Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Cancellation
1. Claims 4, 9, 11, 16, 20-21, 23, 26-50 and 53-56 are cancelled.
Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
2a. Claims 1-3, 5-8, 10, 12-15, 17-19, 22, 24-25 and 51-52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paladugu (US 20240048230 A1) in view of Jung (US 20180123682 A1).
2b. Summary of the Cited Prior Art
Paladugu discloses a method for relay node identifier update.
Jung discloses a method for relay selection.
2c. Claim Analysis
Regarding Claim 1, Paladugu discloses:
A method for reporting a measurement (Fig 5, Measurement report 530) of a relay terminal device (Fig 5, Relay node), performed by a remote terminal device (Fig, Remote node), and comprising:
sending first indication information (Fig 5, Measurement report 530) to a network device (Fig 5, Base station);
wherein the first indication information (Fig 5, Measurement report 530) is configured to indicate information of a specified relay terminal device (Fig 5, Relay node; see: the remote node may report one or more candidate relay nodes after the remote node measures and discovers the one or more candidate relay nodes, in [0088]).
Paladugu does not elaborate about “specified” relay.
However, Jung discloses:
wherein the first indication information (Fig 5, RRC Connection Configuration S520) is configured to indicate information of a specified relay terminal device (Fig 15; see: If the remote UE has selected a specific candidate relay UE as a relay UE, a sidelink is established between the specific candidate relay UE and the remote UE, in [0243]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to integrate Paladugu’s method for relay node identifier update with Jung’s method for relay selection with the motivation being to improve relay selection efficiency (Jung [0287]).
Regarding Claim 2, Paladugu discloses:
determining the information of the specified relay terminal device (Fig 5, Relay node) based on a discovery signal (Fig 5, discovery message 520; see: The remote node may perform a measurement on the discovery message based at least in part on the measurement configuration, in [0087]).
Regarding Claim 3, Paladugu discloses:
wherein sending the first indication information (Fig 5, Measurement report 530) to the network device (Fig 5, Base station) comprises:
determining that a trigger condition (see: a mobility trigger indicating to establish a connection with the relay node, in [0091]) is satisfied; and (Fig 5, Select relay node 525; see: the remote node may determine that the measurement satisfies a condition indicated by the measurement configuration, such as one or more higher layer criteria indicated by the measurement configuration, in [0087]);
sending the first indication information to the network device (Fig 5, Measurement report 530; see: the remote node may report one or more candidate relay nodes after the remote node measures and discovers the one or more candidate relay nodes, in [0088]).
wherein the trigger condition comprises at least one of: a specified transmission cycle or detection of a trigger event (see: a mobility trigger indicating to establish a connection with the relay node, in [0091]).
Regarding Claim 5, Paladugu discloses:
wherein the trigger event comprises at least one of:
a reference signal receiving power (RSRP) of a discovery signal being greater than a first threshold (Fig 5, Select relay node 525; see: The measurement report may indicate the relay node that was selected for the relay service. …… and measurement information associated with the link layer identifier, such as a sidelink reference signal received power (SL RSRP) (in some examples, a sidelink discovery RSRP (SD-RSRP)) or the like, in [0088]); Examiner’s Note: the relay node selection is based on some criteria, or threshold, as implied);
a RSRP of a sidelink communication signal being greater than a second threshold (Fig 5, Select relay node 525; see: The measurement report may indicate the relay node that was selected for the relay service. …… and measurement information associated with the link layer identifier, such as a sidelink reference signal received power (SL RSRP) (in some examples, a sidelink discovery RSRP (SD-RSRP)) or the like, in [0088]); Examiner’s Note: the relay node selection is based on some criteria, or threshold, as implied);
information of a serving cell of the specified relay terminal device being changed (Fig 5, Decision of switching 535; see: the network entity may determine to switch the remote node to the relay node identified by the measurement report, in [0089]);
the serving cell of the specified relay terminal device being included in a specified cell list;
or the serving cell (Fig 5, Base station) of the specified relay terminal device being identical to a serving cell of the remote terminal device (Fig 5, Decision of switching 535; see: the network entity may determine to switch the remote node to the relay node identified by the measurement report, in [0089]).
Regarding Claim 6, Paladugu does not disclose this claim.
