearer, the second bearer and the third bearer; wherein the third bearer is a Uu interface bearer between the candidate target relay terminals and the target network device (fig. 2, fig. 4, fig. 7, #710, pp0043, Handover request message contains UE context information, which at least includes UE identification information, radio bearer information, and one or more UE bearer GTP tunnel endpoint identifiers (TEIDs) and/or SRN radio bearer configuration information that carries the corresponding UE's GTP tunneling). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka and Lee with the teachings of Cai to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably enhancing throughput of signal and creating higher spectral efficiency in a communication system (Cai, pp0027).
As to claim 11, Aminaka in view of Lee and Cai teaches the limitations of the dependent claim 10 as discussed above. Aminaka further teaches wherein subsequent to the sending the first message to the candidate target relay terminals and before sending to the handover request acknowledgement message to the source network device (fig. 6, fig. 15, S512, S515, S517 serving eNB sends handover request to Target eNB, i.e. S515 before sending S517), the method further comprises: receiving a first response message corresponding to the first message sent by a target relay terminal, wherein the first response message is configured to indicate that the target relay terminal is able to provide relay services for the first terminal (fig. 6, fig. 15, S516, the relay station 2B, can accept the handover).
As to claim 17, Aminaka teaches a handover method, comprises: receiving, by a target relay terminal, a first message sent by a target network device (fig. 6, fig. 15, S515, handover request), wherein the first message is sent by the target network device after receiving a handover request message for a first terminal sent by a source network device (fig. 6, fig. 15, S512, S515, handover request) and before sending to the handover request acknowledgement message to the source network device (fig. 6, fig. 15, S512, S515, S517 serving eNB sends handover request to Target eNB, i.e. S515 before sending S517), wherein the handover request acknowledgement message comprises at least one of the following information: an identification of a target relay terminal (fig. 6, fig. 15, S517, handover request ack including info of RN 2B); configuration information of a first bearer; configuration information of a second bearer; a first mapping relationship between the first bearer and the second bearer; wherein the first bearer is a direct communication interface bearer between the first terminal and the target relay terminal, and the second bearer is an end-to-end bearer between the first terminal and the target network device, wherein the handover request message comprises identifications of candidate target relay terminals (fig. 6, fig. 15, S515, handover request, including RN 2A, RN 2B). However, fails to explicitly teach the method further comprises: when the first terminal is connected to a source relay terminal, sending a second RRC reconfiguration message to the source relay terminal, wherein the second RRC reconfiguration message triggers the source relay terminal to perform at least one of the following: releasing a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related only to the first terminal; or modifying a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related to the first terminal.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Lee teaches the method further comprises: when the first terminal is connected to a source relay terminal (fig. 7), sending a second RRC reconfiguration message to the source relay terminal (fig. 7, pp0075, a macro cell notifies the relay node of Un DL subframe configuration for a Un interface, that is, a backhaul link between the macro cell and the relay node, as 8-bit sized bitmap information through RRC layer signaling), wherein the second RRC reconfiguration message triggers the source relay terminal to perform at least one of the following: releasing a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related only to the first terminal; or modifying (backhaul link i.e. Un subframe configuration) a backhaul link bearer of a Uu interface related to the first terminal (fig. 7, pp0075, a macro cell notifies the relay node of Un DL subframe configuration for a Un interface, that is, a backhaul link between the macro cell and the relay node, as 8-bit sized bitmap information through RRC layer signaling). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka with the teachings of Lee to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing a system to reduces the extension cost for installation of base stations and the maintenance cost of a backhaul network in a next generation mobile communication system and at the same time is necessarily required to extend service coverage and improve a data processing rate (Lee, pp0054). However, they failed to explicitly teach wherein the first message comprises at least one of the following information: configuration information of the first bearer; configuration information of a third bearer; the first mapping relationship between the first bearer and the second bearer; a second mapping relationship between the first bearer and the third bearer; a third mapping relationship between the second bearer and the third bearer; a fourth mapping relationship among the first bearer, the second bearer and the third bearer; wherein the third bearer is a Uu interface bearer between the candidate target relay terminals and the target network device.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Cai teaches wherein the first message comprises at least one of the following information: configuration information of the first bearer; configuration information of a third bearer; the first mapping relationship between the first bearer and the second bearer; a second mapping relationship between the first bearer and the third bearer; a third mapping relationship between the second bearer and the third bearer; a fourth mapping relationship among the first bearer, the second bearer and the third bearer; wherein the third bearer is a Uu interface bearer between the candidate target relay terminals and the target network device (fig. 2, fig. 4, fig. 7, #710, pp0043, Handover request message contains UE context information, which at least includes UE identification information, radio bearer information, and one or more UE bearer GTP tunnel endpoint identifiers (TEIDs) and/or SRN radio bearer configuration information that carries the corresponding UE's GTP tunneling). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka and Lee with the teachings of Cai to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably enhancing throughput of signal and creating higher spectral efficiency in a communication system (Cai, pp0027).