However, Jung discloses:
further comprising one of the following:
determining the specified cell list (see: Neighboring Cell List (NCL), in [0128]) based on a protocol (Fig 4, Select Access Network S410; see: the UE selects Radio Access Technology (RAT), in [0087]; Examiner’s Note: UE may select different radio access technologies);
determining the specified cell list (see: Neighboring Cell List (NCL), in [0128]) based on a serving cell where the remote terminal device is currently located (Fig 4, Initial Cell Selection; a network may provide UE with a Neighboring Cell List (NCL) used in cell reselection, in [0128]; Examiner’s Note: Neighboring means nearby location).
or determining the specified cell list based on an instruction of the network device (Fig 4, Initial Cell Selection; a network may provide UE with a Neighboring Cell List (NCL) used in cell reselection, in [0128]; also see: the group ID of a UE group or a list of group IDs by which the candidate relay UE can provide a relay service, in [0291]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to integrate Paladugu’s method for relay node identifier update with Jung’s method for relay selection with the motivation being to improve relay selection efficiency (Jung [0287]).
Regarding Claim 7, Paladugu does not disclose this claim.
However, Jung discloses:
wherein determining the specified cell list (see: Neighboring Cell List (NCL), in [0128]) based on the serving cell where the remote terminal device is currently located (Fig 4, Initial Cell Selection; a network may provide UE with a Neighboring Cell List (NCL) used in cell reselection, in [0128]; Examiner’s Note: Neighboring means nearby location), comprises:
determining a base station to which the serving cell where the remote terminal device is currently located belongs (Fig 4, Initial Cell Selection; a network may provide UE with a Neighboring Cell List (NCL) used in cell reselection, in [0128]; Examiner’s Note: Neighboring means nearby location); and
determining each cell covered by the base station as a cell included in the specified cell list (Fig 4, Initial Cell Selection; see: the group ID of a UE group or a list of group IDs by which the candidate relay UE can provide a relay service, in [0291]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to integrate Paladugu’s method for relay node identifier update with Jung’s method for relay selection with the motivation being to improve relay selection efficiency (Jung [0287]).
Regarding Claim 8, Paladugu discloses:
further comprising one of the following:
determining the trigger condition (Fig 5, Select relay node 525; see: a mobility trigger indicating to establish a connection with the relay node, in [0091]) based on a protocol (see: A base station 110 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or another type of cel, in [0033]; Examiner’s note: macro, pico, femto cells are based on different protocols);
or determining the trigger condition based on second indication information sent by the network device.
Regarding Claim 10, Paladugu discloses:
wherein the information of the specified relay terminal device (Fig 5, Relay node) comprises at least one of:
an identification (ID) of a relay terminal device (Fig 5, Link layer identifier 515; see: a relay node may provide a link layer identifier to the network entity, in [0082]);
an ID of a serving cell of the relay terminal device;
information on whether the serving cell of the relay terminal device is identical to a serving cell of the remote terminal device (Fig 1, Base Station 110a, UE 102a and UE 120e; see: A relay station may be a UE 120 that can relay transmissions for other UEs 120. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the BS 110d (e.g., a relay base station) may communicate with the BS 110a (e.g., a macro base station); Examiner’s Note: all UE and relay UE or BA served by the same base station 110a);
or a measurement result of the relay terminal device (Fig 5, Measurement report 530; see: the remote node may report one or more candidate relay nodes after the remote node measures and discovers the one or more candidate relay node, in [0088]);
wherein the ID of the serving cell comprises at least one of:
an ID of a cell where a relay terminal device in an idle state or an inactive state resides;
or an ID of a cell connected to a relay terminal device in a connected state.
Regarding Claim 12, Paladugu discloses:
sending third indication information to the network device (Fig 5, RRC reconfiguration complete 555; see: The reconfiguration complete message may indicate that the connection shown by reference number 550 has been established, in [0094]);
wherein the third indication information (Fig 5, RRC reconfiguration complete 555) is configured to indicate an ID of a relay terminal device (see: the network entity may determine to switch the remote node to the relay node identified by the measurement report, in [0089]) whose serving cell is changed (Fig 5, Decision of switching 535; see: the network entity may determine to switch the remote node to the relay node identified by the measurement report, in [0089]).
Regarding Claim 13, Paladugu discloses:
receiving fourth indication information (Fig 5, Step 545) sent by the network device (Fig 5, Base station),
wherein the fourth indication information is configured to indicate a relay terminal device to be accessed (Fig 5, Step 545; see: the network entity may transmit configuration information to the remote node. …. The configuration information may include information associated with establishing the relay service between the relay node and the remote node, in [0091]).
Regarding Claims 14-15, 17-19, 22 and 24-25, the relay terminal device claims disclose similar features as of Claims 1, 3, 5-7, 10 and 12-13, and are rejected accordingly. Further, claims 14-15, 17-19, 22 and 24-25 disclose the same operations but are performed by a relay terminal device.
Regarding Claim 51, the communication apparatus claim discloses similar features as of Claim 1, and is rejected accordingly.
Regarding Claim 52, the claim discloses similar features as of Claim 14, and is rejected accordingly.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jung-Jen Liu whose telephone number is 571-270-7643. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang B. Yao can be reached on 5712723182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUNG LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473