As to claim 18, Aminaka in view of Lee and Cai teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. Aminaka further teaches further comprising: sending a first response message to the target network device, wherein the first response message is configured to indicate that the target relay terminal is able to provide relay services for the first terminal (fig. 6, fig. 15, S516, the relay station 2B, can accept the handover).
As to claim 51, Aminaka in view of Lee and Cai teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. Aminaka further teaches a relay terminal, wherein the relay terminal is a target relay terminal of a target network device, comprising: a memory, a transceiver and a processor: the memory is configured to store program instructions; the transceiver is configured to send and receive data under a control of the processor; the processor is configured to read the program instructions in the memory to perform the handover method according to claim 17 (fig. 6, fig. 15, T-RN, and fig. 8).
Claim(s) 15 and 16, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aminaka (US Publication No. 20120142357) in view of Lee et al. (US Publication No. 20130286931) and further in view of Cai et al. (US Publication No. 20110080891) and Sivaraj et al. (US Publication No. 20220232452).
As to claim 15, Aminaka in view of Lee and Cia teaches the limitations of the dependent claim 10 as discussed above. However, fails to explicitly teach wherein prior to the sending the first message to the candidate target relay terminals, the method further comprises: sending, by a centralized unit-control plane (CU-CP) of the target network device, a bearer context establishment request message to a centralized unit-user plane of the target network device serving the candidate target relay terminals through an interface between the CU- CP and a centralized unit-user plane (CU-UP), wherein the bearer context establishment request message comprises at least one of the following information: identifications of the candidate target relay terminals; configuration information of the second bearer; a terminal identification of the first terminal; configuration information of the third bearer; wherein the second bearer is the end-to-end bearer between the first terminal and the target network device, and the third bearer is the Uu interface bearer between the candidate target relay terminals and the target network device.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Sivaraj teaches wherein prior to the sending the first message to the candidate target relay terminals, the method further comprises: sending, by a centralized unit-control plane (CU-CP) of the target network device, a bearer context establishment request message to a centralized unit-user plane of the target network device serving the candidate target relay terminals through an interface between the CU- CP and a centralized unit-user plane (CU-UP) (fig. 1, fig. 6, #6002, bearer context setup request, and pp0206, includes at least one identifier for the UE used over at least one of the E1 interface and the F1 interface), wherein the bearer context establishment request message comprises at least one of the following information: identifications of the candidate target relay terminals; configuration information of the second bearer; a terminal identification of the first terminal; configuration information of the third bearer; wherein the second bearer is the end-to-end bearer between the first terminal and the target network device, and the third bearer is the Uu interface bearer between the candidate target relay terminals and the target network device (fig. 1, fig. 6, #6002, bearer context setup request, and pp0206, includes at least one identifier for the UE used over at least one of the E1 interface and the F1 interface). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka, Lee, and Cai with the teachings of Sivaraj to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing services with guarantees and avoiding bottleneck in a communication system (Sivaraj, pp0007).
As to claim 16, Aminaka in view of Lee and Cai teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, fails to explicitly teach wherein prior to the sending the first message to the target relay terminal, the method further comprises: sending, by a centralized unit-control plane (CU-CP) of the target network device, a terminal context establishment request message to a distribution unit (DU) of the target network device through an interface between the CU-CP and the DU, wherein the terminal context establishment request message comprises at least one of the following information: identifications of the target relay terminals; a terminal identification of the first terminal; an association relationship between the target relay terminals and the source relay terminal.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Sivaraj teaches wherein prior to the sending the first message to the target relay terminal, the method further comprises: sending, by a centralized unit-control plane (CU-CP) of the target network device, a terminal context establishment request message to a distribution unit (DU) of the target network device through an interface between the CU-CP and the DU (fig. 1, fig. 6, #6004, UE context setup procedure, and pp0206, includes at least one identifier for the UE used over at least one of the E1 interface and the F1 interface), wherein the terminal context establishment request message comprises at least one of the following information: identifications of the target relay terminals; a terminal identification of the first terminal (fig. 1, fig. 6, #6004, UE context setup procedure, and pp0206, includes at least one identifier for the UE used over at least one of the E1 interface and the F1 interface); an association relationship between the target relay terminals and the source relay terminal. Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka, Lee and Cai with the teachings of Sivaraj to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably providing services with guarantees and avoiding bottleneck in a communication system (Sivaraj, pp0007).
Claim(s) 12, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aminaka (US Publication No. 20120142357) in view of Lee et al. (US Publication No. 20130286931) and further in view of Cai et al. (US Publication No. 20110080891) and Ryu et al. (US Publication No. 20180351907).
As to claim 12, Aminaka in view of Lee and Cai teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, fails to explicitly teach wherein the first response message comprises a terminal identification allocated by the target relay terminal to the first terminal.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Ryu teaches wherein the first response message comprises a terminal identification allocated by the target relay terminal to the first terminal (fig. 9, pp0143, target relay terminal performs an IP duplication check by using the IP address of the remote terminal, and allocate the remote terminal an IP address according to a result of the IP duplication check). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka, Lee, and Cai with the teachings of Ryu to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably maintaining the continuity of connection in a process of link change with the relay UE in a communication system (Ryu, pp0008).
Claim(s) 2, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aminaka (US Publication No. 20120142357) in view of Lee et al. (US Publication No. 20130286931) and further in of Ryu et al. (US Publication No. 20180351907).
As to claim 2, Aminaka in view of Lee teaches the limitations of the independent claims as discussed above. However, fails to teach wherein the handover request acknowledgement message further comprises; a terminal identification, wherein the terminal identification is allocated by the target relay terminal to the first terminal, or is allocated by the target network device to the first terminal.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Ryu teaches wherein the handover request acknowledgement message further comprises; a terminal identification, wherein the terminal identification is allocated by the target relay terminal to the first terminal, or is allocated by the target network device to the first terminal (fig. 9, pp0143, target relay terminal performs an IP duplication check by using the IP address of the remote terminal, and allocate the remote terminal an IP address according to a result of the IP duplication check). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka and Lee with the teachings of Ryu to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably maintaining the continuity of connection in a process of link change with the relay UE in a communication system (Ryu, pp0008).
Claim(s) 13, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aminaka (US Publication No. 20120142357) in view of Lee et al. (US Publication No. 20130286931) and further in view of Cai et al. (US Publication No. 20110080891) and Ryu et al. (US Publication No. 20180351907).
As to claim 13, Aminaka in view of Lee and Cai teaches the limitations of the dependent claim 11 as discussed above. However, fails to teach wherein the handover request acknowledgement message further comprises; a terminal identification, wherein the terminal identification is allocated by the target relay terminal to the first terminal, or is allocated by the target network device to the first terminal.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Ryu teaches wherein the handover request acknowledgement message further comprises; a terminal identification, wherein the terminal identification is allocated by the target relay terminal to the first terminal, or is allocated by the target network device to the first terminal (fig. 9, pp0143, target relay terminal performs an IP duplication check by using the IP address of the remote terminal, and allocate the remote terminal an IP address according to a result of the IP duplication check). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Aminaka, Lee, and Cai with the teachings of Ryu to achieve the goal of efficiently and reliably maintaining the continuity of connection in a process of link change with the relay UE in a communication system (Ryu, pp0008).
Conclusion
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/OMONIYI OBAYANJU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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